Changes for the Plumber's Pipe
rdmiller3@gmail.com
If you just want to cut to the chase and build the silly thing,
go straight to the step by step flute
construction page.
Acknowledgements
My first exposure to flutemaking was in 1984 when I met Billy Miller at the
Renaissance Faire in Bristol,
Wisconsin. He and his flutes were my first hands-on exposure to the
provocative realm of the pipe. Visiting the Faire again recently I found him
even more magical than before and wasn't much surprised to hear that his
Windwood
Flutes has a page on the web.
Many thanks to Mark Shepard
MarkShep@aol.com
for his flute pages which
describe the flute for which this page shows modifications. I've included
hard-copy of his "How
to Play" instructions along with some of the piccolos I've given away and
I enjoyed building and playing the
Plumber's Pipe
which he described.
I was thrilled to see these pages online and want to support Mark in
encouraging people to make their music from scratch. With suitable
materials like plastic and metallic tubing so cheaply and easily available,
anyone can use Mark's simple design to build a new channel through which
their heart can speak. There were however some simple modifications to
his design which suggested themselves to me. Here are some of those ideas,
in no particular order.
Adjusting the Key
The first thing I had difficulty with was that the dimensions given resulted
in a flute in the key of F-sharp... not one of your more popular keys. This
(according to Mark) was probably due to a slight difference in the dimensions
of the pipe I was using, as opposed to his. Since it was only a half-step to
the key of G, I used a scaling factor of 0.944 to adjust the dimensions. (See
Scaling Dimensions for Different Keys.)
The Head End
Using an end cap as both a way to seal the blowing end and as extra thickness
in the embouchure (blowing hole) is economic, but it doesn't allow for
adjustment. My first modification was to do away with the end cap and use
a end joint and stopper instead. The cost was about forty cents more and
it required a bit more work but the result was that I could put the upper
registers in tune with the lower. This is especially important when you
remember that all plumbing pipe is not made alike.
To see the specifics, look at
Head End Construction.
Acetone is Handy
For the longest time, I used to gripe about how hard it was to sand the
lettering off of plumbing tubing. Then I got a can of acetone! Any hardware
store should have it. It takes off the factory lettering, permanent marker,
gummy sticker residue, etc. It can soak right into the plastic too, which can
be useful.
(See Using Acetone for the details.)
Head Joint Tuning Slide
Traditionally, the head joint has served two functions. It allows the flute
to be taken apart for easier cleaning and storage and it can act as a tuning
slide when you want to play along with less readily adaptable instruments such
as clarinet or piano. For this, a simple end joint works fine.
Plan the placement of the joint as close to the tone holes as possible without
getting in the way of your fingers. Glue the end joint to the head piece.
For a simple joint, jamb the lower piece in and measure away. For a tuning
slide though, things are a little trickier.
Push the lower pipe in as far as it will go and make a mark in the side of the
lower piece with a file or knife right at the edge of the end joint. Then
twist or wiggle the pipe out 1/8" or so and make another such mark. These
marks will serve as a tuning guage; measure and tune your flute with the
second mark aligned with the edge of the end joint as it was when you cut it,
like so:
![[diagram showing head joint tuning slide]](pipemod2.png)
Fancy Embouchure
Feeling ambitious? Want to impress your friends? Make an embouchure "plate"
like the one on modern flutes. This silly little modification doesn't do much
to decrease the weight of your flute but it leaves anyone who sees it with no
doubt of what they're looking at. Do this, and your flute will look like a
flute, not just a funny piece of pipe.
After filing the central dividing ridge out of a end joint, cut the whole
joint in half along its axis. You'll use one of those halves. Round the
corners with a file and soften the edges with sandpaper or whatever, then glue
it to the head piece like so:
![[end view of fancy embouchure]](pipemod3.png)
Look at a standard (Boehm) flute and do like that.
![[mirrored GIF of me]](facebw.png)
Graphic Decorations
A great way to decorate your flute, put your logo on it, or whatever is to
transfer the graphic using Xerographic "toner". That toner, used by laser
printers and copy machines, is made of tiny beads of colored thermoplastic.
It sticks to the paper by being melted to it, and it will stick just great
to PVC and CPVC too! It's really almost too simple.
I took a GIF of myself and converted it to black-and-white, flipped it
backwards and printed it out on a laser printer, then transferred it to
my flute as a sort of impromptu logo. More on how to do that in my
notes on Xerographic Toner Transfers.
More Information
A variety of general and specific information on what materials to use,
how to prepare them, how to work them, etc. can be found in my short notes on
materials for flutemaking and
methods for flutemaking. A short discussion of
some of the issues of flute design can be found in
principles of flute design.
I hope you take some of these ideas and try it! The materials are so
inexpensive and the time and effort required so minimal. Let me encourage you
to at least give it a shot. Whether you build Mark Shepard's original
"Plumber's Pipe" or modify it in these or any other way, I'd like to hear
about your experiences along the way.
Good luck, and have fun!
Rick Miller
rdmiller3@gmail.com
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Rick Miller
rdmiller3@gmail.com