How to build Overtone Flutes with plastic pipe

[@NicolasBras]

You can get the blueprints for free right here : www.patreon.com/posts/all-plans-to-113301414

[@GivreMordant]

Merci beaucoup ! Je crois que j'avais laissé un commentaire à ce sujet justement. Merci beaucoup encore =)

[@fishnoggin5319]

in western nc waiting for my power to come back on. thanks for giving me something to do tomorrow! :)

[@sachiperez]

perfectly usable instrument to make good music.

[@JNaysh]

you are a treasure to the musical community

[@MarkMcCluney]

It's quite a few years ago now but I saw mandolin player Radim Zenkl play a traditional overtone flute at a bluegrass summer school. It was amazing and I've been a great fan ever since. So thanks for this Nic, I really enjoyed it.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@truthinesssss]

…Brilliant and imaginative - both in design and musicianship. ☀️ Thank you.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@StevenPaulFrancen]

Thank you for sharing this info! You know most of us want to make our own instruments and are here for your fantastic inspiration!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks! The world needs more overtone flutes, so build!

[@musiqtee]

Yep, a traditional folk instrument in Norway - of course predating plastic pipes or any other manufactured tube… People used to make them from spring-fresh willow tree saplings. The “folklore magic” emerged from the seasonal and ephemeral nature of the instrument - it wasn’t yours to keep, as the bark quickly deteriorates, leaving only the memory of its natural tones heard in the forest…

[@delamperi1546]

And in Slovakia too!

[@kaitlyn__L]

I know lots of flutes are in C, but as a saxophonist I preferred the sound of the Bb one hahaha. If I ever learn flute, I imagine I’d prefer the Bb extension attached all the time!

[@NicolasBras]

Sounds great in Bb too!

[@lucasfogaca555]

thats really interesting! it reminds me of the soundtrack for some cartoons we would have in our local tv here in brazil!

[@Kelvysb]

Hey those sounds just like the "pifanos", that are traditional on my home region, in North-east Brazil, that are bands based on that sound for generations, with 2 flutes, a tradictional drum called 'zabumba', and some other percussions, some regions has an Triangle and an "Ganzá" too, thanks so much, that's warmed my heart for sure I'll build one.

[@dale1956ties]

Cool flute! Thanks for posting Nicolas. I always enjoy seeing a new video from you.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks a lot!

[@MigoBurgghardti]

Thank you for your videos, and it's so cool that you overcame yourself to make videos and even in English.

[@emcazz]

You inspire me a lot. I have many instruments and I teach people of all ages how to play them. I often come for new ideas to your channel. Thx man!

[@4saken404]

So you made a video short on something you called an Aeolian Flute but it was much different than this. I'm still very curious about that one. But Google sent me down the overtone flute rabbit hole so it's nice that you made this one, too! Otherwise I would have been going crazy. 😅

[@NicolasBras]

I'll try to make the aeolian flute tutorial soon too!

[@4saken404]

@@NicolasBras ❤

[@almendratlilkouatl]

Yes please ​@@NicolasBras

[@kenyonegbert1125]

​@@NicolasBrasPlease do. I busk pretty often using throat singing and drums as a medium so can't do woodwinds but the tiktok short looked perfect for using with throat singing and my more energetic movements in some variation from the usual performance. I can't find tutorials on it anywhere else. Just another type of flute using the same name which doesn't have nearly the same sound or method of playing. I'll definitely send folks your way in between performances if you can get that video up. I'm looking forward to seeing it!

[@PabloGarcia-sf7bn]

Kickass! Sound is epic. What you do with pvc is awesome. Greetings from New Mexico!

[@jakoblacour]

Love it!! It would be great to see a 3D-printed version of this!

[@ALAINBRAULIO]

PPS Un commentaire d'un de tes admirateurs : "Love your work, it’s so inspiring. I build instruments with kids and your videos have given me so many good ideas for that. Thanks 🙏🏽 Tu vois VRAIMENT PAS où est le blême ???

[@dessiplaer]

Sounds great! Are you a trained woodwind player, or did you learn on your own through experimentation? Not that it matters, because either way, it all still sounds awesome!

[@NicolasBras]

I learned on my plastic pipes because those instruments had to be played! My first instruments are guitar and drums

[@drewwhitaker315]

Luv it, you are a engineering genius!

[@antonisatwork]

Great. Could you please demonstrate how to do it with natural materials like metal, wood and clay? Which type of metal is easiest to maintain and prevent rust?

[@andrewballance4161]

Bras more cooler than a fan. Keep doing

[@friendly.icicle]

Awesome and simple to make! Thanks, very inspiring!

