This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: the article contains some flute makers who aren't notable enough for an encyclopedia article.(December 2014) |
The following are flute makers who produce flutes from a wide variety of materials:
Maker | Country of origin | Comment/description | Active? | Flute maker? | Head joint maker? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abell, Christopher | USA | Maker of wooden flutes and wooden penny whistles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Aihara | Japan | Yes | Yes | No | |
Akiyama | Japan | Yes | Yes | No | |
Allen, Michael J. | United Kingdom | Maker of handmade flutes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Almeida, Edward "Ed" | USA | Master craftsman, died 1992 | No | Yes | No |
Altus | Japan | Well-known maker of high end flutes | Yes | Yes | No |
Arista Flutes | USA | Professional flutes and headjoints made in precious metals alto flute headjoints | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Armstrong | USA | Now owned by Conn-Selmer | Yes | Yes | No |
Artley | USA | Now defunct Conn-Selmer brand. The company made piccolos, C flutes, E-flat soprano flutes, alto and bass flutes. (The bass flute was designed by T.S. Ogilvie) | No | Yes | No |
Avanti | USA | A Conn-Selmer brand | No | Yes | No |
Azumi by Altus | Japan | Intermediate Altus models | Yes | Yes | No |
Bertrem, Brian | USA | Yes | Yes | No | |
Bigio, Robert | United Kingdom | British flautist, Historian, writer and flutemaker. Known for wooden flutes, but currently making only headjoints. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Bonneville | France | Now defunct historic French flute maker. | No | Yes | No |
Boosey & Hawkes | United Kingdom | No | Yes | No | |
Brannen Brothers | USA | Maker of fine flutes and known for collaborations with Brogger, Cooper, Lafin, and Kingma | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Braun, Anton | Germany | Yes | Yes | No | |
Briccialdi | Italy | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Buffet Crampon | France | No longer makes flutes | No | Yes | No |
Bulgheroni | Italy | Wooden Flute and Piccolo flute maker | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Burkart-Phelan | USA | Professional level flutes and piccolos | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Chu, David | USA | Maker of Wood & Bamboo Headjoints for Boehm Flutes & Alto Flutes | Yes | No | Yes |
Conn-Selmer | USA | Yes | Yes | No | |
Cooper, Albert | United Kingdom | Master craftsman and flute innovator, died 2011 | No | Yes | Yes |
Cundy-Bettoney Co. | USA | No | Yes | No | |
Doyle, Martin | Ireland | Making simple system wooden Irish flute, Baroque flutes and head-joints for concert flutes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Drelinger, Sanford "Sandy" | USA | Died April 2021 | Yes | No | Yes |
Eloy | Netherlands | Handmade flutes made from unique Japanese style alloys | Yes | Yes | No |
Emanuel Flutes | Boston, USA | Hand made flutes for professionals made to order | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Eppler, Alexander | USA | No | Yes | No | |
Erik the Flutemaker | USA | Specializing in handcrafted bamboo flutes | Yes | Yes | No |
Fehr, Thomas | Switzerland | Yes | No | Yes | |
Faulisi, Salvatore | France | Yes | No | Yes | |
Fisher | Germany | Wood and metal flutes | Yes | Yes | No |
Flute Lab | Netherlands | Yes | No | Yes | |
FMC | Japan | Yes | Yes | No | |
Fluteworx | South Africa | Yes | Yes | No | |
Gemeinhardt | USA/Taiwan | Including the Brio! model. Majority-owned by Angel Industries Co. Ltd. of Taiwan since 2011. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Geoghegan Co. | USA | Founded by Michael Geoghegan, the company was pioneer in silver brazing tone holes | Yes | Yes | No |
Gerhard Sachs | Germany | Very low-profile fine Flute maker from Sonnenbühl | No | Yes | Yes |
Giorgessi, Giorgio | Italy | Yes | No | Yes | |
Goosman | USA | Mara died 2015. | No | No | Yes |
Gordon, Martin | United Kingdom/USA | Yes | No | Yes | |
Gorset, Hans Olav | Norway | Baroque flutes | Yes | Yes | |
Gosse, Harry | Germany | Yes | No | Yes | |
Green, Tom | USA | No | Yes | No | |
