TEST TEST

The newest record

iaian7 » blog   John Einselen, 15.03.07    

Alas, it seems I’ve actually passed up my previous late-night-at-work record. This is the danger of starting projects after 8:00pm!

Right now I’m doing my best to help with some audio design and music concepting at work; my past experience in historic wind instruments seems to be of benefit here. Sadly, my small collection of instruments just isn’t enough, and while I have several more in shipment, I wanted to try my hand at making some. Plans for end blown flutes (they seem easy enough) are readily found online, and need but the simplest of materials. PVC pipe. The night before last I stopped by Lowe’s to pick up PVC, along with assorted tools to make the process a little smoother. Who knew Lowe’s was open till 10 at night? I’m ecstatic, to say the least.

I worked way too late the first night, but thought it’d go easier once I’d already tried one (the mouth piece is a pain). Well, not so much. Since I had already covered my bathroom in ground up PVC (the danger of using a dremel, I suppose) and not wanting to make it worse, I moved the project to the workshop at work.

By 2 in the morning I still hadn’t had much luck. Most attempts ended up being too short (since I’m still working out proper mouthpiece construction) but eventually I got two passable models. The first was the Quena (Andean end blown flute) started the night before. I worked out the holes and tuning and got it… close. It’s somewhere between G# and A natural, but at least the notes have semi-proper relations. My second flute was based on the Shakuhatchi. Four holes (I skipped the undersided thumb hole since the fingering was already wide enough to be uncomfortable for long periods) in an ostensibly traditional scale, though frequencies were standardized to european notes. I still can’t get sounds consistently, especially on the Quena (though I’ve gotten a little better on the Shakuhatchi!).

If time ever permits, I’ll try to post a more thorough accounting of the process, maybe my own little how-to.

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