Armstrong Flutes

About Flutes

The modern flute has come a long way since its beginnings as a primitive wind instrument made from vulture wing. From its humble origins today the flute occupies a commanding position across many genres from European classical music jazz ethnic to punk rock music. The flute’s innate versatility is brought about by its cylindrical resonant cavity which can be controlled by a simple opening and closing operation of the holes leading to the bore. This changes the resonate frequency creating a different pitch. The length and openings of a flute are not merely ornamental but it is the construction of the holes and the length of the resonator that reciprocate the sound that is initiated from the embouchure hole. The flute has evolved across the ages reflecting each cultural style it has passed through from the medieval transverse flutes the Renaissance flutes baroque flutes to the Boehm Flute and its different 20th Century Flute variations.

Today the flute has diverged into a wide range of lengths and structures with respect to each and every individual genre of music. Now the flute consists of three parts namely the head joint with lip plate and tone hole with no keys the body Joint containing most of the keys and the foot joint with a few keys (offered in either C foot or B foot). The modern flute is complete with acoustical design innovations to fine tune the pitch as well as highly accurate machining of the pins and keys to aid the musician in their search for the perfect sound and help develop flawless technique. The modern flute is a glowing example of industrial design innovation and human understanding of the acoustics with man’s ability to control it at will. With the use of new materials and high technology contemporary flutes are highly sensitive and are easily adaptable to various styles of music. Modern flutes are made in several different sizes—most common is the concert flute. Other common sizes include Piccolo Bass Flute and Alto Flute.