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FLUTE

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 581 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FLUTE , a word adapted from O. Fr. fleute, See also:

modern flute; from O. Fr. have come the Span. flauta, Ital. flauto and Ger. Flute. The New See also:English See also:Dictionary dismisses the derivations suggested from See also:Lat. flatware or flavitare; ultimately the word must be referred to the See also:root seen in " See also:blow," Lat. flare, Ger. blasen, &c. 1. In See also:music " flute " is a See also:general See also:term applied to See also:wood-See also:wind See also:instruments consisting of a See also:pipe pierced with lateral holes and blown directly through the See also:mouthpiece without the intervention of a See also:reed. The flute See also:family is classified according to the mouth-piece used to set in vibration the See also:column of See also:air within the See also:tube: i.e. (r) the See also:simple lateral mouth-hole or embouchure which necessitates holding the See also:instrument in a transverse position; (2) the See also:whistle or fipple mouthpiece which allows the performer to hold the instrument vertically in front of him. There is a third class of pipes included among the flutes, having no mouth-piece of any sort, in which the column of air is set in vibration by blowing obliquely across the open end of the pipe, as in the See also:ancient See also:Egyptian See also:nay, and the See also:pan-pipe or See also:syrinx (q.v.). The transverse flute has entirely superseded the whistle flute, which has survived only in the so-called See also:penny whistle, in the " flute-See also:work " of the See also:organ (q.v.), and in the See also:French See also:flageolet. The Transverse Flute or See also:German Flute (Fr. flute traversiere, flute See also:allemande: Ger.

Flute, Querflote, Zwerchpfeiff, Schweitzerpfeiff; Ital. flauto See also:

traverse) includes the See also:concert flute known both as flute in C and as flute in D, the See also:piccolo (q.v.) or See also:octave flute, and the See also:fife (q.v.). The modern flute consists of a tube open at one end and nominally closed at the other by means of a plug or See also:cork stopper: virtually, however, the tube is an open one giving the consecutive See also:harmonic See also:series of the open pipe or of a stretched See also:string. The See also:primitive flute was made in one piece, but the modern instrument is composed of three adjustable See also:joints. (1) The See also:head-See also:joint, plugged at the upper end and containing at about one-third of the length the mouth-hole or embouchure. This embouchure, always open when the instrument is being played, converts the closed tube into an open one, in an acoustical sense. (2) The See also:body, containing the holes and keys necessary to produce the See also:scale which gave the flute its See also:original designation of D flute, the head and body together, when the holes are closed, giving the fundamental See also:note D. Before the invention of keys, this fundamental note and the notes obtained by the successive opening of the six holes produced the diatonic scale of D See also:major. All other semitones were obtained by what is known as See also:cross fingering (Fr. doigte fourchu; Ger. Gabelgriffe). It became usual to consider this the typical fingering nomenclature, whatever the fundamental note given out by the flute, and to indicate the tonality by the note given out when the six lateral holes are covered by the fingers. The result is that the tonality is always a See also:tone See also:lower than the name of the instrument indicates. Thus the D flute is really in C, the F flute is Eb, &c.

(3) The See also:

foot-joint or tail-joint containing the two additiQaal keys for Cjr and C which extend the579 See also:compass downwards, completing the See also:chromatic scale of C in the fundamental octave. The compass of the modern flute is three octaves with a chromatic semitones from = The See also:sound is See also:pro- = co- duced by holding the flute tra versely with the embouchure turned slightly outwards, the lower See also:lip resting on the nearer edge of the embouchure, and blowing obliquely across, not into, the orifice. The See also:flat stream of air from the lips, known as the air-reed, breaks against the See also:sharp See also:outer edge of the embouchure. The current of air, thus set in a flutter, produces in the stationary column of air within the tube a series of pulsations or vibrations caused by the alternate See also:compression and rare-See also:faction of the air and generating sounds of a See also:pitch proportional to the length of the stationary column, which is practically somewhat longer than the length of the tube." The length of this column is varied by opening the lateral See also:finger-holes. The current or air-reed thus acts upon the air column within the flute, without passing through the tube, as a plectrum upon a string, setting it in vibration. The air column of the flute is the sound-producer, whereas in instruments with reed mouthpieces the vibrating reed is more properly the sound-producer, while the air column, acting as a resonating See also:medium, reinforces the note of the reed by vibrating synchronously with it. If the See also:angle 2 at which the current of air is directed against the outer edge of the embouchure be made less acute and the pressure of the breath be at the same See also:time increased, the frequency of the alternate pulses of compression and rarefaction within the tube will be increased two, three or fourfold, forming a corresponding number of nodes and loops which results in harmonics or upper partials, respectively the octave, the twelfth, the See also:double octave. By this means sounds of higher pitch are produced without actually shortening the length of the column of air by means of lateral holes. The acoustic theory of sound-See also:production in the flute is one on which there is See also:great diversity of See also:opinion. The subject is too vast to be treated here, but readers who wish to pursue it may consult the See also:works of Rockstro,3 See also:Helmholtz,' and others.5 The effect of See also:boring lateral holes in pipes is to shorten the vibrating length of the air column, which may be regarded as being effective only between the hole in question and the mouthpiece. In See also:order to obtain this result the See also:diameter of the hole should be equal to that of the See also:bore; as See also:long as the holes were covered by the fingers, this was obviously impossible. The holes, therefore, being smaller than the See also:laws of See also:acoustics demand, have to be placed proportion-ally nearer the mouthpiece in order to avoid deepening the pitch and deadening the tone.

