Flute

The Flute (フルート) is an instrument in the woodwind family. A musician who plays the flute can be referred to as a flute player or flautist.

Construction
The flute is usually made out of metal, mostly silver, although there are more expensive instruments made out of gold or platinum. Less expensive flutes are made of polished brass or nickel silver(brass+nickel), though silver plated or sterling silver flutes produce the best sound. The instrument is divided into three sections- the head joint, which contains the lip plate and hole which the musicians blows across to make a sound, and the body joint and foot joint, which contain the instruments 16 keys.

Some flute manufacturers will give many options for the player to customize their instrument,among them,tube wall thickness,open hole or closed hole,inline or offset right hand keys.

Variants
A flute that is played vertically, such as a tinwhistle or recorder, is called a fipple flute, while the standard horizontal flute is called transverse.

Alto Flute
The alto flute in G, pitched a perfect fourth below the C flute, is rarely seen in band music, but has made appearances in some great orchestral scores, including Daphnis et Chloe by Ravel, The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky, and The Planets by Holst.

Furthermore the alto flute has found favor in jazz and bossa nova music because of it's dark velvety,even aquatic tone and excellent blending capabilities,especially with the alto saxophone,providing "one of the most workable of modern sounds.It has coolness and body.",according to Henri Mancini,who is famous for composing the Pink Panther theme.

The Alto flute will require a large amount of air from the player in order to produce a great sound.

Bass Flute
The bass flute in C is pitched an octave below the C flute.The bass flute is not generally used in concert band music but due to it's very dark,expressive and esoteric sound,it,like the alto flute has found favor in jazz,bossa nova,film music,contemporary and avant-garde classical music.

Perhaps the most famous use of the bass flute is in Antonio Carlos Jobim's instrumental version of Wave from the Album Wave, where it has been given a solo role

Bass flute may come in both horizontal or vertical versions,in which the vertical bass flute may be offered with a foot joint with a range to low G (G2).The bass flute requires copious amounts of air in order to be able sound great and to be able to deliver a beautiful,musical phrase.

Lower Flutes
There are also several, even rarer large flutes than the bass flute. These instruments include the contra alto flute in G/F, the contrabass flute in C, the subcontrabass flute in G/F, and the double contrabass flute in C.

Performance
The flute is played by blowing air over a small hole called the embouchure hole on the head joint of the instrument. The air then vibrates within the instrument to produce a note. Because a lot of the air doesn't even make it into the instrument, flutes require the same amount of air as a tuba, and thus require the player to have an exceptional lung capacity.

Unlike saxophones, oboes, bassoons and clarinets, flutes do not have an "octave key" to help them shift between octaves. They instead use air control and embouchure to change octaves. This means players change the shape of their mouth and change the direction and speed of the air to play different octaves.

Scoring
Flutes are used in many different types of ensembles, such as wind ensembles, symphony orchestras, and marching bands,jazz big bands and have been used in every genre of music.

In school bands, the best or second-best flautist is usually chosen to play the piccolo.

A typical concert band has a flute section ranging from as few as 4 to as many as 15 members, and usually no more than one piccolo player. Flutes are typically divided into two or three parts-- firsts, seconds, and thirds-- in a pyramid ranking with more thirds than seconds, and more seconds than firsts.

The modern flute uses the Böhm (Boehm) system for the keys,which means the flute shares certain fingering similarities with the saxophone and clarinet.

As portrayed in Sound! Euphonium
There are currently 9 students who play flute in Kitauji High School Concert Band, including:
 * Yoriko Souga - Designated piccolo
 * Kotoko Himegami - 1st flute, flute section leader, principal flute
 * Tsune Watanabe - 1st flute, alumni coordinator
 * Sari Takahashi - 1st flute/Designated piccolo (Our Promise)
 * Kyouko Mihara - 2nd flute
 * Shirabe Inoue - 2nd flute/Flute section leader (Our Promise)
 * Meiko Oda - 2nd flute
 * Nozomi Kasaki - Flute section assistant leader, band accountant (Our Promise)
 * Tsubomi Nakano

In Sound! Euphonium: The Movie - Our Promise: A Brand New Day, three new flute players join the ensemble:
 * Kana Etou
 * Narumi Hiraishi
 * Tsumiki Yamane

In addition, Satomi Niiyama, the woodwind section's instructor, majored in flute performance in college. In Rikka's concert band, there is a flautist named Kanon Saijou.

Trivia

 * Nozomi's flute is based on a Yamaha YFL-411 model (current model is Yamaha YFL-412).