Page 4 - Info Magazine nr 17 april may 2021

The relatives of the flute

It is not unusual for a performer who plays the flute to switch to the piccolo, alto flute, or bass
flute.
The piccolo is pitched an octave higher than the flute and produces a shrill, high-pitched sound.
With a length of 30 cm, the piccolo resounds loudly in the performer’s right ear when the instru-
ment is played. The alto flute has a slightly gentler sound, while the bass flute boasts a total tube
length of around 130 cm and is pitched an octave below the flute.
Please listen as each of these four instruments is played in turn. The pieces played are Bach’s
Solo Partita No. 2 on the bass flute, Bach’s Siciliano on the alto flute, Bizet’s l’Arlésienne on the
flute, and the second movement of Vivaldi’s Piccolo Concerto in C Major on the piccolo.

Why does a flute have a lip plate attached?

In fact, the lip plate was created so that a metal flute would
have the same thickness as a wooden flute at this point. Theo-
bald Boehm-the pioneer of the metal flute-proposed adding
the lip plate in order to make the instrument easier to play.
The lip plate is a curved, oval-shaped metal plate, which is
connected to the body of the flute by a component underne-
ath it known as a riser.

Why does it make a sound?

The principle is the same as that for the recorder. However, on the flute the lips fix the outlet
for the breath, while on the recorder the windway fixes the outlet for the breath As the breath is
directed toward the edge of the embouchure hole, high-pressure sound waves pass through the
tube and reach openings such as the end of the foot joint and the sound holes. These waves then
bounce back and try to force the air in the vicinity of the embouchure hole back out through the
embouchure hole. As this happens, the sound pressure in this section of the instrument falls, and
air is sucked back in. Waves are then produced that cause the air around the edge of the embou-
chure hole to vibrate up and down, producing changes in the sound.