When You Can't Find Your Harmonica: Carrot Flute

by Handmade Penguin in Living > Music

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When You Can't Find Your Harmonica: Carrot Flute

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I've wanted to make vegetable instruments for some time.  I found a couple of links to a carrot flute and a carrot kazoo, but they did not have pictures.  So I tried a few different techniques.  Here's my recipe for Carrot Flute.  I'm providing this in multiple forms.  Instructable with pictures, short form instruction video, and long form experiences.

I recommend viewing the short form video, printing the instructable for your work time, then viewing the long form video (so that you can see what I did).

Short form video.



Long Form Videos: Part I  http://youtu.be/IJ4Lc_rjw1c
Part II http://youtu.be/CJCGWsbX71M
 

Gather Your Ingredients for the Flute

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You will need:
A drill and bits to make a large and small hole. A 1/2" drill bit and a 15/64" bit worked for me.
Sharp knife
1 or more carrots
Cutting board
Long, narrow tools to take carrot debris out of the hole.  E.g. skewer or chopstick.

Cut the Leafy End Off of the Carrot.

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Using the sharp knife, cut the carrot top off of the carrot.  This provides a flat surface that you will drill into.

Drill the Main Hole.

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Using the 1/2" drill bit, drill a hole that starts at the flat surface of the carrot that you just made, and goes along the length of the carrot.  I went about 1/3 of the way into the carrot.

Clear the Hole of Debris.

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Take out all of the carrot bits, as they will prevent the sound from being clear and sharp.  Use a skewer, chopstick, the bit, or anything you can find that will fit down the hole.  I used a pen.

Make the Smaller Hole.

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Hold the carrot in front of you with the carrot top side facing up.  You will need to drill a hole, using the smaller bit, a bit down from the top of the carrot.  I chose a spot that ended up being about an inch down the side.  I've found that if you go too far down, the sound is not very good.

Clearing the Debris... Continued.

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You may want to blow down the various holes and tap the carrot on the cutting board to ensure the debris is all removed.

Play Your Carrot Instrument.

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Now you are ready to play!  Have fun, make more, have each person play one and see what sounds you get!