A comparative study of flutes I

This is part one of two presentations on the same project. Various types of flutes have been used for centuries and they are popular in many genres of music. We have done a comparative study of six different flute type instruments to determine what factors play a role in their differences in timbre. The effects of flute geometry, type of mouthpiece, body size, and material were considered on how each affected their sounds. The study included an orchestral flute, a piccolo, two Native American flutes, and two recorders. Measurements were taken at the Loyola acoustics lab and the anechoic chamber at Northwestern. This talk will present theoretical basis for our measurements, including impedance calculations, and will discuss the observations for the individual instruments. The following talk will discuss the comparative study and how our results contribute to selection of the appropriate flute to use in different genres.