[@Ginger_bit]

Made one a couple years ago that fits into my transverse concert flute as a replacement of the head joint. Not perfect, theres plenty of fixes I've yet to make, but now It plays vertically and has since become the main way I play that instrument.

[@NicolasBras]

I have my own versions too for side blown flutes, really cool to play! Will try to document this

[@JaredBurdick]

Wind instruments are magic

[@drgold1999]

hell ye a perfect remake

[@salsaandbachatalessons]

You’ll soon become the guru of musical instruments 🎉❤

[@gorshe74]

Hawt damn great work again nicolas. been subscribed since the membrane clarinet video and you always make such phenomenal vids.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks a lot!

[@francisjurksaitis]

Awesome solo

[@juanfernandezb9301]

Hello, Nicolas Bras, You can do a bagpipe with single and double reed but not membrane clarinets of pvc? good video.

[@TitofBee]

Tu déchires bro !

[@houseofshred3725]

REALLY cool! Thanks for posting this.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@standardannonymousguy]

Hi Nicolás, I really enjoyed this video. I have a Quéna which is somewhat similar yet of bamboo. Have you ever played one? I'm still figuring out the best way to play it, thanks for the brief tutorial on how to play with the hole you drilled. Keep doing what that you do!

[@recursr1892]

Awesome!❤ Could you combine an alphorn and a didge please? The mouth pieces are different, and the didge piece is bigger, more space for mouth articulations-could this be combined wirh the warm sound of the alphorn?

[@NicolasBras]

It could work, but the didg mouthpiece forces the player to play the fundamental note, so it would be mostly a slim didge, the low notes are not really played on an alphorn..!

[@recursr1892]

@@NicolasBras I didn‘t know the didge mouth pieces enables this lower notes (even with a shorter tube), but then makes it more difficult to play other notes..hm.. So the ideal mouthpiece is wide enough for some articulations, but narrow enough to support multiple overtone notes- somewhere between 2cm and 5cm I guess. Or change the mouthpiece size dynamically, like a camera aperture apparatus. A bit complicated and difficult to play. I wonder if instead an blow instrument could play subharmonics/undertones like church organs?

[@builder60]

Genius!

[@AaronSof]

Bravo!

[@BarBarian-sy5xz]

Excellent.

[@jipes]

Fabuleux comme dab bravo !!!!

[@ZvikaDror]

Wonderful video !

[@abhijithr5938]

Make a shakuhachi out of pvc please I love it's sound but it's too expensive

[@NicolasBras]

Working on it already, got some models ready!

[@abhijithr5938]

Gald to hear that! I'm eager to see the video😊

[@Reversingthelies]

Great vid thanks

[@goldenstarsstudio3153]

Retour aux classiques 😁😁

[@peterpeper4837]

Very nice sounding I ll make one. That is the typical balkan shepherd's flute. Do they also use it in France?

[@NicolasBras]

Not really, only in the diy world, but we build a few thousands in various workshop, I hope it will become a french traditional instrument one day, working on it!

[@St-mh4tf]

super video !

[@NicolasBras]

Grand merci!

[@FronbondiSkegs]

fantastic !

[@wooden_lord]

As a person who is completely far from the physics of sound formation, I still can’t understand why some whistle instruments sound when they don’t have a hole at the end, while others don’t. What does this depend on? And why do some instruments sound in both cases?

[@billxrl4154]

The sound doesn't really come out of the end like a trumpet, it comes out the bevel.

[@wooden_lord]

@@billxrl4154, okay, but it still remains unclear - why is there sound in some cases and not in others, if the air cutters are approximately the same everywhere?

[@timstolte7117]

Could you clarify which Instruments in particular you are thinking about

[@wooden_lord]

@@timstolte7117, here, for example, is an ocarina. I sometimes carve them out of wood. If there is even a gap somewhere on the body, there will be no sound. This is a closed whistle flute. But let's take a regular transverse flute - it is long and open at the end. And, if my memory serves me right, the end can be closed, but the sound will still be there. What's the matter? The whistle device seems to be the same, maybe the matter is in the internal volume and shape of the instrument itself? I repeat - I am bad at physics, that's why I have such questions)

[@olegfaikhner3983]

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@aliAli-h6o7g]

I wish the dodak was made of this plastic material.❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@gammas.a.-g.caldarella8114]

I make it one now with a carton tube diameter 3 cm. and a plastic cap. Oh, mistyc! I like carton tube of the gloves for the fruit in supermarket to make musical instruments.

