How the double flute makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the double flute belongs to the flutes (edge-blown): an air jet is split on a sharp edge, setting the air column vibrating – flutes, recorders, whistles and panpipes.
More broadly it is one of the aerophones (wind instruments), where sound comes from vibrating air.
Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.
From Wikipedia
The double flute is an ancient category of wind instrument, a set of flutes that falls under more than one modern category in the Hornbostel Sachs system of musical instrument classification. The flutes may be double because they have parallel pipes that are connected with a single duct. They may be "double vertical flutes" without a duct. There are also double-transverse flutes.
Double flutes are not the same as double pipes, which are reed instruments.
Other flutes
Frequently asked questions
What does a double flute sound like?
As one of the flutes, its sound comes from the way an air jet is split on a sharp edge, setting the air column vibrating.
What type of instrument is the double flute?
It is classified as flutes (edge-blown) (Hornbostel–Sachs 421.2).
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q3018875 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Double flute – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Francesco del Cossa , painted 1469-1470 – Public domain