I don’t want to be a pain or a nuisance, but I tried making another bamboo flute (I’ve tried about 4 others) and once again I can get the first octave in tune with itself but the second is virtually impossible as the bell tone goes from an E (its an E flute) in the lower octave to an Eb in the upper octave. I have had people tell me to adjust my embochure, but an entire half step? It’s not consistent throughout, by the time I get to the b (“a” hole on a D flute) both octaves match completely. I have tried using a cork, going anywhere from 10 mm to 2-3 inches next to the embochure as I hear this affects the second and third octaves, but to no avail. My question is this, can all you flute and whistle makers out there please tell me, either on the board or email, what steps you take when it is time to drill the holes, how do you make sure the flute/whistle is in tune? How much space do you put between the embochure hole and the closest end of the flute (space to adjust your cork)? Do you bother with the first octave and worry about the second later? Do you start with the hole furthest from the embochure hole and work your way toward the embochure hole? That is what I am currently doing, but is there another way that is better? A detailed description would be wonderful as I feel I have wasted quite a bit of time, and I have very good bamboo I am wasting.
once I get the bell not in tune in both octaves I’ll start by drilling a small hole about where the first one should be (towards the end of the instrument) then I carve it out toward the embouchure hole and check both octaves, once it’s in tune in both octaves I widen the hole working away from the edge closest to the headjoint to bring the volume up to where I want it, I usually try to match the volume with that of the bell note.
You are asking a great deal for one post! I suggest you buy one of the beginner flute making books Like Lew Paxton Price “Secrets of the Flute” or Mark Shepherd’s “Flutecraft/Bamboo Flutes”. (I recommend both) you can find these at…
You are in a great place right now, as your problem is so pronounced, it should be easy to identify.
Take a whistle that you are willing to wreck. Cover all the holes with electrical tape so that it is as if you are starting with a whistle that has no holes yet.
Because this whistle is not a keeper, it doesn’t matter what side your holes are on. Go to the back of the whistle and drill a new bell note about a 1/4 of an inch lower than the one you have now. This hole will have to be bigger than the one you currently have to be in tune. Once you have it in tune, check the intonation.
Here is the fun part. If you are getting closer, keep moving the hole down. If you are even further from being in tune, move the hole up. If the hole goes up, (it will have to be smaller to be in tune)
Tape up the new hole and experiment drilling a hole in one side, then the other. Your scrap whistle should be good for about 4 bell notes before you have to start again with another scrap whistle.
You could also save yourself a lot of time and swearing by using the Flutomat to give you a better idea of where the holes should be and what size they need to be, for the flute to be in tune. You Have to know the wall thickness in fractions of an inch changed to decimal to be accurate. Succeed.Net Broadband Internet and VOIP services - succeed.net Bamboo can be hard to work with because the walls may not be concentric enough to achieve a perfectly in tune instrument. I myself have a bamboo flute that is no where near to being tune, it was built by the “Ho Yom Sum” (plays good music) company in china.
Shouldn’t that be whiskey. You may offend a whole raft of Irishmen if you use the Scotish spelling! Maybe God invented whisky for the Scots just to p*** -off the Irish!
by using the Flutomat to give you a better idea of where the holes should be and what size they need to be, for the flute to be in tune. You Have to know the wall thickness in fractions of an inch changed to decimal to be accurate. 