Straws and PVC pipe are two different materials you can use to make pan pipes. Straws are the easiest materials to use to make pan pipes. However, their sound quality is not as good as PVC pipes. PVC pipes give you better sound quality, but they are less easy to cut than straws. Take this into consideration when you are choosing the right material for your project.


If you are using straws to create your pipes, buy fat straws meant for smoothies or bubble tea. You can find these at stores like Walmart or at your grocery store. Make sure not to get normal or restaurant-style straws. These are not as effective as thicker straws, and are much harder to play.
If you are using PVC pipe, buy a ½ inch PVC schedule 40 pipe at stores like Home Depot or Walmart.;
, Use scissors to cut straw pipes, and a rotary conduit cutter or hack saw to cut PVC pipe. It can be difficult to say exactly what notes the pipes will create when you cut them to certain lengths, because the pitch also depends on the width of the straws or PVC pipe, which can vary across brands. However, you can get a well-tuned set of pipes in a diatonic scale by cutting your pipes to the following lengths:Pipe 1: 17.5 cm
Pipe 2: 15.5 cm
Pipe 3: 13.5 cm
Pipe 4: 12.5 cm
Pipe 5: 11 cm
Pipe 6: 10 cm
Pipe 7: 9 cm
Pipe 8: 8.5 cm
You can also blow across your pipes and see if they produce the sound you want. You can cut your pipes shorter if you want a different sound.
For this reason, it’s always a good idea to cut your pipes slightly longer than needed, because you can always adjust them to make them shorter.
 In order to produce sound, you will need to plug the bottom of the pipes. Take modeling clay and make it into a flat circle. Then take a straw or PVC pipe and stamp into the clay with an end. Twist the pipe or straw, then lift it up. This should leave a circle exactly the size of the opening. Take out this piece of clay., Take the clay plug you made and push it into one of the pipes you have cut for your pan pipes. This will plug the bottom. To make sure it stays, take some tape and wrap it around the bottom of the pipe to secure it. Do this process for the remaining pipes.
Buy your supplies.
Cut the pipes.
Make a clay plug.
Plug the bottom of the pipe.
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