This principle was understood by wind-instrument makers of classic See also:

Greece (see See also:AuLos and See also:CLARINET), and has been explained by' Chladni 6 and Gottfried See also:Weber.' The bore of the See also:early flute with six finger-holes was invariably cylindrical throughout, but towards the end of the 17th See also:century a modification took See also:place, the head joint alone remaining cylindrical while the See also:rest of the bore assumed the See also:form of a See also:cone having its smallest diameter at the open end of the tube. The ' See E. F. F. Chladni, See also:Die Akustik (See also:Leipzig, 1802), p. 87. 2 See Sonreck, " Uber die Schwingungserregung and die Bewegung der Luftsaule in offenen and gedeckten Rohren," Pogg. See also:Ann., 1876, vol. 158. 3 The Flute (See also:London, 1890), § 90-105, pp. 34-4o. Theorie der Luftschwingungen in Rohren mit off enen Enden (See also:Berlin, 1896).

Ostwald's Klassiker der exacten Wissenschaften, No. 80. 5 V. C. Mahillon, Experimental Studies on the Resonance of Trunco-Conical and Cylindrical Air Columns, translated by F. A. See also:

Mahan (London, 1901); D. J. Blaiklev, Acoustics in Relation to Wind Instruments (London, 189o) ; See also:Friedrich Zamminer, Die Musik and die musikalischen Instrumente, &c. (See also:Giessen, 1855) ; idem. " Sur le mouvement vibratoire de See also:fair dans See also:les tuyaux," Comptes rendus, 1855, V01. 41, &c.

c Op. Cit., § 73, pp. 87-88, note 1. ' " Akustik der Blasinstrumente," Allgem. musikal. Zeit. (Leipzig, 1816), Bd. xviii. No. 5, p. 65 et seq. See also See also:

Ernst Euting, Zur Geschichte der Blasinstrumente See also:im 16. and 17. Jahrhundert. Inaugural Dissertation, Friedrich-Wilhelms UJniversitat.

(Berlin, 15th of See also:

March 1899), p. 9. s8o conoidal bore greatly improved the quality of tone and the production of the higher harmonics of the third octave. Once the conical bore had been adopted, the term flute was exclusively applied to the new instruments, the smaller flutes, then cylindrical, used in the See also:army being designated fife (q.v.). At Musical instruments, such as flutes, in which a column of air is set in vibration by See also:regular pulsations derived from a current of air directed by the lips of the executant against the See also:side of the orifice serving as embouchure, appear to be of very ancient origin. The See also:Hindus, See also:Chinese and See also:Japanese claim to have used these modes of blowing from time immemorial. The ancient Egyptians had a long pipe held obliquely and blown across the end of the pipe itself at its upper extremity; it was known as Saib-it 5 and was frequently figured on the monuments. The same instrument, called nay," is still used in See also:Mahommedan countries. The oblique aulos of the ' Lehre von der Tonempfindung (Braunschweig, 1877). 2 See additions by D. J. B. to See also:article " Flute " in See also:Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians (London, 1904).

Musica instrumentalis See also:

deutsch (See also:Wittenberg, 1528). * See also L'See also:Artusi, Delle imperfettioni della musica moderna (See also:Venice, 1600), p. 4; Gottfried Weber in Cdcilia, Bd. ix. p. 99. 5 See " Les Anciennes Flutes egyptiennes," by See also:Victor Loret in See also:Journal asiatique (See also:Paris, 1889), vol. xiv. p. 133 et seq., two careful articles based on the ancient Egyptian instruments still extant. See also Lauth, " Ober die agyptische Instrumente," Sitzungs. der philos., philolog. and histor. Klasse. der Kgl. bayer. Akad. zu Munchen (1873). Greeks, plagiaulos,6 was of Egyptian origin and was perhaps at first blown from the end as described a.bove,r since we know that the Greeks were See also:familiar with that method of blowing in the syrinx or pan-pipe. The instruments preserved at the See also:British Museum® having lateral embouchures show, however, that they were also acquainted—probably through the Hindus—with the transverse flute, although in the See also:case of these specimens a reed must have been inserted into the mouth-hole or no sound would have been obtained. The high antiquity of a lateral embouchure in See also:Europe is generally admitted; the flute evidently penetrated from the See also:East at some See also:period not yet determined.

