Got Wind? Make Music!

exploring the sounds of the wind


I finally figured out how to make and carve kite whistles.

As I experimented, I tried different materials. The bodies of these whistles are made from veneer, tangerines, limes, key limes, or ping pong balls.

Most of the flute heads are made of gourd shell.
Stacks Image 29
Stacks Image 1730
Stacks Image 1724
Stacks Image 30
Stacks Image 31
Stacks Image 32
Stacks Image 33
Stacks Image 34
Stacks Image 35
Stacks Image 36
After the whistles were finished, a macrame netting was made for each. These were then used to tie the whistles to a bamboo frame. Extra string was then bound around the bamboo, knotted, and secured with hot glue. I did this rather than cutting the string so that I will always have extra string to help retie any whistles.
Stacks Image 37
Next comes the kite. The whistles need strong wind. Traditional Chinese kites with whistles are flat with very long tails.
Stacks Image 38
I thought about using a fled. But a fled does not fly well in high wind, even with a long banner tail. The whistles were barely audible.
Stacks Image 39
I then tested the whistles on a power megasled. I used duct tape to fasten the entire frame to one side of the kite. Since a double parasled is so strong, attaching the whistles to just one side did not affect flying.


If you look closely, you can see the whistles on the left side of the kite. This worked great in wind about 10 - 20 mph.