Flute

A flute renders sweet tones that are soothing to the ears and generally blends well with the sounds of other musical instruments. Belonging to the woodwind family, a flute is basically a hollow cylinder with a number of holes along the length of the flute. The music from a flute is produced from the flow of air against an edge.

Flutes were made in different designs and from different materials around the world. The Native American flute is quite different from the Irish flute or the native flutes from India. In the earlier days, they were made mostly of suitably shaped bones like femur and shin bones. Even flutes made of mammoth tusks made around 35,000 years ago have been found.

Depending on the mechanism of air flow, flutes can be broadly classified into two categories, viz. fippled flutes and non-fipple flutes. The fippled flutes are equipped with a pre-designed channel that allows air to flow in the right direction and create the desired sound. On the other hand, in non-fipple flutes the flow of air is controlled by the flute player. Very popular in Asian and Middle Eastern traditional music, the flute has lately been adopted in several contemporary music genres including rock as well as pop music.