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Flute

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Musical Instruments

   CAPTION: Flute

                      Flute

                  Classification

   Woodwind ( Aerophone)
                   Playing range
                Related instruments
     * Woodwind family (Clarinet, Oboe, Bassoon)
     * Alto Flute, Bass Flute, Piccolo

                     Musicians
     * List of Flautists

   The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike other
   woodwind instruments, a flute produces its sound from the flow of air
   against an edge, instead of using a reed. A musician who plays the
   flute is generally referred to as either a flautist or a flutist. Flute
   tones are sweet and blend well with other instruments.

History

   Early flutes were made of carved bone.
   Early flutes were made of carved bone.

   The flute has appeared in many different forms in many different
   locations around the world. A three-hole flute made from a mammoth
   tusk, from the Geißenklösterle cave in the German Swabian Alb and dated
   to 30,000 to 37,000 years ago, plus two flutes made from swan's bones
   excavated a decade earlier from the same cave in Germany, dated to
   circa 36,000 years ago are among the oldest known musical instruments.
   The Flute has been dated back to, almost or even further back in time,
   the prehistoric times. A bone fragment of the femur of a juvenile cave
   bear with two to four holes found at Divje Babe in Slovenia and dated
   to about 43,100 years ago may also be an early flute . Some early
   flutes were made out of tibias (shin bones). Playable 8000-year-old
   Gudi (instrument) (literally, "bone flute"), made from the wing bones
   of red-crowned cranes, with from five to eight holes each, were also
   excavated from a tomb in Jiahu, in the Central Chinese province of
   Henan.

   During the 16th and early 17th centuries in Europe, the transverse
   flute was available in several different sizes, in effect forming a
   "consort" much in the same way that recorders and other instrument
   families were used in consorts. At this stage, the transverse flute was
   usually made in one section (or two for the larger sizes) and had a
   cylindrical bore. As a result, the flute had a rather soft sound and
   limited range, and was used priimarily in compostions for the "soft
   consort".

   With the advent of the Baroque (17th and 18th centuries), the
   transverse flute was re-designed. Now often called the traverso (from
   the Italian), it was made in three or four sections, or joints, with a
   conical bore from the head joint down. The conical bore design gave the
   instrument a wider range and a more penetrating sound, without
   sacrificing the softer, expressive qualities of the instrument. In
   addition to chamber music, the traverso began to be used in orchestral
   music, eventually occupying an exalted status amongst the woodwinds.
   Many composers, such as Frenchmen Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Michel
   Corrette and Michel Blavet, Italians Antonio Vivaldi and Pietro
   Locatelli, and Germans Georg Phillipp Telemann and Johann Joachim
   Quantz, wrote significant collections of sonatas and chamber works for
   the traverso. Quantz also wrote an important treatise on the flute and
   its performance pratice. Johann Sebastian Bach also contributed to the
   literature of the flute with his Sonatas for Flute and Continuo BWV
   1034-35 and the Partita BWV 1013.

   The flute has been featured in many varying kinds of music. One short
   example from rock music is the ocarina solo featured in The Troggs'
   song "Wild Thing" in the mid-'60s; more recently, Ian Anderson of
   Jethro Tull (band) fame brought the flute to the world of rock and
   roll, playing a transverse flute as his instrument of choice for nearly
   forty years.

Flute acoustics

   A flute produces sound when a stream of air directed across a hole in
   the instrument bounces in and out of the hole. [ ] Some engineers have
   called this a fluidic multivibrator, because it is functionally
   analogous to an electrical device or electronic circuit called a
   multivibrator.

   The air stream across this hole creates a Bernoulli or siphon effect
   leading to a von Karman vortex street, which excites the air contained
   in the usually cylindrical resonant cavity within the flute. The player
   changes the frequency of the air's vibrations by opening and closing
   holes in the body of the instrument, changing the effective length of
   the resonator, thus altering the volume of the resonant cavity, which
   determines the pitch of the note(s) being produced. Special effects
   whistles produce a glissando with a plunger at the end of the body,
   similar to a tyre pump or fly sprayer. This slide effect can be
   produced on a modern day flute just by using the head joint and your
   finger.