[@salsaandbachatalessons]

If I may ask, how long is the pvc pipe! 🙏

[@DeweyKentM]

Have you thought of watching and “reacting” to your homemade instruments compilation video, and talking about each instrument? I’d love to see what you have to say about your own instruments years later. My favorite sound is number 43- Silent Plurididj, and it took me so long to figure out it was a didgeridoo. I couldn’t tell what it was or how it worked, and I thought it was a membrane instrument for so long. Are there certain instruments you think could work well if they were incorporated into an orchestra, mainstream pop music, or movie soundtracks? Especially talking of movie soundtracks, I hear some instruments and they seem like they would be perfect for otherworldly soundscapes, like Dune, Star Wars, or other sci-fi or fantasy. Have you been approached by composers or other musicians?

[@jls_wav]

Si on prend un plus gros diamètre de tube pvc ça fera des sons plus grave ?

[@LowellLoveMusic]

What tuning app is that?

[@davidhaillant7603]

It's Tunable. A great app. Unfortunately, it seems that the developer stopped maintaining it. I run it on my old android phone though.

[@something_goes_wrong]

grate video!!! please, tell me what tuner soft on the phone you use?

[@Davidesuasideias]

I'm from Brazil, and this sound exactly ancient inner city Northeast culture (where i from). Watch "O alto da compadecida" and you will understand

[@holypowers]

Hey Jason Mamoa. Do an aquaman themed instrument

[@SurvivalOfMayonnaise]

In your Ted talk I noticed you transferring a premade mouth piece to different pipes - how do you make the mouthpiece detachable and transferable?

[@Dj1Frontier]

Thank you for your guide on making an overtone flute. Could you please tell me how to make a large overtone flute? I dream of making one like the one in the video OMNIA [Official] - Kokopelli HokaHey! [live]. Thank you!

[@aetheralmeowstic2392]

Could you please provide conversions for countries like the US that use the Imperial-based Schedule sizing system for PVC pipes? Although please keep hole diameters/distances and such in metric

[@dilandogbp]

You can't do it yourself?

[@NicolasBras]

I don't know the standards in the US, but I know the standard sizes are not equal, it need some efforts to adapt!

[@ChristianAzuero-z5o]

can you make a PVC baroque oboe?

[@kiranacharya2576]

Can u make mini saxophone sound like a saxophone using flute holes and saxophone mouthpiece

[@janmichalek1294]

What tuner app do you use pleas?

[@psychobell1-matahari406]

What is the app you use to fine tune it

[@Promptisneeded]

Make a jaw harp (khomus)

[@Jeffnareff]

hI Nico, what tuning app do you use ?

[@ChandrashekarCN]

💖💖💖💖

[@Bob78]

shaun

[@raz_kamus]

Niceeee! Thank you very muce! Can I buy it in Israel?

[@nickcaruso]

How do you change the pitch while playing?

[@romeolz]

Blow harder or softer to go up or down in overtone series

[@nickcaruso]

@@romeolz 😮 cool

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@nickcaruso it’s a function present in all wind instruments! The octave or twelfth key in a lot of keyed wind instruments for example, just automates going up the first harmonic or two. But players can get higher notes (altissimo) by blowing even harder, and even get overtones above that! Of course, when you add in the function of all the keys, it’s basically like having overtone pipes like this at as many lengths as you have tone holes :) but players sometimes practice their overtone series with all keys open or all keys closed.

[@Keinapappa]

Have you tried to make a trombone? Or perhaps a bagpipe trombone?🤪

[@fernandosieiro6953]

👏👏👏👏👏👍🖐️

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

Like deployed 👍

[@manelthegreek]

Après regarder ce video je serai obligé d'aller à Leroy Merlin, merci...

[@bookoutftv8668]

3:59 💀 7 weeks and 5 days

[@ChinaskyDude]

Bonjour Nicolas, y'a t'il un endroit où te joindre (mail) en privé? N'étant pas sur les réseaux sociaux, je n'ai pas réussit à trouver un contact... Merci D'avance (C'est pour te parler d'un festival d'idiophones et d'instruments non conventionnels issu du recyclage que je suis en train de monter. dans le Lot...) Belle journée à toi :)

[@NicolasBras]

Il y a un nicolasbras.com que je finis de construire, mais tu y trouveras un formule de contact!

[@kalle_kvantson]

I tried to make this and it didnt work );

[@codahighland]

Reminds me of Pac-Man music.

