Flutes

Woodwinds

Musical Theory and Technique

This Side of Sanity

    The flute is a woodwind instrument.

    The flute is a high-pitched instrument of the woodwind family, tubular in shape and with finger holes and keys on the side and a reedless mouthpiece either at the end, as in the recorder, or on the side, as in the transverse flute. Also an organ stop with wide flue pipe which produces a flutelike tone.

    Range: The flute has a range of B3 to C7 (approximately 247 Hz to 2,100 Hz, with overtones to 6 KHz).

    General MIDI Level 1 Sound Set Program Channel Number: decimal 74 or hexadecimal 0x49. (See General MIDI Level 1 Sound Set.)

    The word “flute” comes from the Middle English word “floute” or “floite” which comes from the Old French word “flaute” or “fleute” which comes from the Old Provençal “flaut” which was perhaps influenced by the Latin word “flageolet” meaning a small flute-like instrument (from the Vulgar Latin word “flabeolum” meaning flute) and the Latin word “flare” meaning to blow and the Latin word “laut” meaning lute.