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The end of spring break in Southern California meant a trip to the beach, which is covered with a whole lot of bamboo driftwood — dry as a bone and perfect for two things: forts and flutes. I found one good stick and decided to make a flute out of it, so I made the original tone (mouth) hole by grinding it thin with round rocks and boring it out with a sharp stick. It was actually amazing how nice the tone was off the bat. After a good deal more walking and talking, I got home and looked up the calculations and other instructions (and programs) for making the finger holes (this PDF was by far the most helpful).

It was very cool to drill the holes in the right places and tune each one with sandpaper and eventually come out with an instrument that actually sounds good. My main mistake was making it too short to begin with, but I didn’t have much choice considering that I had already made the hole with a rock. However — I still have 4 more sections of bamboo on this stick, which I’ve cut up for easy air transportation.

Hopefully I’ll make more flutes and share some recordings! It’s fun and rewarding, so if you play flute or any musical instrument, give it a shot.