A transverse flute is seen on See also:

Indian sculptures of the Gandhara school showing See also:Greek See also:influence, and dating from the beginning of our era (fig. 3). But although the transverse flute was evi- dently known to the Greeks and See also:Romans, it did not find the same favour as the reed instruments known as auloi. We have no See also:evidence of the survival of the transverse flute after the fall of the See also:Roman See also:empire until it filtered through from See also:Byzantine See also:sources Tope at Amarabati, British Museum. during the early See also:middle ages. Instances of the flute occur on a See also:group of caskets 6 of Italo-Byzantine work of the 9th or loth century, while of purely Byzantine origin we find examples of flutes in Greek 6 See See also:Albert A. See also:Howard, " The Aulos or See also:Tibia," Harvard Studies, iv. (See also:Boston, 1893), pp. 16-17. 7 Representations of flutes blown as here described have been found in Europe. See Comptes rendus de la See also:commission impiriale archeologique (St See also:Petersburg, 1867), p. 45, and, See also:atlas for the same date, pl. vi.

Pompeian See also:

painting given by Helbig, Wandgemalde, No. 7607; Zahn, vol. pl. 31; Museo Borbonnico, pl. xv. No. 18; Clarac, pl. 130, 131, 139; Heuzey, Les Figurines, p. 136. 6 There are two flutes at the British Museum (Catal. No. 84, 4-9 and 5 and 6), belonging to the Castellani collection, made of wood encased in See also:bronze in which the mouthpiece, consisting of the head of a maenad, has a lateral hole bored obliquely into the See also:main tube. This hole was probably intended for the reception of a reed. The pipe is stopped at the end beyond the mouthpiece as in the modern flute.

There are six holes. See also the plagiaulos from Halicar. nassus in the British Museum described by C. T. See also:

Newton in See also:History of Discoveries at See also:Halicarnassus (London), vol. ii. p. 339. The Louvre has two ancient statues (from the See also:villa See also:Borghese) representing See also:satyrs playing upon transverse flutes. Unfortunately these See also:marbles have been restored, especially in the details affecting our See also:present subject, and are therefore examples of no value to us. Another statue representing a flute-player occurs in the British Museum. The instrument has been supposed to be a transverse flute, but erroneously, for the insufflation of the lateral tube against which the instrumentalist presses his lips, could not, without the intervention of a reed, excite the vibratory See also:movement of the column of air. e See also:Florence, Carrand Collection. See Museo Nazionale Firenze, Catalogo (1898), p. 205, No.

26 (description only). See also:

Illustration in Gallerie nazionali italiane, A. Venturi, vol. iii. (1897), p. 263, L'Arte (See also:Rome, 1894), vol. i. p. 24, Hans Graeven, Antike Vorlagen byzantinischer Elfenbeinreliefs," in Jahrb. d. K. Preuss. Kunst-Sammlungen (Berlin, 1897), Bd. xviii. p. I I ; Hans Graeven, " Ein Reliquienkastchen aus See also:Pirano," id., 1899, Bd. xx. fig. 2 and pl. iii. From See also:Captain See also:Day's See also:Catalogue, &'c., by permission of Messrs.

See also:

Eyre & See also:Spottiswoode. Messrs. Rudall, See also:Carte & Co. the present day in See also:England, See also:France and See also:America, the favourite mode of construction is that introduced by See also:Theobald See also:Boehm, and known as the " See also:cylinder flute with the parabolic head," of which more will be said further on. The successive opening of the holes and keys on the flute produces the chromatic scale of the first or fundamental octave. By increasing the pressure of the breath and slightly altering the position of the lips over the mouth-hole, the same fingering produces the notes of the fundamental octave in the next octave higher. The third octave of the compass is obtained by the production of the higher harmonics (Fr. sons harmoniques; Ger. Flageolettone), of the fundamental scale, facilitated by the opening of certain of the finger-holes as " vent holes." The quality of tone depends somewhat on the material of which the flute is made; See also:silver and See also:gold produce a liquid tone of exquisite delicacy suitable for See also:solo music, cocus-wood and ebonite a See also:rich mellow tone of considerable See also:power suitable for orchestral music. The tone differs further in the three registers, the lowest being slightly rough, the medium sweet and elegiac, and the third See also:bird-like and brilliant. The proportions, position and form of the stopper and of the air chamber situated between it and the embouchure are mainly influential in giving the flute its See also:peculiar slightly hollow timbre, due to the paucity of the upper partials of which according to Helmholtz' only the octave and twelfth are heard. Mr Blaikley2 states, however, that when the fundamental D is played, he can discern the seventh partial. The technical capabilities of the flute are practically unlimited to a See also:good player who can obtain sustained notes diminuendo and crescendo, diatonic and chromatic scales and arpeggios both legato and staccato, leaps, turns, shakes, &c.

End of Article: FLUTE

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