   To be louder, a flute must use a larger resonator, a larger air stream,
   or increased air stream velocity. A flute's volume can generally be
   increased by making its resonator and tone holes larger. This is why a
   police whistle, a form of flute, is very wide for its pitch, and why a
   pipe organ can be far louder than a concert flute: a large organ pipe
   can contain several cubic feet of air, and its tone hole may be several
   inches wide, while a concert flute's air stream measures a fraction of
   an inch across.

   The air stream must be directed at the correct angle and velocity, or
   else the air in the flute will not vibrate. In fippled flutes, a
   precisely formed and placed channel extrudes the air. In organs, the
   air is supplied by a regulated blower.

   In non-fipple flutes, the air stream is shaped and directed by the
   player's lips, called the embouchure. This allows the player a wide
   range of expression in pitch, volume, and timbre, especially in
   comparison to fipple flutes. However, it also makes an end blown flute
   or transverse flute considerably more difficult for a beginner to
   produce a full sound from than a fipple flute such as the recorder.
   Transverse and end-blown flutes also take more air to play, which
   requires deeper breathing and makes circular breathing a considerably
   trickier proposition.

   Generally, the quality called timbre or "tone colour" varies because
   the flute can produce harmonics in different proportions or
   intensities. A harmonic is a frequency that is a whole number multiple
   of a lower register, or " fundamental" note of the flute. Generally the
   air stream is thinner (vibrating in more modes), faster (providing more
   energy to excite the air's resonance), and aimed across the hole less
   deeply (permitting a more shallow deflection of the air stream) in the
   production of higher harmonics or upper partials.

   Almost all flutes can be played in fundamental, octave, tierce, quatre
   and cinque modes simply by blowing harder and making the air stream
   move more quickly and at a more shallow angle. Flute players select
   their instrument's resonant mode with embouchure and breath control,
   much as brass players do.
     * Flutist playing period music at Colonial Williamsburg  — Watch in
       browser
     * .

   Many believe that the timbre is also affected by the material from
   which the instrument is made. For instance, instruments made of wood
   are often believed to be less bright than metal instruments. Different
   metals are also thought to influence the tone. However, a study in
   which professional players were blindfolded could find no significant
   differences between instruments made from a variety of different
   metals. In two different sets of blind listening, no instrument was
   correctly identified in a first listening, and in a second, only the
   silver instrument was identified by a significant fraction of the
   listeners. The study concluded that there was 'no evidence that the
   wall material has any appreciable effect on the sound colour or dynamic
   range of the instrument'. Physicists who study flutes usually agree
   that relatively small differences in shape are more important than
   differences in material, because the waves in the air couple only
   weakly to vibrations in the body. Wooden flutes usually have different
   shapes from metal instruments. For instance, the junction between the
   tone hole risers and the bore are usually sharper in wooden
   instruments, and these sharper edges are expected to have a substantial
   effect on sound. This does not mean that a gold flute is no better
   than, say, a brass one, as the gold flute is likely to have been
   hand-finished by a more proficient craftsman, and by that merit,
   possess superior acoustic qualities.

Categories of flute

   Playing the zampoña, a Pre-Inca instrument and type of pan pipes.
   Playing the zampoña, a Pre-Inca instrument and type of pan pipes.

   In its most basic form, 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 holes and keys.

   There are several broad classes of flutes. With most flutes, the
   musician blows directly across the edge of the mouthpiece. However,
   some flutes, such as the whistle, gemshorn, flageolet, recorder, tin
   whistle, tonette, fujara, and ocarina have a duct that directs the air
   onto the edge (an arrangement that is termed a " fipple"). This gives
   the instrument a distinct timbre which is different from non-fipple
   flutes and 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 define them
   as being such.

   Another division is between side-blown (or transverse) flutes, such as
   the Western concert flute, piccolo, fife, dizi, and bansuri; and
   end-blown flutes, such as the ney, xiao, kaval, danso, shakuhachi, and
   quena. 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.
   End-blown flutes should not be confused with fipple flutes such as the
   recorder, which are also played vertically but have internal ducts to
   direct the air flow across the edge of the tone hole. The earliest
   extant transverse flute is a chi ( 篪) flute discovered in the Tomb of
   Marquis Yi of Zeng at the Suizhou site, Hubei province, China. It dates
   from 433 BC, of the later Zhou Dynasty. It is fashioned of lacquered
   bamboo with closed ends and has five stops that are at the flute's side
   instead of the top. Chi flutes are mentioned in Shi Jing, compiled and
   edited by Confucius.

