Page 6 - Info Magazine nr 17 april may 2021

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.

A 14-carat gold flute weighs approximately 500 grams, while a solid-silver flute weighs approximately 440 grams

There are also platinum flutes, which weigh more than gold instruments and produce a corres-
pondingly 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.

Wooden flute made of grenadilla

There are two types of keys for the flute:
covered keys (German style) and ring keys (French style). Each type has its own characteristics.

Covered keys
Since the key cups are lid-shaped, the keys properly cover the holes, preventing the player's bre-
ath from escaping. It is typically easy to press the keys on a covered-key flute in a natural fashion,
thanks to the inclusion of an offset key. (The G key operated by the left-hand ring finger protrudes
and is aligned to suit the length of the finger.)

Ring keys
Since the key cups are ring-shaped, covering the holes properly requires technique. However,
since the player can directly feel the air vibrations on his fingertips, he can control the subtle
nuances of the sound. There is also the appeal that techniques such as finger-sliding allow con-
siderable freedom to vary the pitch. The glissando technique is also available, in which a run of
notes is played by gradually opening a key hole.
Although ring-key flutes normally feature an in-line key configuration (in which the keys on the
main tube are arranged in a straight line), offset ring-key flutes are also available.