The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute produces sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, flutes are edge-blown aerophones. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist or flutist.
The ney, is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Persian music, Turkish music, Jewish music and Arabic music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. The ney has been played continually for 4,500–5,000 years, dating back to ancient Egypt, making it one of the oldest musical instruments still in use.
The term fipple specifies a variety of end-blown flute that includes the flageolet, recorder, and tin whistle. The Hornbostel–Sachs system for classifying musical instruments places this group under the heading "Flutes with duct or duct flutes." The label "fipple flute" is frequently applied to members of the subgroup but there is no general agreement about the structural detail of the sound-producing mechanism that constitutes the fipple, itself.
A bansuri is an ancient side-blown bamboo flute originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an aerophone produced from bamboo and metal like material used in many Nepali Lok songs. A bansuri is traditionally made from a single hollow shaft of bamboo with seven finger holes. Some modern designs come in ivory, fiberglass and various metals. The six hole instrument covers two and a half octaves of music. The bansuri is typically between 30 centimetres (12 in) and 75 centimetres (30 in) in length, and the thickness of a human thumb. One end is closed, and few centimeters from the closed end is its blow hole. Longer bansuris feature deeper tones and lower pitches. The traditional design features no mechanical keys, and the musician creates the notes they want by covering and uncovering the various finger holes.
The kaval is a chromatic end-blown oblique flute traditionally played throughout the Balkans and Anatolia. The kaval is primarily associated with mountain shepherds.
Chinese flutes come in various types. They include
The quena is the traditional flute of the Andes. Traditionally made of cane or wood, it has 6 finger holes and one thumb hole, and is open on both ends or the bottom is half-closed (choked). To produce sound, the player closes the top end of the pipe with the flesh between the chin and lower lip, and blows a stream of air downward, along the axis of the pipe, over an elliptical notch cut into the end. It is normally in the key of G, with G4 being the lowest note. It produces a very "textured" and "dark" timbre because of the length-to-bore ratio of about 16 to 20, which is very unlike the tone of the Western concert flute with a length-to-bore ratio of about 38 to 20.
The atenteben(atɛntɛbɛn) is a bamboo flute from Ghana. It is played vertically, like the European recorder, and, like the recorder, can be played diatonically as well as chromatically. Although originally used as a traditional instrument, beginning in the 20th century it has also been used in contemporary and classical music. Several players have attained high levels of virtuosity and are able to play Western as well as African music on the instrument.
Washint is an end-blown wooden flute originally used in Ethiopia. Traditionally, Amharic musicians would pass on their oral history through song accompanied by the washint as well as the krar, a six stringed lyre, and the masenqo, a one string fiddle.
The fujara is a large wind instrument of the tabor pipe class. It originated in central Slovakia as a sophisticated folk shepherd's overtone fipple flute of unique design in the contrabass range.
The danso is a Korean notched, end-blown vertical bamboo flute used in Korean folk music. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but since the 20th century it has also been made of plastic. It was imported from China in the 19th century, where it is called duanxiao. The Korean name is the transliteration of the Chinese one, a short variant of the xiao.
The shvi is an Armenian fipple flute with a labium mouth piece. Commonly made of wood or bamboo and up to 12 inches (300 mm) in length, it typically has a range of an octave and a-half. The tav shvi is made from apricot wood, it is up to 18 inches (460 mm) long, and is tuned 1/4 lower producing a more lyrical and intimate sound.
The Turkish ney is an end-blown flute made of reed, an Ottoman variation on the ancient ney. Together with the Turkish tanbur lute and Turkish kemençe fiddle are considered the most typical instruments of Classical Turkish music. The ney also plays a primary role in the music of the Mevlevi Sufi rites (semâ).
The kāwālā is an end-blown cane flute used in Arabic music. It is similar to the ney but has six finger holes, while the ney has seven. The kawala comes in up to nine different sizes, according to the maqam.
The dilli kaval is a traditional fipple flute from Turkey and Azerbaijan. It is typically made of plum, ebony, or apricot wood. It has seven holes on the front and a thumb hole on the back; the lowest hole on the front is seldom, if ever, covered while playing. Similar to a penny whistle, the register can be controlled by the force of breath. The word "dilli" is Turkish for "tongued" and alludes to the fact that this flute has a duct or "fipple" rather than being rim-blown like a conventional kaval.
Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori people of New Zealand.
A vessel flute is a type of flute with a body which acts as a Helmholtz resonator. The body is vessel-shaped, not tube- or cone-shaped; that is, the far end is closed.
Šupelka is a Macedonian traditional woodwind instrument very similar to the kaval. It is mostly made of walnut, cornel, ash, or maple wood. The šupelka plays a chromatic scale, with the exception of the first note of the lower octave. In the lower register, the šupelka gives a soft and pleasant sound, while the upper register tone is sharp and high-pitched.
The tsuur, choor (Kyrgyz), or chuur is an end-blown flute of varying lengths that is common among Inner Asian pastoralists.
Donali is an Iranian folk instrument from the Balochistan province in Iran, a pair of fipple flutes that are put in the mouth at the same time to play. The instrument is from the Ney family. The doneli's body is made of reed. One of the instruments is called male (نر) and the other female (ماده). The instrument named female plays melody and the instrument named male play harmony.
