Q&A for How to Make Pan Pipes

Yes, without the closed off bottom you can't produce musical notes. Without a bottom you would just get a whistling sound.

No, the tape is on the outside. You can also add stickers and it won't affect it unless it's too heavy.

Yes, you can space out the pipes by adding popsicle sticks or wooden rods between each pipe. Put as many as you see fit to give you the spacing you want.

No. A pan pipe needs to be thick enough for you to blow into. Drinking straws work, but not straw.

Yes, otherwise the sound waves in the resonating tube would be disturbed by the fillings inside the bamboo chute.

Double-check to ensure you are blowing correctly. You should be blowing at an angle.

They create a echoing effect, and without them, there would just be a whistle. They are a must.

You can have as many rows as you'd like to produce a variety of pitches, but this article recommends eight rows. However, according to the Romanian school, you want only one row and according to the South American school you can have a second row. (You can alternate each tone up and down or put only the sharp on the second row). There exist pan flutes with 3 rows but this is rare. More rows get quickly harder for not much benefit.

You can add new pipes for the sharp and flat. As a second row or onto the same. The timbre will be closer to the natural pipe. If it is set as a second row, you'll have to correct the tone by alterate it up ( as the pan flute will be tilted) and if you put em onto the same row it'll make your movements a bit longer but you won't have to alterate at all. You can choose to not add those pipes. You can alterate down the upper pipe to get the flats. For example: If you tilt G, the sound will get lower to Gb witch is A#.. The tone color will get softer though.

Experiment to get it right and make notes of the results. Also remember that the plug will change the pitch. Other than being a mathematical genius, you can't beat experimentation. It's the most practical way possible!

It would be too hard to shape, so the answer to that question is no. You could probably also use hardened Play-Doh, by shaping the plugs, and then letting them dry.

Learn to control your breath to blow very lightly with a lot of support. Your sound should get much softer. Or you can get softer by alterating the upper pipe. The more you alterate, the more you'll get softer. (To use in very specific case.)

It depends on what note you want each pipe to be. You could make it any size so long as they go in order.

The splitting edge works to create sound the same way it does on a recorder or a flute.