Drummer Cafe Community Forum

I see Romanian 'professional quality' pan flutes on ebay for $85-$120 bucks. They look good in the photos and are made of oak and maple and are said to have a nice mellow sound.

The ones for sale on Ebay from Peru and South America are all made of bamboo, and mostly lower in price. They are said to have an authentic Andez sound and be like ones used by famous groups.

Does anyone have experience with these flutes and can tell me what type is best?

My limited experience with them (I had an aquaintance who played pan flute) is this:

Bamboo/reed types tend to have a more "raw" or "primitive" sound.  You know, sort of not perfect sounding.  But you can obviously find extremely well made ones.

I think the hardwood type (and even plastic or glass ones) can be tuned a bit more precisely and the edges can be smoother for a "clearer" tone.

Please take anything I say as a VERY amateur opinion though.

Thanks Jon E ....
From what I've researched, you are right on this. The internet has several spots with lots of info on Pan Flutes. I should have done that in the first place.

One thing I learned is that the primitive Andes sound (I also learned to spell Andes) is not from the bamboo, because most of the Romanian flutes also use bamboo, which is considered the best material. The sound differences are attributed to precision workmanship, the diameter to length of pipe (diameter increases with length on the Romanian instruments), the smoothness of the bore and mouth piece, etc. It was stated one could play South American music on a European flute, but not the other way around. The South American flutes are discribed as having a 'windy' sound, fitting maybe for the high mountains of Peru.

Historically the pan flute is one of the oldest instruments. Versions of it are found in primative cultures all across the globe, and it is easy to construct a working instrument from hollow reeds and bamboo.

I became interested when I realized it is one of the few instruments I have a chance at playing while keeping my hands free for african percussion. Now if I can just get one to sound like Carlos Santana's guitar.

 ;)