Guo Musical Instrument Co. | Taiwan | Manufacturer of composite material flutes. Geoffrey Guo invented the material Grenaditte, which is used both in his instruments and Pearl piccolos. One of the few manufacturers of G Treble Flutes. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Hammig, Bernhard | Germany | Famous flutemaking dynasty | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Hammig, Philipp and Aug.Rich. OHG | Germany | Famous flutemaking dynasty | Yes | Yes | No |
Haynes, William S. | USA | Historic Boston flutemaker | Yes | Yes | No |
Hutton, Trevor | New Zealand | No | Yes | Yes | |
Inderbinen | Switzerland | Yes | Yes | No | |
Iwao | Japan | Yes | Yes | No | |
James, Trevor | United Kingdom-Taiwan | Yes | Yes | No | |
Josef Müller | Germany | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Jupiter | Taiwan | Yes | Yes | No | |
Jochen Mehnert & Söhne | Germany | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Karl Hammerschmidt & Söhne | Germany | Historic woodwind maker. Still produces six/seven-keyed simple system Piccolos, but in the pitch of C-sharp. | Yes | Yes | No |
Keefe | USA | Wood Piccolos | Yes | Yes | Yes |
King, Travis | B.C. Canada | Irish wooden flutes | Yes | Yes | No |
Kingma, Eva | Netherlands | Low flute maker and designer of the kingma system | Yes | Yes | No |
Koregelos | USA | George Koregelos, also founder of House of Woodwind, died 2012, made flutes in the 1970s. | No | Yes | No |
Kotato | Japan | Famous for low flutes | Yes | Yes | No |
Kuiper, Dirk | Netherlands | died 2006 | No | Yes | No |
Lacy, Tom | USA | Yes | Yes | No | |
Lafin, J. R. | Germany | master headjoint maker | Yes | No | Yes |
Lamberson, Nathaniel "Tip" | USA | ret. 1985, died 2005 | No | Yes | No |
Landell, Jonathon | USA | Master flutemaker making handmade flutes in Pennsylvania [1] | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Kramer, Christoph | Germany | Master headjointmaker | Yes | No | Yes |
Lebret | France | Defunct historical flute maker | No | Yes | No |
Lehner, John | Australia | Yes | Yes | No | |
Levit | USA | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Lewis, Gary | USA | Yes | Yes | No | |
Lopatin, Leonard E. | USA | Retired Maker and designer of the SquareONE family of flutes made with square tone holes, to the Lopatin Scale | No | Yes | Yes |
Lot, Louis | France | Most famous French flute maker of the 19th century | No | Yes | No |
Lucas Fovet | France | Gasba, Kaval, Quena, Saxoflute, Svirka, Flauta Transversal, Bamboo flutes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Lunn, John | USA | Maker of artistic and decorative concert flutes. Retired in 2020 | No | Yes | No |
Mancke | Germany | No | No | Yes | |
Mascolo | Brazil | Handmade head joint | Yes | No | Yes |
Mateki | Japan | Closed on 31 december 2019 | no | Yes | No |
Matit | Finland | Yes | Yes | No | |
McCanless | USA | No | Yes | No | |
McChord Flutes | USA | Manufacturer of handmade and custom headjoints of the highest quality | Yes | No | Yes |
McKenna, Chris | USA | Yes | Yes | No | |
McLauchlan, Ian | United Kingdom | No | No | Yes | |
Mehnert | Germany | Böhm flute maker since 1891 | Yes | Yes | No |
Michael, J. | China | Yes | Yes | No | |
Miyazawa | Japan | Yes | Yes | No | |
Moore, Jack | USA | Master craftsman. RIP. Made Alex Murray system flutes. | No | Yes | No |
Murali | China | Boston flutemaker manufacturing in China | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Muramatsu | Japan | Yes | Yes | No | |
Myall-Allen | United Kingdom | Treble flute in G | Yes | Yes | No |
Nagahara | USA | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Natsuki | Japan | Yes | Yes | No | |
Nomata | Japan | Yes | Yes | No | |
Northbridge | USA China | Yes | Yes | No | |
Novo, Juan | USA | Maker of the FANTASIA flute and custom wooden headjoints | No | Yes | Yes |
Oleg | USA | Oleg Garbuzov died in 2022. His company no longer offers flutes, headjoints or flute-related products. | No | No | No |
Olwell Flutes | USA | Father and son, Patrick and Aaron Olwell, makers of mainly Irish flutes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Opperman | USA | Maker of piccolos, alto and bass flutes as well as C flutes and head joints, died 2016 | No | Yes | No |
Oxley, Andrew | United Kingdom | Yes | No | Yes | |
