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How to Make a PVC Shakuhachi

The shakuhachi is a Japanese flute traditionally made from bamboo. The Japanese consider its music, or honkyoku, to be one of the major historical musical styles of their culture. The name of this flute comes from an ancient method of measuring. Its name evolved from a phrase that meant 1.8 feet. This length represents a flute with its lowest pitch at the D note. Musicians also play other sizes of this traditional flute ranging from 1.3 feet to 2.4 feet. All the flutes have four finger holes on the front and one thumb hole on the back.

Things You'll Need

  • PVC cement
  • PVC pipe, 21 1/2 inches long, 3/4-inch diameter
  • Straight connector for 3/4-inch diameter PVC pipe
  • Wooden mallet
  • Hacksaw
  • File
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Protractor
  • Sandpaper
  • Drill
  • Drill bit, 3/16 inches
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Instructions

    • 1

      Coat the inside of a straight PVC pipe connector and insert the PVC pipe into it. Drive the connector onto the pipe with a wooden mallet until the pipe end reaches halfway into the connector. Do not drive the pipe into the joint any further.

    • 2

      Saw the straight connector in half so that it is approximately even with the end of the pipe inside. File the cut end so that the connector and pipe are exactly level.

    • 3

      Place a ruler across the end so that one straight edge just touches the outer wall of the pipe inside the connector. Draw a line across the end of the connector using this straight edge as a guide. This gives you a line that is tangent to the pipe's outer wall.

    • 4

      Use a protractor to draw another line on the side of the connector at a 25-degree angle to the line you drew across the end in the previous step. Draw a similar line on the opposite side of the connector. These lines will be your guides for filing or sanding away a slanted section of the end to make the mouthpiece.

    • 5

      Sand or file the section outlined by the guiding lines you drew in the previous step. The slanted surface will now be smooth and there will be a shallow, concave indentation (.08 inch deep) in the middle.

    • 6

      File the other edges of the mouthpiece so that they are very and smooth. Smoothness is important here because the back part rests against the chin when the shakuhachi is played.

    • 7

      File the opposite end of the PVC pipe so that the length is exactly 21 1/8 inches. Because the flute is actually named after its own length, it would not be a shakuhachi if it were the wrong size.

    • 8

      Mark the centers of the finger holes on the front of the pipe, which is the side of the pipe with the slanted mouthpiece section, at 18 7/8 inches, 16 3/8 inches, 14 inches and 11 9/16 inches from the mouthpiece end. Make sure the marks all lie on a straight line and drill the finger holes using a 3/16-inch drill bit. Sand the edges smooth.

    • 9

      Drill a thumb hole on the back side of the pipe at 9 7/8 inches from the mouthpiece end, again using the 3/16-inch drill bit. Sand the edges smooth and your shakuhachi is finished.

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