Primitive music 2: Making a DIY elderberry flute 🎵

[@j.j.kuiper22]

I did not know there was so much behind a flute. And to see someone make it with only primitive tools, well done sire.

[@izzy-vw3xu]

Ur profile is kinda scary ngl.

[@acuddlyheadcrab]

this is a (mouthpieced) whistle not a transverse flute, that is why. A transverse flute is even easier, you basically just made a circle and plug up one end flat

[@karlcasias1043]

I am a branch flute maker and i am super impressed with your bushcraft talent,Kudos to you brother !

[@gustavthane2233]

This is absolutely amazing. Doing stuff is cool, but getting the tune right and using what you made is already the next level. Well done.

[@rojirrim7298]

What a joy of a channel. Thanks for sharing the video with us!

[@williamwhite9481]

Looks and sounds very cool, great job.

[@withnature250]

It's reminding my childhood. Great work, thanks for the share. Life is beautiful with the nature.

[@lisje2496]

Beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!

[@michaelwagner4451]

Tolle Sache mit der Flöte. Ich habe eine aus dem Schafsknochen gebastelt, ist aber eher eine Pfeiffer. Wir sehen uns auf der Zeiteninsel.

[@julien_mglhs]

This was very fun to watch and very instructive! New Sub :D

[@dimfuturefilms9070]

Awesome dude 👍

[@tonimartin6954]

This is the coolest thing! Thank you!

[@asilvestrandome]

It sounds Really nice , thank you.

[@branni6538]

It's a soothing sound. Nice work.

[@mecoptera102]

Thank you - that was beautiful

[@ljpimentel]

Awesome video! Thx for sharing!

[@pi198273]

Awesome!

[@NCCEELN]

I was millimetres away from getting a sound out of my first flute when tragedy struck and it split when trying to add the air block. I'll try again tomorrow

[@MakeItPrimitive]

Don't get discouraged, it takes a couple of attempts to get it right. If you're working with elderberry, try to put the block near a knot where branches used to grow of - the walls are a bit thicker and stronger there. Plus, the slightly narrower inner diameter makes it easier to press-fit the block in place, so you don't need any glue. Anyway, I'd love to hear how your flute turned out!

[@eyedropblackful]

the best diy ever!!

[@monoseq9797]

it sounds amazing too! beautiful video! may i ask how you worked out the spacing between the finger holes? did you drill them all at 15mm (same as the diameter of the bore hole)?

[@MakeItPrimitive]

Quick answer: Don't worry too much about finger hole placement. Put the lowest one roughly in the right position and start with a small hole, which will sound too low. Then gradually widen it until you reach the right frequency. Then continue upwards with the next hole. For more info, check out the video description and the resources I linked to there.

[@elusive7815]

👏 that's awesome man

[@pinetreewoods7515]

Love the boots

[@dkruz1]

Thanks, good video. When starting out with green elderberry wood is it helpful to let the wood air dry as you're stripping off the bark and hollowing out the inside? About how wide should the interior of the piece be bored out to?

[@MakeItPrimitive]

Yes, you should let the wood dry out well before proceeding. Elderberry wood shrinks a lot when drying. Try to find a piece with as wide a natural bore as you can - the wider the sound chamber, the lower a note the flute can sustain. Also check out the video description for more on this.

[@justemoi3458]

Nice video. Thank you. You could get better sound if you make square holes for the sound mecanism 😉

[@MakeItPrimitive]

I actually tried this, but somehow the round hole worked better for me so far. Is there some kind of trick to the square hole?

[@justemoi3458]

@@MakeItPrimitive Here is a link to keep it primitive 🙂 : www.flutopedia.com/hole_placement.htm This is where I found all the answers about crafting Native American Flutes (I make them with bamboo). It is true that square holes produce a better sound in my experience. I work with a simple french traditional carving knife, I begin with a round hole in the center of the final hole and slowly make it square. I also make the air channel between the two squares ON the flute, with a flat block. You could sand this channel with a stone, as well as the sides of your holes to smooth everything.

[@MakeItPrimitive]

That's the resource I used as well. I'm currently working on other types of flutes (fipple, quena etc.) but I'll have to get back to the NAF sometime. Thanks for your input, it's really appreciated!

[@justemoi3458]

@@MakeItPrimitive Yes this website is wonderful, the "bible" for flute makers 😄 Did you notice that on the old Chippewa flute's picture a piece of birch bark is used as a spacer plate for the air channel ? No need to carve air channels, easy to find, cut and replace, waterproof and flexible (kind of elasticity). Indi-genius as always : simple and natural !

[@erinjacobs2894]

This is cool! Is this elder (shrub) or elderberry (berries are cooked and turned into tea/or jelly)? Is there a video on how to find the plant in nature?

[@MakeItPrimitive]

This is sambucus nigra, the black elderberry. It grows as a large shrub with long, sometimes spidery branches, white flowers and black berries. It is one of the most common shrubs in my area, so it's not hard to find. But this may vary, depending on where you live. If it doesn't grow there, there may be some other hollow plant you could use for making flutes?

[@erinjacobs2894]

@@MakeItPrimitive ok, thank you so much! :D

[@simonyoung1125]

watching this while listening to Othar Turner

[@KalebHayase]

New sub, just the video I wanted to see

[@corbinlowe5662]

Awsome

[@lys_9418]

Arigato my dude! Just so amazing! I now like build 5 or 6 of them and kinda getting the vibe xD thx for the vid!