Parmenon | France | Maker of concert flutes (Buffet Crampon group) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Pap, Marton - TheFluteMan | Philippines | Maker of Native American Flutes, Mid To Bass Range | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Pearl Flutes | Japan | Maker of Piccolos, C Flutes, Alto and Bass Flutes, and Contrabass Flutes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Powell, Verne Q. | USA | Boston flute maker (Buffet Crampon group) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Powell, Edward V. | USA | Son of Verne Q. Powell | No | Yes | No |
Resona | USA China | Intermediate range flute produced by Burkart | Yes | Yes | No |
Reynolds, F.A. | USA | No | Yes | No | |
Rittershausen, Emil | Germany | Boehm’s successor, died 1927 | No | Yes | No |
Roberts, Howell | United Kingdom | Yes | No | Yes | |
Roosen | France | Yes | Yes | No | |
Rudall, Carte & Co | United Kingdom | Most important historic English flute maker | No | Yes | No |
Sagerman, Gene | USA | Yes | No | Yes | |
Sakurai | Japan | Yes | Yes | No | |
Sankyo Flute Company | Japan | Founded 1968 and well-known for high quality flutes. | Yes | Yes | No |
Sheridan, Dana | USA/Germany | Retired | No | Yes | Yes |
Solexa | USA China | Yes | Yes | No | |
Song Flute | Korea | No | No | Yes | |
Spell, Eldred | USA | No | No | No | |
Straubinger Flutes | USA | Also known for making successful synthetic pads adopted for many high-end flutes | Yes | Yes | No |
Takumi Flute | Tokyo | No | Yes | No | |
Tomasi | Austria | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Verhoef, Alfred | Netherlands | Handmade wooden concert flutes in five sorts of wood. | Yes | Yes | No |
Viento | Yes | Yes | No | ||
Webb, John | United Kingdom | Retired | No | No | Yes |
Wenner, Martin | Germany | Yes | No | Yes | |
Wessel, Stephen | United Kingdom | Yes | Yes | No | |
Williams, David | USA | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Wimberly, David | CAN | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Wisemann | USA | Yes | Yes | No | |
Worrell, Peter | United Kingdom | Yes | No | Yes | |
Yamaha | Japan/USA | Yes | Yes | No | |
Yang, Dean | Yes | Yes | No | ||
Zhao, Di | China | Yes | Yes | No |
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. Flutes produce 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.
A pan flute is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length. Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been popular as folk instruments. The pipes are typically made from bamboo, giant cane, or local reeds. Other materials include wood, plastic, metal, and clay.
Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments.
The Magic Flute, K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form during the time it was written that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on 30 September 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, just two months before the composer's premature death. It was the last opera that Mozart composed. Still a staple of the opera repertory, its popularity was reflected by two immediate sequels, Peter Winter's Das Labyrinth oder Der Kampf mit den Elementen. Der Zauberflöte zweyter Theil (1798) and a fragmentary libretto by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe titled The Magic Flute Part Two.
The piccolo is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher. This has given rise to the name ottavino, by which the instrument is called in Italian and thus also in scores of Italian composers.
An aerophone is a musical instrument that produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound.
The ney, is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Egyptian Music, 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.
Sir James Galway is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". After several years working as an orchestral musician, he established an international career as a solo flute player. In 2005, he received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music at the Classic Brit Awards.
Ian Scott Anderson is a British musician best known for his work as the singer, flautist, acoustic guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member of the rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also plays harmonica, keyboards, bass guitar, bouzouki, balalaika, saxophone and a variety of whistles. His solo work began with Walk into Light in 1983; since then he has released another five albums, including the sequel to the 1972 Jethro Tull album Thick as a Brick, titled TaaB 2: Whatever Happened to Gerald Bostock? (2012).
