Harvesting Rivercane

[@ChokonenNde]

Thank you, I am so very grateful for your instructions, I had a nice cane flute that was gifted to me by a patient of mine that I refused to let pass away, when he recovered he made the flute and gave it to me. Sadly there are people in this world that do not respect others, my flute was stolen while I was in a Sweatlodge. I only hope that I can make one that sounds half as nice.

[@BlueBearFlutes]

Be sure to check out my many other videos on flute making! Especially for under $3!

[@ChokonenNde]

@@BlueBearFlutes thank you, I certainly will as I am now disabled and live on a fix income (barely subsistence).

[@BlueBearFlutes]

@@ChokonenNde Please send me a message through my website. 😀

[@squatcher77]

Boy, I sure miss trekking around cane breaks and the woods. Haven't been around any for 20+ years, and now it looks like I am gonna have to plan an outing really soon! Thanks for all the vids and all ya'lls hard work. Peace and God Bless! Clint

[@BlueBearFlutes]

Thanks Clint. Everyone should go out into the woods once in awhile to re-charge their batteries.

[@billyjoedenny]

nice charley, good info to know when shopping for a flute to make... the last few i cut brown ,are wind chimes now..lol. ..bill

[@rodneyhoward4803]

Charlie, Thanks for the awesome and very helpful videos you do. I'm a beginner flute player and I am really interested in making my own river cane flute. The question I have is, how do you clean the inside of the cane to achieve a smoother bore once the nodes have been broken through? A video on this would be fantastic or just a simple explanation. Keep up the great work. By the way, I recently ordered one of your cedar flutes and cant wait for it to get to me so I can begin playing it. They sound incredible.

[@BlueBearFlutes]

Thank you Rodney for your message and for your recent purchase. I do have a couple of videos that show how I clean the inside, however I can tell you 2 ways. One is to use a drain or pipe cleaning brush to remove any debris, and the other is a dowel with a slit cut into one end and a piece of sandpaper glued into the slit. Then we attach the dowel to our drill and use it to smooth out the nodes on the inside. I don't recommend this method however because it can hurt you or break your flute.

[@Richkandoo]

Good info on picking by color. I found a source and was wondering if a nice size green one could be dried by a safe rate and what the conditions would have to be.

[@BlueBearFlutes]

It mostly depends on the stage and growth that the cane is harvested. It's best to cut it when it is old. If it is still green, I would fire the outside of it first, putting it in a paper bag and in the oven on the lowest temperature setting around 100 degrees with the oven door cracked open for about 4 hours. That is of course after knocking out all of the nodes (so the cane doesn't explode) except the one you will use between the air supply and sound hole. The natural way would be to leave the links intact and put it in the shade for about 3 to 6 months.

[@valdeezycleaver]

I know this is pretty late, but I have a patch of river cane that has just sprouted by the creek on my property. Most of the shoots are sitting at about 2-4 feet right now, and I'm curious how long it might take for a plant like that to grow to the size of some of the smaller ones in that patch. I would like to make a cane pole or two in the future, maybe about ten or twelve feet in length.

[@BlueBearFlutes]

Great question! If it is giant rivercane, it will take probably three or four years before it will produce something I would take fishing or make a flute out of! If it is bamboo, you probably will be able to use it next year.

[@valdeezycleaver]

BlueBearFlutes not too bad either way. Thank you!

[@michaelsabiu8155]

Grazie, molto prezioso il tuo video!

[@jessicacrewlove]

With the sawgrass plant you did not need to check for cracks right?

[@BlueBearFlutes]

When the Sawgrass is extremely dry, it will have cracks. I usually try to cut it that is mature and about to die and they never have cracked. It is wise to check the material until you get the hang of that however. Also, once you take it out of the environment and it no longer gets rained on or sits in the Sun for too long, it will no longer crack or continue to crack. It's only when they have been eroded from the weather that they have cracks present. Great question and thanks for watching!

[@jessicacrewlove]

@@BlueBearFlutes Makes sense! Thank you for that great info!

[@jameslewis4026]

Hey Charlie, I was wondering if there were anything similar to rivercane on the west area of the U.S? I can't find any where I'm living. I don't know if there is rivercane here and I am not looking in the right place or if there is anything similar to it.

[@Kurokubi]

Golden bamboo, most likely. (As in, the one you're most likely to find) Of course, you're likely to find that in people's yards or on their property. You're able to buy their rhizomes online but I don't recommend buying golden bamboo, it's the most common in the u.s. but it's also listed as invasive because it's fast growing non-clumping, meaning its roots spread out its clones very quickly, up to 10 feet per year, and can completely over take and destroy forests and natural ecosystems if left unchecked. If you want bamboo, I suggest you look for clumping species. They grow in clusters that look like the one in the video.

[@tombryant9878]

I would like to see the leaves of this cane stand, it's unusual in that it is in small stands clumping together, the cane that I have gathered with tribal basket weavers from Louisiana to Georgia didn't clump together like this and we're in small stands

[@cardinalflower135]

Very informative--thanks for posting! Is this Arundinaria gigantea?

[@BlueBearFlutes]

Cardinal Flower I believe so.

[@AlbertMoore-e8z]

Looks like Florida or south Ga..just guessing..lol

[@BlueBearFlutes]

Very close!

