The Structure Of The Flute:What Are Flutes Made Of?

Musical Instrument Guide The Structure of the Flute What are flutes made of?

What are golden and silver-colored flutes made of?

Silver-colored flutes may either be silver-plated, or made of nickel-silver or solid silver. Solid silver (also known as sterling silver) is silver with a purity of 92.5%, and this is used for both the tube and the key system. Golden flutes are made of gold of various different purities, such as nine-carat, 14-carat, and 18-carat gold. The higher the number, the higher the percentage of gold content. In 14-carat gold, gold, silver, and copper are blended together-higher levels of copper give the metal a reddish hue, and higher levels of silver produce a yellowish gold. In a concert hall, red 14-carat gold really sparkles like gold. As a musical instrument, it is important that a flute's sound be beautiful-however, for aesthetic purposes, the design and the material also need to be beautiful.

Do you need strength to play a heavy flute?

There are also platinum flutes, which weigh more than gold instruments and produce a correspondingly stronger sound. These highly spectacular instruments seem to fill every corner of the concert hall with sound. For this reason alone, the player of a platinum flute experiences fairly strong resistance. Flautists who are used to playing a silver flute normally lack the strength to get the full sound out of a 14-carat gold, 18-carat gold, or platinum flute, as flutes of different materials each have their own corresponding playing methods.

The alluring, warm timbre of the wooden flute

The wooden flute has recently been winning new fans. The tube is made of a heavy wood known as grenadilla, while other components such as the key posts and the keys are made of silver. The warm timbre that is produced possesses great charm.

Musical Instrument Guide : Flute Contents

Origins

• The birth of the flute
• The relatives of the flute

Structure

• The parts of the flute
• How is the sound produced?
• [Experiment] replacing the cork in the head joint with a different material
• What are flutes made of?

How to Play

• Playing the Flute
• Fingering diagrams for the flute

How the Instrument is Made

• Manufacturing the head joint
• Constructing the body
• Making the keys and pad cups
• Assembly and finishing

Choosing an Instrument

• Choosing on the basis of the quality of the material
• Choosing on the basis of the key type

Care and Maintenance

• Care and maintenance after playing
• Periodic maintenance
• Check the reflective plate!

Trivia

• The flute-a beautiful nymph transformed?
• Does the piccolo resemble the flutes of old?
• Why does a flute have a lip plate attached?
• Famous flute works: concertos
• Famous flute works: chamber music
• What is a double contrabass flute like?

1. Home
2. Musical Instrument Guide
3. Flute
4. The Structure of the Flute:What are flutes made of?