Flutes belong to a
larger family of instruments known as woodwinds.
Unlike other members of the family such as whistles
and recorders, which are held vertically , the wooden
Irish flute of today, modeled after the
mid-nineteenth-century concert flute, is part of a
larger family of transverse flutes. All evolved from
simple keyless bamboo and bone flutes. Over the centuries,
as music became more sophisticated, instruments had to
follow suit. During the Renaissance, flutes had a
straight, cylindrical bore and small sound holes. The
music they played was mostly limited to hexatonic
scales (no semitones or major & minor scales). In
the early baroque period, chromatic notes (semi tones)
became possible as 'cross fingering' techniques
developed - but this was somewhat cumbersome. As
baroque flutes became accepted as solo instruments,
they were required to respond faster, sound louder and
be able to play in tune in many different keys. To
increase volume, both the bore and the sound holes
were enlarged. The larger holes made cross-fingering
difficult so various padded keys fashioned out of
metal and springs were added. During the same period,
makers discovered that conical bores helped correct
intonation problems while maintaining richness of
tone. Another innovation of this time involved
instruments constructed of multiple interchangeable
sections. This allowed different scales and
temperaments to be played on one
instrument. During the early
19th century, as the classical era commenced, the
concert flute generally had 6-10 keys and was made in
3 or 4 sections. It was made of a very dense wood such
as cocus, boxwood or African blackwood, and had a
conical bore coupled with a cylindrical head-joint.
Sometime during the 1830s, Theobald Boehm, a German
musician and instrument maker, visited London and was
inspired by the virtuosic playing of Charles
Nicholson. Theobald returned home and eventually
reinvented the flute to make it more playable for
modern trends. To increase volume, he reverted to a
cylindrical bore in conjunction with a conical
head-joint. To play more in tune, and to quicken the
response, he refined the keying system. Nickel-silver,
silver and gold gradually replaced wood as the
material of choice. To his credit, after perhaps 50
years, the entire classical world switched to Boehm
system flutes. Before these new
Boehm system flutes took over the classical world,
wooden concert flutes were desirable, but generally
too expensive for folk musicians. In traditional
circles, pipes and whistles (FLUTES - from pg. 1) were
cheap and popular. Both of those instruments are
keyless. The open holes allow the use of various
finger movements for rhythmical embellishments etc.
The concert flute, with its six open finger holes, and
without a modern Boehm mechanism, while limiting the
number of keys possible to play in, makes a piping
style possible and natural. Fingering is more-or-less
like a big tin whistle and transition to this
classical flute wasn't difficult. Flutes made in
London about 1850 were some of the finest ever built.
They became plentiful and proved well suited to Irish
music. These quality instruments of the mid 19th
century, cast off in favour of Boehm's modern
innovations, quickly found new homes amongst folk
players. Within a couple of generations, influenced by
piping, fife and whistle traditions, an Irish style
emerged. It is a fluid, robust and percussive way of
playing. For nearly 150
years, in Celtic circles, there were enough
instruments to go around. However, with the explosion
of interest in Irish music which started in the 1970s,
it came time for new instruments to be built again.
Several quality makers have emerged around the world.
Most have copied the traditional designs from the
classical period (by English makers such as such as
Rudell and Rose etc.). Aficionados find the acoustic
balance between fiddle and flute to be a near-perfect
blend (listen to Father Quinn & Rev. Hastings on
Slan le Loch Eirne - for more info., go to pg.5 ). For
band or dance playing, or even noisy sessions,
amplification is often necessary. This has inspired
makers such Seattle's Peter Noy to refine
flute designs further. Peter's experiments with the
head-joint have dramatically increased volume. Amongst
others, his instruments are played by Michael
McGoldrick and Stewart MacNeil (of the Barra
MacNeils). Traditional music
played on wood flute sounds like no other. Played in
folk circles today from Baluchistan to Brazil, from
Ireland to Cape Breton, it is hard to think of a place
and time without flutes.
Concert
Flutes by
Paul Cranford
3/17/07