[@michaelsabiu8155]

Nel mio paese in Italia ci sono delle simili canne, ma molto più sottili e secche, ciao amico!

[@415mazer6]

Fascinating,t hank you

[@rusumberbarr9208]

how long is a typical Cherokee flute?

[@BlueBearFlutes]

Rus Umberger Overall about 18" from the mouthpiece to the end of the flute. Length can vary based on length of mouthpiece.

[@rusumberbarr9208]

k thanks bro!

[@322doug]

i have went to your website many times, it does not work, i click on every thing on the page and nothing happens.....i click on ass, info , videos... nothing.I was wanting to buy some river cane if you sell it.

[@usernamemykel]

PLEASE use a lapel mic.

[@BlueBearFlutes]

You must not like natural environments very much.

[@usernamemykel]

BlueBearFlutes I love natural environments, but when one turns away from the mic on a camera, he/she is more difficult to hear. And if one is making an informative, instructional video, isn’t it the aim to get your message to your followers?

[@BlueBearFlutes]

@@usernamemykel like any other time, I got my message to you (my reply). It's what you do with it that counts. 😉

[@tombryant9878]

This is NOT river cane, the native species, this is clumping Asian bamboo so is the patch of yellow cane in another video....it's used by fly rod makers....

[@BlueBearFlutes]

As I said, you may know something but you don't know this. You're wrong you have no idea what you're talking about. Find someone else to troll!

[@BlueBearFlutes]

You have no idea what you're talking about. So unlike in your previous comment, people aren't making fishing poles out of it, they're making fly rods out of it now? You honestly haven't the foggiest. As I said the last time you posted this comment, this cane is not strong enough even in a short 6 ft length to make a fishing pole! It would snap! The links are too far apart which makes it weaker than your chinese bamboo. The other cane in the other video is called arundo donax. Educate yourself before you put yourself out there. And please don't forget, go troll someone else.

[@stephenh7336]

If rivercane mostly grows to 12_15 feet and Only 100 year old reports say it can reach 20 feet, how is it you're in a canebreak with 20+ feet? Their diameter is no more than 1 inch and those look 1.5-2inch. If it is authentic you should have the property owner contact the Cherokee nation to help with conservation and repopulation of the species.

[@BlueBearFlutes]

It's amazing that in the few minutes it took you to watch this video you became a expert on rivercane. Do you believe that the Cherokee were the only group of people who used rivercane?

[@stephenh7336]

BlueBearFlutes I've spent much more time than that studying the 3 species of american cane. No I don't believe they were the only group who used rivercane. It was extensively used by everyone in the south. I'm simply stating that's either NOT American cane, OR it's an extremely Rare patch. If you took 30 seconds to read ALL I wrote you'd also notice I said if it's real, you should try to HELP PROMOTE THE SPREAD of the plant. Instead you got offended because I didn't take your word as fact.

[@BlueBearFlutes]

@@stephenh7336 if you had spent more time than that studying arundinaria gigantea you would No Doubt find patches of it growing in Cherokee North Carolina that match the patches that I visit both in this video and others. You would also know that it grows more than 30 ft tall and can be as much as three inches in diameter since these numbers are so critical in proving a point. Likewise, it may be incomprehensible that I reread your comment no less than eight times as well as my council also having read it prior to response. As it was determined as a blatant attempt to disprove, it was dealt with likewise. No offense. And since I was paying such close attention, I might add that what you said was if it is authentic, the owner should contact "the" Cherokee nation for help. I help preserve it by teaching about it. www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1279

[@stephenh7336]

BlueBearFlutes You mistake my ‘discrediting’ you with ‘questioning’ you. And you constantly miss my MAIN POINT. If it’s authentic then please share with others to preserve the plant. However the very article you post states in the ‘canebreak today’ section, “ Most stands of tall cane found in present-day Alabama are Asian bamboos imported for their superior quality as fishing poles or as ornamentals.” Hence my reasoning for asking questions. A few of my original sources… bamboogarden.com/Arundinaria%20gigantea%20ssp.%20gigantea.htm www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c917 www.rivercane.msstate.edu/about/ www.illinoiswildflowers.info/grasses/plants/giant_cane.html All which state shorter heights and smaller diameters and/or that asian bamboos are present and sometimes mistaken. But by all means, don’t answer directly with something like “Yes, we know it’s been here long enough it’s not asian bamboo.” Lastly I’m not offended by anything, just think you’re real hostile because you’re not used to someone questioning anything you say.

[@BlueBearFlutes]

@@stephenh7336 I'm certainly not hostile. Your saying that is in itself a means of attempting to discredit me. It would be the same as if I were to say that you were involved with drugs or perhaps some other socially unacceptable faux pas. It is based on your own speculation and is likewise flawed. And on the contrary, I am quite used to people (those with certain intentions) questioning me. It has begun to define me as a person. And since I usually leave unanswered or delete such comments as yours, I decided to respond in order not only to show my convictions to my viewers, but to allow you to experience being questioned as well, though not by someone with 10 minutes worth of googling a topic, rather by someone with years of life experience on the topic. Not to mention after googling said topic, citing the top sites accept for the third one: fs.fed.us because it states 3 inches/33 feet. I realize that this is probably not the outcome you might have wished for, though by your attitude I believe it to be one you can benefit from. Thank you elders for your guidance... Counting coup since '72... Victory dance! Wo ho heya!!! 🐻