I’ve tried making a couple of flutes using Doug Tipple’s instructions, but I am very unhappy with my results. Being technically instead of artistically minded, I have trouble visualizing exactly what the embouchure bevel should look like. Can someone give me a better description of the embouchure such as preferred angle, width, etc? Thanks!
It could help to have something to model your flutes after. I could imagine that it would be extremely difficult to make an embouchure hole without beeing able to look closely at one.
Sorry that you are having problems with making a good-sounding blow hole. In my instructions for a one-piece, not-tunable flute (on my webpage) I mention that it is important to not change the original design of the blow hole, which is a simple, round hole with a 3/8" diameter. If you enlarge the hole or change it’s shape, the flute may no longer be in tune.
There is no one way of cutting a good blow hole or embouchure. The steeper that you cut the blowing angle, the more air that it will take to play the flute. Just for starters, I would leave the sides of the 3 mm chimney of the blow hole at 90 degrees. For the blowing edge of the blow hole, start with a taper of 10 degrees less than 90 degrees. Then finish the embouchure and see how the flute plays. If you find that the flute plays with too much resistance, then little by little increase the angle of the taper until you have an embouchure to your liking. Good luck.
Thank you so much for the instructions on your website and the added encouragement. I found that part of my problem is that I was blowing way too hard. Today I can make it play, and other than being out of tune (very flat on low D, and about 20 cents flat overall) I’m pleased with the progress. The fact that I can flufff out a couple of songs is very encouraging. I think I’m buying a couple more pieces of pipe for this weekend and fiddling with flutes until my wife makes me sleep outside.
I also just finished a flute using the instructions from Doug’s site. I found a couple of problems as well. One, the emboucher hole feels waayyy too small for me. I have an Olwell which I play exclusively. Going from the Olwell to a 3/8 blow hole is crazy. VERY difficult to get a good stream in there, which may be connected to my second problem: filling the instrument. I made the flute with a friend while camping. I spent the better part of two days trying to go from a frustrated whispy sound to a solid tone. Bevelling the blow hole helped slightly, as did putting some tape around the cork. But it’s still a frustrating experience to play it.
On the positive side, the flute is in tune in both registers. I don’t think it’s anything in the flute design but I’m having a hard time figuring out what I did.
Question: what do you have to do if you make the emboucher hole larger? I assume that all the othe holes must then be made larger as well?
Question: I have some one inch PVC. How come none of the on line flute making sites include possibilities for this larger PVC? What are the implications of a larger internal diameter?