This is not a quick explanation question. There are several ways to approach this issue.
A. The traditional use of body measurements. The flute is as long as your arm. First sound hole is placed one fist length from the sound hole. Subsequent sound holes are placed one knuckle width apart. This results in a flute that is very much a personal creation - it is designed from your own body measurements.
B. Precision tuning - tuning to a particular key, in a particular scale/mode - This usually requires either a very good ear for pitch, or an electronic tuner.
1. Play the flute and check the note played before any playing holes are cut. This lowest note played is the 'fundamental' note and will determine the key of the flute. If it is too low (flat) according to the tuner then you need to cut some off the end. How much? I'm not there looking over your shoulder so I don't know, cut small then check again. It's difficult to add wood back after you've cut it off!
2. Once you've reached the fundamental length measure the inside length of the sound chamber. You will also need to measure the diameter of the chamber as well in order to determine bore diameter.
3. With these two pieces of information you can refer either to a set of tables, or equations to determine where to place holes and how large to make the holes for the particular style of flute you wish. The possibilities are far too vast to answer here in the span of this FAQ.
You might refer to the books or software discussed in the "How do I make
a Native American Flute" FAQ. These all have very useful information.
You will, however, still need an electronic tuner in order to do a
precise tuning even with the hole calculations regardless of how you
arrive at the placement information.
You can email me at terry@kokopelliflutes.com if you would like to know more.
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Updated: June 12, 2002
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