   Flutes may be open at one or both ends. The ocarina, pan pipes, 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 timbres. An organ pipe
   may be either open or closed, depending on the sound desired.

   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.

The Western concert flutes

   An illustration of a Western concert flute
   An illustration of a Western concert flute

   The Western concert flute, a descendant of the 19th-Century "German
   Flute", is a transverse flute which is closed at the top. Near the top
   is the embouchure hole, across and into which the player blows. It has
   larger circular finger-holes than its baroque predecessors, designed to
   increase the instrument's dynamic range. Various combinations can be
   opened or closed by means of keys, to produce the different notes in
   its playing range. The note produced depends on which finger-holes are
   opened or closed and on how the flute is blown. There are two kinds of
   foot joints available for the concert flute: the standard C foot (shown
   above) or the longer B foot with an extra key extending the flute's
   range to B below middle C.There can also be a Bb below middle c foot
   joint added to the instrument. With the rare exception of
   custom-devised fingering systems, modern Western concert flutes conform
   to the Boehm system.

   The standard concert flute is pitched in the key of C and has a range
   of 3 octaves starting from middle C (or one half-step lower with a B
   foot). This means that the concert flute is one of the highest common
   orchestral instruments, with the exception of the piccolo, which plays
   an octave higher. G alto and C bass flutes, pitched respectively, a
   perfect fourth and an octave below the concert flute, are used
   occasionally. Parts are written for alto flute more frequently than for
   bass. Alto and bass flutes are considerably heavier than the normal C
   flute, making them more difficult to play for extended periods of time.

   Other sizes of flute and piccolo are used from time to time. A rarer
   instrument of the modern pitching system is the treble G flute.
   Instruments made according to an older pitch standard, used principally
   in wind-band music, include Db piccolo, Eb soprano flute (the primary
   instrument, equivalent to today's concert C flute), F alto flute, and
   Bb bass flute (incidentally, the clarinet and brass families retain
   this orientation to a Bb, rather than C tonal centre).

   The modern professional concert flute is generally made of silver, gold
   (both yellow and rose), or combinations of the two; a few of the most
   expensive flutes are fabricated from platinum. Student instruments are
   usually made of nickel-silver alloy, composed of nickel, copper, and
   zinc, (also known as " German silver") or nickel- or silver-plated
   brass. Curved head joints are also available for student flutes,
   enabling children as young as 3 years old, whose arms are not yet long
   enough to adapt to the standard horizontal playing position, to
   successfully hold and play the flute. Wooden flutes and head joints
   have a warmer, softer tone which is more desirable to some people than
   the brighter sound of metal-bodied flutes is obtainable from wooden
   flutes, whose somewhat less highly polished bores tend to darken the
   timbre. Wooden flutes were far more common before the early 20th
   century. The silver flute was introduced by Theobald Boehm in 1847 but
   did not become common until later in the twentieth century. Wm. S.
   Haynes, a flute manufacturer in Boston, told Georges Barrere, an
   eminent flutist, that in 1905 he made one silver flute to every 100
   wooden flutes but in the 1930s, he made one wooden flute to every 100
   silver flutes. Today the silver flute is still far more popular than
   the wooden flute and is accepted as the standard in most symphony
   orchestras.

   The modern concert flute comes with various options. The Bb thumb key
   (invented and pioneered by Briccialdi) is practically standard. The B
   foot joint, however, is an option available on middle-to-upper end
   models. Other, more recent additions include a C#-trill key, and an
   increasingly popular roller between the Eb-key and the the C#-key.
   A closed hole "Take-down" flute in case
   A closed hole "Take-down" flute in case

   Open-hole "French model" flutes, whose central openings are covered by
   the fingertips when depressed, are frequently chosen by concert-level
   players, though in Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe, professionals
   commonly select ones with closed-hole "plateau" keys. Students may use
   temporary plugs to cover the holes in the keys until they master the
   more precise finger placement needed to play open-hole keys. Some
   players state that open-hole keys permit louder and clearer sound
   projection in the flute's lower register.

   Open-hole keys are also needed for traditional Celtic music and other
   ethnic styles, and certain modern "extended" avant garde pieces
   requiring the player to produce harmonic overtones, or to manipulate
   "breathy" sounds in addition to the traditional "pure" tones. Also, on
   an open-hole flute, "quarter tones", which fall halfway between the
   regular halftone steps of the chromatic scale, are achievable. Click
   here for a chart of quarter tone fingerings.

