I imagine that you could likely force it to grow at the right taper. Sort of like the square watermelons, you could force it into a container that would help achieve the right container and diameter. However, I also imagine you would need to ream the bamboo still in order to achieve the correct taper. I've worked with making bamboo flutes, and if I had the tools to ream bamboo, I would probably just make wooden flutes instead.Terry McGee wrote: Bamboo is interesting, as it is a grass, not a wood. Unfortunately, it's not easy to convince it to grow in exactly the right taper for Irish flutes (hmmm, any experts in genetic modification looking for a challenge?).
In my days of examining different types of bamboo, I have found some that taper similar to Irish flutes. Bamboo from Florida tends to grow in longer sections and tapers some. However, I think the inside would still need reamed to meet the desired specifications. So I think if someone had a very high preference for the tone that bamboo has, it could be feasible to just switch to working with bamboo, but use all the same regular flute making tools...
Barna Gabos (he is a flutemaker in Hungary) apparently made a multi-piece bamboo Pratten at some point, though he doesn't regularly make them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwOCo2CIJ64 It seems like it worked well, but it also looks like it required all the same tooling a wooden flute does and I'm not completely sure how to feel about the tone myself.