[@MalucoLapin]

Oh ? tu n'as jamais tenté de rouler les R en soufflant ? je joue du saxo, on fait les T, on lie par des L , les K sont plus du domaine de la flute, et les R on un son de sifflet à bille très efficace pour faire croire à de la vitesse, qu'on exploite bien quand on siffle de la langue et pas des lèvres

[@kaitlyn__L]

Interesting, I was taught all of T/D, H, K, L, R, and Y. But then my teacher was primarily an oboe player even though I play sax. Apparently my embouchure is fairly rare in sax after the 50s, too 😅

[@NicolasBras]

Si bien sûr, ça fonctionne très bien dans cet instrument, je ferai un tutoriel sur le jeu plus développé bientôt !

[@MalucoLapin]

@@kaitlyn__L ^ ^ i'm a fairly poor autodidact, who had few years of lessons in his youth, i have to take an astronomical care of my gears, so i use only the safiest technics ^ ^ Is i own a sax, it's only because i found him in a dump and repaired him my best ^ ^ I cannot afford to broke a reed, i don't know how to make one, so... i'm cautious about how i play

[@manyhandsmakelightsnacks]

i feel like we English should be calling you "Nicholas Arms"...

[@lacrimis_solis]

🫶

[@NikodAnimations]

100th comment

[@ALAINBRAULIO]

Pas de réaction à mon post d'il y a BIEN PLUS d'un mois (eh, YT de mes...). Pas étonnant : tu t'adresse à un public anglophone ou anglophile (dont y doit y en avoir qques uns qui viennent se régaler de ton accent Frenchie) et À PEU PRÈS les seul à avoir pigé le sens de mon intervention, c'est toi. De deux choses l'une (à part le soleil bien sûr), OU BIEN t'as pas le temps de revenir voir les comm. sur tes produc à YT, OU BIEN tu t'en fous de ce que je te dis. Libre à toi de continuer dans cette voie, mais sois prévenu : c'est une très lourde responsabilité que tu prends en n'avertissant pas ton public du danger à porter en bouche, régulièrement, du pvc industriel. Si c'est la 1ère hypothèse qui est juste, j'ai pas d'autre choix que d'inonder les comm. de tes autres "sorties" pour battre l'alarme. (Et p'tain, je me passerais bien de me farcir ce taf ; car y en a d'autres qui font comme toi - mais pas avec autant de constance d'ailleurs je ne sais pas comment tu fais ; chapeau pour ça - & pas pour ton entêtement si c'est la 2ème hypothèse qui prévaut...)

[@ALAINBRAULIO]

(PS bravo également pour ton approche de l'impression 3D, QUI PLUS EST permet d'utiliser des matériaux plus stables et moins nocif. En tout cas les plastiques / résines de maïs par exemple risquent peu d'altérer ton système hormonal et ton hérédité, & de même en ce qui concerne tes "ouailles"...)

[@ALAINBRAULIO]

P'tain vieux ça fait un moment que je me retiens pasque après tout les gens font ce qu'ils veulent et surtout n'en font qu'à leur tête j'apprécie tes efforts et admire ta constance mais il faut que t'arrête je parle d'expérience j'ai moi-même fabriqué pas mal de binious en PVC et connais d'autres confrères qui font pareil à qui je disais que le PVC indus est une saloperie dont il faut se méfier car instable et TÉRATOGÈNE et qui continuent et s'en foutent royalement de mes avertissement et je voudrais pas être à leur place lorsqu'ils auront engendré des enfants dégénérés... fffffhh. SÉRIEUX SI TU VEUX POURSUIVRE et avoir des infos mieux torchées et avec ponctuation, je peux y revenir ; MAIS ARRÊTE, pour toi-même et ta descendance, de suçoter des embouchures faites de ce matériau, et de faire du prosélytisme qui plus est. Et renseigne-toi enfin : le PVC est sorti de la gamme des emballages alimentaires il y a plus d'un demi-siècle, car il est avéré qu'on ne peut pas stabiliser ses éléments migrants à base de chlore, poisons pour l'organisme humain. Est-il utile préciser que les industriels s'en tapent par contre de vendre des tuyaux pour usage de plomberie et électricité, SANS PRÉVENIR les gugusses comme toi et moi qui s'en servent pour faire des expériences ? Pour ma part, d'avoir goûté littéralement cette salinité qui se dégage des becs de pipeaux bricolés en PVC, & renseignements pris je suis passé au roseau et au bois, avant finalement de m'offrir les services de facteurs qui travaillent au tour et avec des bois nobles et un savoir-faire de plusieurs dizaines d'années - car c'est la musique qui importe dans cette histoire, pas vrai ? (J'ai continué de produire e.a. des kavals en PVC, mais avec embouts en roseau ou bois de sureau...) Amicalement et solidairement, Bien à toi.