The Flute

The flute is a reedless instrument and part of the woodwind family. Apart from percussive instruments it's also the oldest known to man. In the simplest terms a flute is a hollow tube from which sound is produced by blowing against the edge of an opening at one end. So, the flute family includes a host of instruments including the recorder, flageolet, and panpipes among many others. These instruments are all end-blown flutes that are played and held vertically. Some, such as the recorder and flageolet, are considered whistle flutes. With this type the player blows into a mouthpiece, which then directs the air current across a hard edge, called a fipple (a police whistle is a good example of how the fipple action works).

Flute Design

Simple endblown flutes like those of ancient cultures, which were typically fashioned from animal bones or wood, are played by blowing across the edge of the opening at one end. The acoustic action is similar to what occurs when blowing across the opening of an empty bottle. Panpipes work on the same principle, but are a collection of tubes of varying length and thus varying pitches. However, the common usage of the word flute typically refers to the modern concert flute, which is played transversely by holding it horizontally and towards the right. One end of the tube is closed and the other is open. Near the closed end there is an embouchure hole in the side, across which the player blows a stream of air, thus causing the air column inside to resonate. Different pitches are produced by opening and closing holes in the body of the flute, thus changing the length of the resonating air column. Higher pitches can be reached, through the use of harmonics, when the player increases the amount of air pressure blown across the embouchure hole. This is called over-blowing.

Flutes are almost always made of metal, usually silver, but occasionally in gold or platinum. Metals are more dense than wood and thus offer the player more expressive control as well as giving the flute it's very pure sound. The flute is typically about 2 feet long, has an inside diameter of about 3/4", and is in three sections (head, body, and foot joints). The standard foot joint is the C, but two other commonly used joints bring the instrument's range down to B or Bb below middle C.

Flute History

Early transverse flutes were made of boxwood and had six finger holes that were covered and uncovered by the player's fingers. During the baroque era the flute began to be built in two sections called joints. The head joint contained the mouth-hole and the body joint had the finger holes. The bore inside the body joint was made conical while the head joint bore remained cylindrical, which improved it's tone quality.

These flutes were pitched in the key of D and allowed notes that weren't in the D scale to be played by cross-fingering (different combinations of finger placement). However, certain notes still remained inaccessible even through cross-fingering. Throughout the baroque and classical eras numerous keys, which allowed remote finger holes to be covered, were added to give the flute a fully chromatic range. While these flutes exhibited a beautiful tone within the notes of the D scale, the chromatic tones left much to be desired.

During the 19th century Theobald Boehm revolutionized the way flutes were designed. He altered the position and size of the holes to their optimal positions. However, the placement of these holes were not well suited to the player's hands. So, he developed a complete system of keys and pads, which the fingers used to cover and uncover the holes. Boehm also reinstituted the use of the cylindrical bore in the body section, but at the cost of tone quality.

To alleviate this problem he introduced a conical bore in the head joint, which improved the tone quality. Many think that the baroque flute's tone is superior to the Boehm flute. Yet, the Boehm flute is much easier to play and offers good tone an volume consistently throughout the instrument's entire range, something earlier flutes lacked. This design was so successful that is the standard for nearly all modern orchestral flutes today.

Flute Acoustics

Today's standard concert flute is pitched in the key of C (determined by it's overall length) and has a range that spans three octaves above middle C. The flute is principally a melodic instrument, playing the higher ranges in an orchestral setting, often in tandem with the violin. A flute's clear and pure sounding tone (due to it's strong fundamental and weaker harmonics) make it a very colorful instrument that is well suited to vibrant and cheerful music. However, the lower range of the flute can also sound very ethereal and mysterious.

Types of Flutes

• The piccolo - about half the length of the standard flute. It is also pitched in C, but one octave higher. It is primarily used in orchestras for the highest pitched melodies.
• The alto flute - pitched in G and is a fourth lower than the standard flute. It's tone is a bit more melancholic than the standard flute, which makes it a popular choice for certain composers.
• The bass, or double bass, flute - pitched in C and is one octave lower than the standard flute. This instrument is rarely used today.
• The baroque flute - often used for authenticity in performances of classical and baroque musical scores.  Regarded by many to have a tone that is superior to modern flutes.