World Music Safari - The Florida Aulos

Greetings once again from World Music Safari. In this hurricane soaked episode I make an Aulos/Mijwiz single pipe version out of bamboo. I’ve never done this before but it came out good; not great, not extraordinary, plain ole good. Oh the reed worked just fine, which I wasn’t initially confidant about, but I split the wood drilling the holes for the notes. Now I know why the old guys just burn the holes with a red hot poker. Here I thought it was just to play with fire and make the instruments smell amazing, like a camp fire met up with Papyrus. I plan on revisiting this in the near future but I’d really like to go in the field out to Seminole and get some Phragmites grass after wrestling some nesting Alligators. Until next time.
/ worldmusicsafari
worldmusicsafa...
#music #internationalmusic #woodwind #aulos #mijwiz #worldmusic #worldmusicsafari #greece #egypt #middleeast #middleeasternmusic #handcrafted #hommadecrafts #traditionalmusic #hurricane #reed #greekmusic #egyptianmusic #egyptianmusicology #greekculture

[@Fellow_Traveller1985]

By the way, love your channel, just subscribed. I'm a world music freak too and you have lot of intereting videos. Looking forward to more.

[@worldmusicsafari]

@@Fellow_Traveller1985 thank you so much. I need to upload more videos. Life keeps getting in the way.

[@jeffreynolds922]

What a fun project to do with the kids.

[@worldmusicsafari]

@@jeffreynolds922 Absolutely! I have another one perfect for projects and it’s made from a plastic straw and a Swiss Army knife. Basically the same thing but even easier. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXmphIWias6Dn68si=03j6Eb6T0VxY3VPC

[@OthmarsVlog]

excellent upload 👍💫🍀

[@worldmusicsafari]

@@OthmarsVlog thank you! It was a fun experience, even though I kinda failed slightly.

[@davidmurphy6884]

Good stuff! Yeah, it's always a much safer bet to burn the holes when working with Bamboo, Arundo Donax, Phragmites and similar materials given their tendency to readily split. It's kinda like an insurance policy since you have already invested the effort in making the sound mechanism, only to have a split when drilling. That being said, it's usually a good idea to bind the foot end as well to prevent splitting down the road. 😉

[@worldmusicsafari]

@@davidmurphy6884 Thank you! When I get the chance I’m going to try to find the alligator infested lake with the Phragmites grass if I can in Seminole.

[@theressomelovelyfilthdownh4329]

If it splits. You could use a few different colours of sewing thread to bind it. Clear nail polish will seal it, and give a gloss finish. Same way you'd tie a new eye onto a fishing rod. Pretty sure somebody back in the day did the same thing, but sealed it with resin or glue of some kind.

[@worldmusicsafari]

@@theressomelovelyfilthdownh4329 yeah I’m going to try again but this time use the hot burn method to make the holes.

[@Fellow_Traveller1985]

You need a special kind of drillbit with blades on the sides to drill into bamboo without tearing the fibres. If you wanna make precise holes just heat a drillbit red hot with a blowtorch and with the specific diameter you want and carefully singe the hole, but it's got to be done quickly before the drill bit goes too cold. Note: Use something with a slight dampening effect under the bamboo like a folded paper to make sure it gives a bit way when the drillbit goes through and this reduces the chances of the drillbit cracking the bamboo when it punches through to the other side, also slightly wiggling the drillbit will increase the contact surface and make it burn through faster. It might also slide off target in the beginning when initially making contact with the bamboo outer surface, so be aware of that, you can use masking tape on the bamboo to somewhat mitigate that plus the masking tape can reduce burn marks on the outer surface of the bamboo around the tone holes. As for the reed, tie the string prior to cutting the reed flap, also use a bit of melted beeswax to lock the string, then "massage" the wax into the string by clamping down on with your fingertips and rotating the pipe, after that you can clean up the wax on the string by heating the wax with an open flame and rotating over the flame. Note: Use a lighter flame as candles tend to leave black sot on the pipe. Try also to avoid doing any wax melting on the reed after making the flap cut as a small amount of wax getting inside the reed cut will ruin the reed's ability to vibrate properly, so also do the wax plugging of the end before cutting the reed flap, you can also use a rod through the pipe to push and rotate heated wax inside the reed so that it spreads out and makes a bigger contact surface on the inside and makes in less likley of loosening.

[@worldmusicsafari]

@@Fellow_Traveller1985 Wow! Thank you for the detailed response. I have a few more and will apply these techniques. I do want to try the burned hole method just to see how it goes.