[@MakeItPrimitive]

1. If you want the flute to play a lower note, it needs to be longer. In order to sustain that tone, also the bore must be wider. Since 15 millimeters seems to be about the widest inner diameter of an elderberry branch, you would probably need to choose a different material, maybe something like bamboo. 2. Yup, I'm German, nothing too personal about that, it says so in my channel info ;-) In the beginning I also wrote video titles, descriptions and subtitles in German, but not a whole lot of people were using it. So I decided the time would be better spent building stuff.

[@lys_9418]

@@MakeItPrimitive uuuu k thx for the infos xD

[@Ariel-oj2hj]

How important is it that the branch be perfectly straight? Is it ok if there is a slight bow to it?

[@MakeItPrimitive]

As long as it doesn't prevent you from getting all the pith out, the shape doesn't really matter in my experience.

[@yolomolo5472]

How did you hollow out the middle. Was a little confused on how you did it

[@MakeItPrimitive]

Elderberry branches are filled with soft pith that you can pull out without drilling.

[@dukicalvo7495]

Is the length of my branch going to affect the sound or is it not gonna make sound at all? I picked a short branch bc that’s the only good one I found

[@MakeItPrimitive]

The shorter the flute, the higher the base note. Shorter flutes are usually easier to get a sound out of, so this is a good piece to start with.

[@boptillyouflop]

I did a pvc transverse flute... this is more elaborate.

[@junemclane3027]

I worked VERY carefully. Have been a fine worker for 40 years, yet I can’t get as much as a fart out of what I have done. Carefully made adjustments only to have gone too far and ruined my nice piece of elderberry shoot. RATS! It’s all in the sloped mechanism and the two holes. I have inserted a plug between them, made the little piece and hollowed it out underneath with the end still in tact…not even a toot will ensue…..any suggestions?

[@MakeItPrimitive]

My suggestion would be to start with PVC pipes or store-bought bamboo until you get a feeling for the many parameters of a flute. Or some other material that allows you to prototype rapidly without sacrificing your rare good pieces. By the time I built the flute seen in the video, I had made about twenty non-working or subpar predecessors. Don't give up, it will take a few tries, but you will make progress eventually. Experiment a bit with the size of the sound hole and the flue. Keep the sound edge sharp, and the surfaces in the flue straight and smooth. The point seems to be that a laminar "sheet" of air hits the sharp edge of the sound hole. Oh, and the higher notes are easier to produce, so maybe start with a shorter piece to get the "producing a sound" part dialled in. By the way, now (autumn / winter) seems to be the best time to hunt for elderberry shoots. Look for places where the plants gets plenty of light, like on a strip between two fields. Under these circumstances, they sometimes grow long, straight shoots reaching for the sky. Since these are young, grew fast and haven't branched yet, they still have a wide canal, and the branching knots are far apart. And they are easier to find without leaves hiding them. I struggled for a long time finding and identifying good material, but now my workshop is full of nice elderberry branches. :-)

[@junemclane3027]

@@MakeItPrimitive hey thanks for your response! I have access to lots of elderberry. Have several sticks leaning on the wall of my living room. The one I messed up, I can make a shorter try at it. And your suggestion to use pvc is good advise. Being that I like to do things carefully and right the first time, your twenty looks pretty good to me. Have been a wood worker for almost five decades and it humbles me to have found something most challenging. Thanks and good luck to you hombre. I’ll send another comment when I succeed! LOL.

[@nomadichunter2818]

I'll try this using a dried cattail stem.

[@MakeItPrimitive]

I think cattail stems aren't hollow, but reed works. The inner diameter of the reed in my area is smaller than that of a good elderberry piece, however, so these flutes are shorter and higher in pitch.

[@nomadichunter2818]

@@MakeItPrimitive Can't make that advanced of a flute, but perhaps something simpler. Like from your other vid. The cattail was to brittle for my clumsy hands. Gonna rry some hollow bush tree like you suggested. Not lokated in US so we have no elderberry, but maybe something like it.

[@MakeItPrimitive]

@@nomadichunter2818 Where are you located? Elderberry is a pretty widespread group (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus#Distribution_and_habitat), but I'm not sure whether all species in this group are suitable for flutes.

[@ItzjustRomeo]

How you make the hole through the branch like what too you use to do that I can’t tell if that’s a wooden stick

[@MakeItPrimitive]

Elder wood is hollow by nature. The hollow part is filled with a soft pith that can easily be scraped and drilled out.

[@mysteriousformal]

@@MakeItPrimitivethere is a ton of that where I live

[@ksjeg594]

Poke a bore with WOODEN stick? How is that possible?

[@MakeItPrimitive]

Elderberry wood is hollow, but the hole is filled with a soft, popcorn-like pith. This is what needs to be scraped out.

[@ksjeg594]

@@MakeItPrimitive thanks for quick and extensive respond!

[@tonimartin6954]

How long did it take you to make this?

[@MakeItPrimitive]

I don't keep track of time on these projects, but all in all a couple of hours. Not counting all the failed prototypes that came before it. ;-)

[@tonimartin6954]

@@MakeItPrimitive Wow, that’s really amazing

[@kingcockran7870]

Do you sell these?

[@MakeItPrimitive]

Sorry, I don't. But it's much more fun to make one yourself anyway, give it a try! :-)

[@unicornsloth5982]

Manual breathing

[@unicornsloth5982]

I am at 69 percent