Hariprasad Chaurasia is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition.
The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, pitched below the standard C flute and the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the piccolo. It is characterized by its rich, mellow tone in the lower portion of its range. The bore of the alto flute is considerably larger in diameter and longer than the C flute and requires a larger column of air (volume of air) from the player, though it also requires a slower airspeed. This gives it a greater dynamic presence in the bottom octave and a half of its range. Its range is from G3 (the G below middle C) to G6 (4 ledger lines above the treble clef staff) plus an altissimo register stretching to D♭7. It uses the same fingerings as the C flute and piccolo, but is a transposing instrument in G (sounding a perfect fourth lower than written).
The bass flute is a member of the flute family pitched one octave below the concert flute. The tubing length is twice as long at 146 cm (57 in), which requires a J-shaped head joint to bring the embouchure hole within reach of the player. Despite its name, its lowest note of C3 or B2 places its lowest octave only in the tenor range. Its soft dynamic range means in large ensembles it is easily obscured unless amplified or lightly scored; however its unique timbre in the low register can be very effective, especially in solo works, small ensembles, and flute choirs. The "bass flute in F" produced by Kotato & Fukushima is a contra-alto flute.
The Western concert flute is a family of transverse (side-blown) woodwind instruments made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a “flautist” in British English, and a “flutist” in American English.
The venu is one of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music. It is an aerophone typically made from bamboo, that is a side blown wind instrument. It continues to be in use in the South Indian Carnatic music tradition. It is referred to as nadi and tunava in the Rigveda and other Vedic texts of Hinduism. In northern Indian music, a similar flute is called bansuri. In the south, it is also called by various other names such as pullanguḻal (புல்லாங்குழல்) in Tamil, oodakuḻal (ഓടകുഴൽ) or kurungu kuḻal in Malayalam (Kerala) and ಕೊಳಲು (koḷalu) or ಮುರಳಿ (muraļi) in Kannada (Karnataka). It is known as pillana grōvi or vēṇuvu (వేణువు) in Telugu. It is also called as Carnatic Flute.
The Native American flute is a musical instrument and flute that is held in front of the player, has open finger holes, and has two chambers: one for collecting the breath of the player and a second chamber which creates sound. The player breathes into one end of the flute without the need for an embouchure. A block on the outside of the instrument directs the player's breath from the first chamber—called the slow air chamber—into the second chamber—called the sound chamber. The design of a sound hole at the proximal end of the sound chamber causes air from the player's breath to vibrate. This vibration causes a steady resonance of air pressure in the sound chamber that creates sound.
Natesan Ramani, commonly known as N. Ramani or N. Flute Ramani, was an Indian Carnatic flautist. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1996. Ramani is also credited with introducing the long flute into Carnatic music.
The Divje Babe flute, also called tidldibab, is a cave bear femur pierced by spaced holes that was unearthed in 1995 during systematic archaeological excavations led by the Institute of Archaeology of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, at the Divje Babe I near Cerkno in northwestern Slovenia. It has been suggested that it was made by Neanderthals as a form of musical instrument, and became known as the Neanderthal flute. The artifact is on prominent public display in the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana as a Neanderthal flute. As such, it would be the world's oldest known musical instrument.
The Jiahu gǔdí are the oldest known musical instruments from China, dating back to around 6000 BCE. Gudi means "bone flute" in Chinese.
Fluting in architecture and the decorative arts consists of shallow grooves running along a surface. The term typically refers to the curved grooves (flutes) running vertically on a column shaft or a pilaster, but is not restricted to those two applications. If the hollowing out of material meets in a point, the point is called an arris. If the raised ridge between two flutes appears flat, the ridge is a fillet.
During regular archaeological excavations, several flutes that date to the European Upper Paleolithic were discovered in caves in the Swabian Alb region of Germany. Dated and tested independently by two laboratories, in England and Germany, the artifacts are authentic products of the Aurignacian archaeological culture. The Aurignacian flutes were created between 43,000 and 35,000 years ago. The flutes, made of bone and ivory, represent the earliest known musical instruments and provide unmistakable evidence of prehistoric music.