   To play the Western concert flute, one holds the flute in a horizontal
   position, and blows transversely across the hole in the head joint. To
   play individual notes, one depresses the keys of the flute in distinct
   combinations fingerings. However, in addition to the standard finger
   patterns, there are a number of alternate "trill" fingerings, employing
   a combination of open and closed keys, and auxiliary "trill" keys
   (which are normally kept closed by springs until depressed), that can
   assist one in playing difficult passages, or in compensating for the
   perceived out-of-tuneness of certain notes of the equal-tempered scale
   in a given key. Click here for a trill fingering chart.

   The standard range of the concert flute extends from B3 to D7,
   sometimes to F7. There is an additional octave above C7 known as the
   altissimo register, which reaches C8, but its usage is rare, required
   only in advanced musical pieces, as this upper range demands fine
   breath control and exacting embouchure technique to produce. For a
   fingering chart, click here.

Flute Terms

     * Crown - the cap at the end of the head joint that unscrews to
       expose the cork, and which helps keep the head joint cork
       positioned at the proper depth of insertion.
     * Lip plate - the part of the head joint which contacts the player's
       lower lip, allowing precise positioning and direction of the air
       stream.
     * Riser - a metal section shaped like a 'top hat with the top cut
       off', which raises the lip plate from the head joint tube.
     * Head joint - the top section of the flute, has the tone hole/lip
       plate where the player initiates the sound by blowing air across
       the opening.
     * Body - the middle section of the flute with the majority of the
       keys.
     * Closed-hole - a finger key which is fully covered.
     * Open-hole - a finger key with a perforated centre, allowing the use
       of techinques such as pitch bending or glissando.
     * Pointed arms - arms connecting the keys to the rods which are
       pointed and extend to the keys' centers; found on more expensive
       flutes.
     * French model - a flute with pointed French-style arms and open-hole
       finger keys, as distinguished from the plateau style with closed
       holes.
     * Inline G - the standard postion of the left-hand G (third-finger)
       key - in line with the first and second keys.
     * Offset G - a G key which is extended to the side of the other two
       left-hand finger keys (along with the G# key), thus requiring less
       bending of the wrist, rendering it easier to reach and cover
       effectively, and less uncomfortable and fatiguing to play.
     * Split E mechanism - a system whereby the second G key (positioned
       below the G# key) is closed when the right middle-finger key is
       depressed, enabling a clearer third octave E; standard on most
       flutes, but omitted from many intermediate- and professional-grade
       flutes, as it can reduce the tonal quality of 3rd octave F#.
     * Trill Keys - two small, teardrop shaped keys between the right-hand
       keys on the body; the first enables an easy C-D trill, and the
       second enables C-D#. A Bb lever or "trill" key is located in line
       directly above the right first-finger key. An optional C# trill key
       which facilitates the trill from B to C# is sometimes found on
       intermediate- and professional-quality flutes.
     * Foot joint - the last section of the flute (played farthest towards
       the right).
     * C foot - a foot joint with a lowest note of middle C; typical on
       student model flutes.
     * B foot - a foot joint with a lowest note of B below middle C, which
       is an option for intermediate - and professional-grade flutes.
     * D# roller - an optional feature added to the Eb key on the foot
       joint, facilitating the transition between Eb/D# and Db/C#, and C.
     * " Gizmo key" - an amusingly named optional key on the B foot joint
       which can be used to play low B, as well as assisting in playing
       C7.

   Playing a transverse flute.
   Playing a transverse flute.

Variation in Materials Used

     * Leonardo de Lorenzo - My complete story of the Flute

   Inexpensive Western concert flutes are normally made of brass, polished
   and then silver-plated and lacquered to prevent corrosion. They can
   also be made from a range of metals such as silver (Britannia or
   Sterling); gold (yellow, white, or rose); platinum ; and even alloys.
   They can be either gold on the inside and silver on the outside, or
   vice versa.

   Most metal flutes are made of alloys that contain significant amounts
   of copper or silver. These alloys are biostatic because of the
   oligodynamic effect, and thus suppress growth of unpleasant molds,
   fungi and bacteria.

