Today I finished the initial 3d print of the D# drone flute (shown on the right with a Blue Bear F# flute for comparison). It took around 6 hours to print, with the print split into 2 pieces which I joined with gorilla glue. I stuck the sound plates on with one of Jen’s hair ties and was surprised that I was able to quickly get it to play. The sound is definitely “thin” in comparison to the larger wooden flute (which still smells like woodfire from where ol’ Blue Bear finished the holes). It is also harder to get the sound plate in the sweet spot without a chamfer to use as an index point. I ended up blowing on the mouthpiece and moving the sound plate until I found the tone. Once properly positioned, it was interesting to see how much further forward it was than on the Blue Bear Flute.
Lessons learned: use less glue