Gemeinhardt

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Gemeinhardt Musical Instruments LLC
Founded1948
FounderKurt Gemeinhardt
Headquarters
Elkhart, Indiana
,
United States
Key people
David Pirtle, president and CEO
Products flutes, piccolos
Parent Angel Industries Co. Ltd
Website http://www.gemeinhardt.com/

Gemeinhardt Co. is a manufacturer of flutes and piccolos. [1] These musical instruments are developed by this company for all levels of musicians, beginners to professionals. Gemeinhardt is owned by its major supplier, Angel Industries Co. Ltd of Taiwan, widely acknowledged as the premier manufacturer of woodwind musical instruments. [2] The Gemeinhardt Company is headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana, where many of its instruments are still made. [2]

Contents

Ownership

From 1993 to 2011, Gemeinhardt was owned by investment bankers under the corporate name Gemstone Musical Instruments. In June 2011, Gemeinhardt was acquired by Angel Industries Co. Ltd. of Taiwan, musical instrument manufacturers and business partner of Gemeinhardt for several years. David Pirtle, Gemeinhardt president and CEO, said the acquisition would allow Gemeinhardt more freedom to make decisions and run production in order to best serve the market. [3]

While many musical instrument brands are manufactured overseas, the partnership between Gemeinhardt and Angel Industries is unique. Gemeinhardt manufactures flute components (headjoint, body, footjoint, keys) in Elkhart, Indiana, then sends them to Angel for assembly. The assembled instruments are returned to Elkhart for testing and adjusting in the Gemeinhardt workshop. While most musical instrument brands have flute components manufactured overseas, Pirtle said Gemeinhardt's method is preferable because better quality flute parts can be made in their U.S. workshop. [3]

History

Fourth-generation flute maker Kurt Gemeinhardt was brought to the United States from Markneukirchen, Germany, by George Bundy of Selmer USA which had recently relocated to Elkhart, Indiana. Working with Philip H. Marcil in the Selmer flute division, they copied the typical Louis Lot design for their flutes. [4]

Kurt's father had studied under Emil Rittershausen, who was trained by Theobald Boehm; thus, the instruments Gemeinhardt produces can trace their lineage to the creator of the Boehm system. [5]

In 1948, twenty years after Gemeinhardt immigrated, he founded the Kurt Gemeinhardt Company. Initially, the company crafted only very fine handmade flutes for professionals. However, the company moved to Elkhart and expanded in 1952, producing all levels of silver flutes. Beginner student flutes were also developed at this time; as Gemeinhardt’s reputation for fine beginner flutes became a hallmark of the industry, these flutes eventually became the bread and butter of the corporation.

The Gemeinhardt Company is very popular in the music field, although they have not always followed the mainstream. In the mid '70s, Albert Cooper modified the placement of toneholes on the flute so it would match the common tuning of A at 440 Hz. Before this, many flutes were made with an older A435Hz tone hole placement (scale), despite being designed to play at A440Hz through the use of a shortened headjoint. [6]

Many flute companies recognized this change and decided to make their flutes the same way, but Gemeinhardt was slow to modify its design. This in turn made notes played in the higher register on an old Gemeinhardt flute sharp and the lower register flat, which could cause issues for beginner flautists using an old Gemeinhardt (pre-21st century). With practice, they could learn to play so the notes are correct, or they could consider buying a newer Gemeinhardt.

However, the design of Gemeinhardt's flutes have changed often and have been updated and redesigned accordingly. [7] At the National Flute Association's 2014 convention in Chicago, Gemeinhardt introduced a new line of flutes, the Kurt Gemeinhardt Generation Series. [8] Consisting entirely of American-made conservatory and professional flutes, the Generation Series was developed by Tom Lacy and Dave Siekman. [9] These flutes utilize the RS2012 Scale invented by famous flutists Trevor Wye,
William Bennett and Eldred Spell. This scale design is claimed to be the most accurate on the market. [9] [10]

In 1997, Gemeinhardt acquired the Roy Seaman Piccolo Company. [11] In addition to flutes and piccolos, Gemeinhardt also
has a line of saxophones and clarinets.

Products

Flutes

The Gemeinhardt company sells its flutes in different categories: Student, Conservatory, Professional, Kurt Gemeinhardt Generation Series (American-made conservatory and professional flutes), Alto flutes, and Bass Flutes. It also sells headjoints separately. All flutes are available with an offset G (noted by O in the model number).

Piccolos

All Gemeinhardt and Roy Seaman Piccolos are made in the USA, except the 1P Piccolo [13]

The Gemeinhardt company also sells piccolos under several categories, which are composed of composite, silver, wood, and the Roy Seaman brand. The composite piccolo is made out of a synthetic material with some wooden texture to it, metal piccolos can be silver-plated or solid silver, wood piccolos are made of grenadilla wood and are rarely used outside because the wood can crack, and finally the Roy Seaman Piccolo sub-brand of conservatory and professional piccolos.

Saxophones

Clarinets

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References

  1. ↑ "The Gemeinhardt Story".
  2. 1 2 Gemeinhardt Company Director of Marketing Blog
  3. 1 2 Odendahl, Marilyn (15 July 2011). "Gemeinhardt acquired by Taiwan-based company". The Elkhart Truth. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  4. ↑ Powell, Ardal (2002). The Flute . Yale University Press. pp.  231. ISBN   0-300-09341-1.
  5. ↑ Gemeinhardt History
  6. ↑ Albert Cooper
  7. ↑ "eBay Guides - Gemeinhardt 2SP Flute - Everything You Wanted to Know" . Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  8. ↑ "Experience a Revolution at NFA 2014!".
  9. 1 2 "Kurt Gemeinhardt Generation Flutes".
  10. ↑ "Cooper page 1". Archived from the original on 2015-02-12. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  11. ↑ "The Gemeinhardt Story".
  12. ↑ "Gemeinhardt Musical Instruments".
  13. ↑ Gemeinhardt Company Director of Marketing Blog
  14. ↑ "Gemeinhardt Piccolos : Plastic, Metal and Grenadilla Wood Piccolos".
  15. ↑ "Roy Seaman Piccolos : The preferred grenadilla wood piccolos for 30+ years".
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