   Good instruments are designed to prevent or reduce galvanic corrosion
   between the tube and the valve mechanism. For example, many quality
   concert flutes have bronze springs.

Members of the concert flute family

   From high to low, the members of the concert flute family include:
     * Piccolo in C or Db
     * Treble flute in G
     * Soprano flute in Eb
     * Concert flute (also called C flute, Boehm flute, silver flute, or
       simply flute)
     * Flûte d'amour (also called tenor flute) in Bb or A
     * Alto flute in G
     * Bass flute in C
     * Contra-alto flute in G
     * Contrabass flute in C (also called octobass flute)
     * Subcontrabass flute in G (also called double contra-alto flute) or
       C (also called double contrabass flute)
     * Double contrabass flute in C (also called octocontrabass flute or
       subcontrabass flute)
     * Hyperbass flute in C (also spelled hyper-bass flute)

   Click here for a picture of the flute family, including their alternate
   head joints and foot joints.

   Each of the above instruments has its own range. The piccolo reads
   music in C like the concert flute but sounds one octave higher. 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 (4
   ledger lines above the treble clef staff). The bass flute is an octave
   lower than the concert flute, and the contrabass 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; the soprano flute, between the
   treble and concert; and the tenor flute or flûte d'amour in Bb or A,
   pitched between the concert and alto.

   The lowest sizes (larger than the bass flute) have all been developed
   in the 20th century; these include the sub-bass flute, which is pitched
   in F, between the bass and contrabass; the subcontrabass flute (pitched
   in G or C), the contra-alto flute (pitched in G, one octave below the
   alto), and the double contrabass flute in C, one octave lower than the
   contrabass. The flute sizes other than the concert flute and piccolo
   are sometimes called harmony flutes.

The Indian Bamboo Flute

   The Indian Bamboo Flute, one of the instruments of Indian classical
   music, developed independently of the Western flute. The Hindu god
   Krishna is traditionally considered a master of the instrument. The
   Indian flutes are very simple instruments when compared with their
   Western counterparts; they are made of bamboo and are keyless. The
   Indian concert flutes are available in standard pitches. In Carnatic
   Music, the pitches are referred by numbers such as 1(C), 1-1/2(C#),
   2(D), 2-1/2(D#), 3(E), 4(F), 4-1/2(F#), 5(G), 5-1/2(G#), 6(A),
   6-1/2(A#) & 7(B) (The above is assuming the tonic note is C). However,
   the pitch of a composition is itself not fixed and hence any of the
   flutes may be used for the concert (as long as the accompanying
   instruments, if any, are tuned appropriately) and is largely left to
   the personal preference of the artist.

   Two main varieties of Indian flutes are currently used. The first is
   the Bansuri, which has six finger holes and one blowing hole, is used
   predominantly in Hindustani music, the music of Northern India. The
   second is Venu or Pullanguzhal, which has eight finger holes, and is
   played predominantly in Carnatic music, the music of Southern India.
   Presently, the 8-holed flute with cross-fingering technique, is common
   among many Carnatic flautists. This was introduced by the eminent
   flautist T. R. Mahalingam in the mid-20th Century. Prior to this, the
   South Indian flute had only seven finger holes, with the fingering
   standard developed by Sharaba Shastri of the Palladam school, at the
   beginning of the 20th Century.

   The quality of the sound from the flute depends somewhat on the
   specific bamboo used to make it, and it is generally agreed that the
   best bamboo grows in the Nagarcoil area in South India.

Dvoyanka (Double Flute)

   The dvoyanka is a double flute from the Balkans made of a single piece
   of wood, with six sound holes on one side. It is most frequently made
   of ash-wood, plum tree, pear tree, cornel or boxwood. The tune is
   played on the one pipe, which is accompanied by a drone from the other
   pipe. This kind of playing is similar by structure to music played on
   the kaval. It is also a favorite instrument of shepherds. Line-dances
   and lively melodies are frequently played on the dvoyanka. Shepherds
   directed their flocks by their playing, since sheep remember and
   recognize a melody in time. A shepherd could “teach” his flock to start
   from the pen towards the pasture at one melody, and to return to the
   village in the evening at another. The dvoyanka is similar to the
   dvojnica, an instrument typical for the regions of Central and Western
   Serbia and also Serbian regions across the river Drina, which are made
   and played somewhat differently to the dvoyanka.
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