Making a Flute
Flute-makers have to do a five year apprenticeship. The hardest part to get right is the head-joint. If this is wrong the flute will never sound good. The head-joint is conical. The lip plate is shaped and the embouchure hole cut by hand to the right size with the blowing edge at the correct angle for the breath to vibrate the column of air in the body of the flute. The top end is stopped by a crown. This holds the cork inside the tube by means of a screw. Moving this cork minutely changes the length of the column of air and therefore the relative pitch of every note played.
A Flute is 67cm long (C Foot joint) and weighs 400-600g. The constant bore of the body and foot joint is 19mm.
The rest of the flute is made from two pieces of tube with a constant bore. It takes more than 150 pillars, rods, keys, rollers and springs to make a flute.
Because there are so many makers of Flutes around, the links have now been categorised into the following:
Historical Flute Makers Head-joint Makers Piccolo Makers Boehm Flute Makers
Alto and Bass Flute Makers Makers of other Flutes
Some of the Makers have no web presence as yet so if you find a link to them - or are that maker - please let me know! Taa Muchly!
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Andreas Glatt - Baroque Flutes |
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| Anthony Arnold | Jean-Fran�ois Beaudin |
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Daniel Deitch |
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The Butterfly HeadJoint Company Inc. |
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Welans Headjoints (email) |
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| Botha | Robert Bigio |
| Francisco V. Candelaria | |
| Full Circle Flute Co. Ltd |
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Bulgheroni Piccolos |
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John Rutzen - Irish Flutes |
Fretwell Flutes |
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Jean-Luc Boudreau - recorder |
Casey Burns |
| Jeff Calavan | |
| Bleazey - makers of fine Flutes | Woodlands Voices Native American Flutes |
You could also try
Google Directory - Arts>Music Instruments>Winds>Woodwinds>Flute>Flute Makers
Are there any other flute maker out there in the WWW whose address We've not got?
Flute Novelties
Little Tooters
The word 'flute' comes from the Latin word 'flare' which means to flow. Most student flutes are made of silver-plated metal such as yellow brass, which is 70% copper and 30% zinc. Silver-plating gives the flute a more mellow sound. Most professionals play on solid silver flutes (silver content 92.5%) although some, like James Galway, play on flutes made of other metals.
I'm attempting to catalogue the names under different categories so please be patient!
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G
Goosman Martin Gordon Michael Grinter A.D. Geoffrey - Guo Brothers |
H Hammig Mark Hoza Trevor Hutton |
I |
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J Jinyin Jupiter
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K Eva Kingma Kori Flutes
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L Leblanc Lebret
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M Mateki Flutes Ewen McDougall Moennig |
N Namkung Flutes Peter Noy Flutes
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O Oxley
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P Simon Polak |
Q |
R Rudall Carte
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S Dana Sheridan Dana Sheridan 2 Dana Sheridan 3 Simmons |
T Takumi
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U |
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V
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W JB Weissman Stephen Wessel
Charles Wells Martin Wenner Flutes and head joints Chris Wolkes
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X |
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Y Yamaha
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Z Zetner
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