The Complete Handbook of Musical Pipes
A Practical Reference for Builders, Players, and Sellers of Simple and Historical Flutes
by Alumigogo Books
non-fiction
A complete technical and commercial reference for simple flutes, duct flutes, and historical pipes, from first principles to professional repair and resale.
About this book
From the humble pennywhistle to the baroque traverso, simple musical pipes are found in nearly every culture and musical tradition. Yet most players rely on folklore and trial-and-error. This handbook replaces that guesswork with a structured, practical guide to the entire category. It begins with the fundamental physics of sound generation in a pipe, explaining how bore dimensions, wall thickness, and windway geometry determine pitch, timbre, and playability. You will learn how to evaluate an instrument by specification, not just by feel, and how to choose the right pipe for a specific musical or commercial context.
The book then moves from the player's bench to the workshop and the repair room. Detailed chapters cover correct assembly and daily usage, routine maintenance, and a systematic troubleshooting guide for common problems like clogging, voicing instability, and cracked fipples. For the professional reader, the later chapters examine the commercial landscape: how brands are positioned from budget to premium, what wholesale and retail margins typically look like, and the concrete realities of starting a repair, rental, or private-label business.
Written in a neutral, instructive tone, The Complete Handbook of Musical Pipes is not a marketing piece. It is a practical reference designed to be consulted on the workbench, in the practice room, and in the wholesale office. Whether you are a luthier seeking precise dimensions, a teacher outfitting a classroom, or an entrepreneur evaluating a business opportunity, the answers are here.
Reader Reviews
Cynthia Brown
★★★★★I bought this expecting a decent overview, and it is that, but it's more of a workshop manual than a coffee table book. The chapter on understanding the physics was exactly what I needed to finally figure out why my low D whistle was always a bit flat in the second octave. I knocked off a star because the troubleshooting chapter feels a bit thin on the repair side - it tells you what's wrong but assumes you already have a fairly well-equipped tool shop to fix it. Still, I've already used the buying guide to talk my local shop into stocking better student models, so it's earned its place on my desk.