Listen to the flute
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
How the flute makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the 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.
Range of the flute
The typical range of the flute runs from C4 (261.6 Hz) to D7 (2,349 Hz) – about 3.2 octaves. Harmonics extend its sound far higher.
From Wikipedia
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.
Other flutes
Questions people ask
Real questions from the Stack Exchange community – follow a link to read the discussion.
- Cleaning a tarnished flute · Music SE
- Can a flute soloist sit? · Music SE
- Why do you have to blow sideways on a flute? · Physics SE
- Why does the note played by a flute not change in this case when the air column is interrupted? · Physics SE
- Is there a recorder-analog for the flute? · Music SE
Frequently asked questions
What does a flute sound like?
Listen to 5 recordings on this page. 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 flute?
It is classified as flutes (edge-blown) (Hornbostel–Sachs 421).
Sources & credits
- Flute by hokuspokus – Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Indian Folk Classical Flute Music (1) by MayankSingh33 – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- More Flute (Antti Luode) by Antti Luode – CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Pop Flute (Antti Luode) by Antti Luode – CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Variations for flute and piano by Frederic Chopin – CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q11405 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Flute – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image – Public domain