Flute

This article is about the musical instrument. For the sailing ship, see Fluyt. For the drinkware, see Champagne flute.

Categories of flutes

The flute has appeared in many different forms in many different locations around the world. A flute made from a mammoth tusk, found in the Swabian Alb and dated to 30,000 to 37,000 years ago http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2004/12/30/Arts/flute-prehistoric041230.html; one seven-hole flute made from a swan's bone in the Geissenklosterle Cave in Germany to circa 36,000 years ago http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3284/is_200412/ai_n15038469; and another made from the bone of a juvenile cave bear found in Slovenia and dated to about 50,000 years ago http://whyfiles.org/114music/4.html, are among the oldest known musical instruments.

Related Topics:
Mammoth - Swabian Alb - Cave bear - Slovenia

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At its most basic, a flute can be an open tube which is blown like a bottle. Over time, the increasing demands of musical performance have led to the development of what many people consider the flute, the Western concert flute, which has a complex array of keys and holes.

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There are several broad classes of flutes. With most flutes, the musician blows directly onto the edge of the flute. However, some flutes, such as the recorder, tin whistle, whistle, and ocarina have a duct that directs the air onto the edge (an arrangement that is termed a "fipple"). This makes the instrument easier to play, but takes a degree of control away from the musician. Usually, fipple flutes are not referred to as flutes, even though the physics, technique and sound are similar.

Related Topics:
Recorder - Tin whistle - Whistle - Ocarina - Fipple

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Another division is between side-blown (or transverse) flutes, such as the Western concert flute, piccolo, fife, and bansuri; and end-blown flutes, such as the recorder, ney, kaval, quena, shakuhachi and tonette. The player of a side-blown flute uses a hole on the side of the tube to produce a tone, instead of blowing on an end of the tube.

Related Topics:
Piccolo - Fife - Bansuri - End-blown flute - Recorder - Ney - Kaval - Quena - Shakuhachi - Tonette

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Common members of the flute family include the piccolo, concert flute, alto flute, bass flute, and contrabass flute. Each one has their own range. The piccolo is an octave higher in pitch, but has the same written notation for music, as the concert flute. The Alto flute is in the key of G, and extends the low register range of the flute to the G below middle C. Its highest note is a high G (the one 4 ledger lines above the treble cleff staff). The bass flute is an octave lower than the concert flute, and the contra bass flute is an octave lower than the bass flute. Less commonly-seen flutes include the treble flute in G, pitched one octave higher than the alto flute; soprano flute in E flat, between the treble and concert; the tenor flute or flute d'amore in B flat, between the concert and alto; the sub-bass flute in F, between the bass and contrabass; and the octobass flute in C, one octave lower than the contrabass. The flute sizes other than concert flute and piccolo are sometimes called harmony flutes.

Related Topics:
Piccolo - Concert flute - Contrabass flute - Treble flute - Soprano flute - Flute d'amore - Sub-bass flute - Octobass flute - Harmony flutes

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Flutes may be open on one or both of their ends. The ocarina, pan pipes, concert whistle, jug, police-whistle, and bosun's whistle are closed-ended. Open-ended flutes such as the concert flute and the recorder have more harmonics, and thus more flexibility for the player, and brighter, more pleasing timbres. An organ pipe may be either open or closed, depending on the sound desired.

Related Topics:
Ocarina - Pan pipes - Concert whistle - Jug - Police-whistle - Bosun's whistle

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Flutes can be played with several different air sources. Conventional flutes are blown with the mouth, although some cultures use nose flutes. Organs are blown by bellows or fans.

Related Topics:
Nose flute - Organs

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