pan pipes from arundo donax(giant reed)

[neilh]

Hi,can any one give me some help(beginner here)on how I might construct pan pipes from arundo donax.It has bad press here as a noxious weed and I want to introduce its musical past to school children.Much obliged.

[sound world]

Panpipes are pretty straightforward-I make hundreds every year with children aged 6 upwards.

Any arundo with internal diameter of up to approx 3/4"/ 5cm will work well-generally with kids it's easier to play thinner tubes-but not too thin-endstock bamboo is Not Good for panpipes.
Saw the bamboos to one side of the node lines,so that a tube is closed at one end and open at the other.
If you start with a longish tube,you can guess how much to cut off another tube to make it a little higher in pitch...and so on.You could even mark out your guesstimates on your culm beforehand to save sawing.Make sure the playing ends are well sanded,and the interior of each tube is clear of residue etc.
Tying them together will involve a couple of split flat pieces to brace the tubes.If you need assistance with tying/playing,come back to me!

[neilh]

Hi .Thanks for that .Do you cut the Arundo and dry it for any period before you make the pipes?Cheers .neil

[sound world]

I think it's probably a very good idea to do that...there's other threads here about drying bamboo-although arundo isn't bamboo...
Personally living in UK,I never see green bamboo,I always have to import it dried :-( How lucky you all are...
Thin arundo is brilliant for making reeds for clarinet/bagpipe instruments,btw.

[Angel]

Arundo has no much problems to dry. Anyway, is good to let the cane to dry as a whole and then cut it into tubes. Tubes might deform in an internal spindle shape instead of cylindrical, with no good results in sound

Arundo is originally used in Ecuador to make rondadores, a kind of harmonized panflute.