Ron Korb Playing the Bass Flute

Asian Flutes

European Flutes

Flutes of the Americas

Flutes from Flute Traveller CD

Ron Korb Playing the Silver Flute

All these instruments with colour photos, sound samples with descriptions in English and French are included on the Ron Korb Live DVD.

Purchase Ron Korb Live DVD at On-line Store

Bass Flute

The bass flute plays an octave below the standard silver flute. It has 135 cm of tubing with a bore of 3 cm. The bass flute requires a curved headjoint to make it possible for the flutist to reach the keys easily. Initially manufactured in the 1920's, it is based on the Boehm system of levers and keys. There is very little music written for this instrument and it is mainly used in flute ensembles.
View fingering chart (pdf)

Fipple Flute (Moroccan)

A popular folk instrument widely distributed in the Mediterranean, this flute is made from a single piece of cane. The decoration and the finger holes are burnt into the wood.

Irish Porcelain Flute

In the late 18th century this style of keyless flute was very popular among the gentry in Europe. As the popular folk music in Ireland was country fiddle music, the flute soon was adapted to play the same repertoire. During the height of its popularity, attempts were made to make flutes out of different materials including glass, although typically they were made out of dark tropical woods.
View fingering chart (pdf)

Low Whistle

The Low Whistle is an instrument invented by Bernard Overton in the 1970's. It plays an octave lower than the regular D tin whistle giving it a beautiful mellow tone perfect for playing Irish slow airs. These instruments are made from a variety of materials from aluminum to plastic and various kinds of wood.

Penny Whistle

The penny whistle or tin whistle is a six holed flageolet. Whistles had been made in Europe for centuries but the penny whistle became mass produced in England in the 1800's by a man named Robert Clarke. Although these instruments are produced in many keys the D whistle remains the most popular.
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Panpipes

This flute takes its name from Pan, the Greek god of herds and flocks, and is one of the most ancient musical instruments. It is made up of several pipes bound together and arranged in order of size. Each tube is closed at the bottom and open at the top where the sound is produced.

Recorder

The recorder is a European woodwind instrument with a beak-shaped mouthpiece, seven holes and one thumb hole. It is available in different sizes such as sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor and bass. It was used in medieval times as early as the 12th Century and became very popular during the Renaissance period.

Seljefloyte (Willow Flute )

This Norwegian/Scandinavian folk instrument was originally made by wriggling the bark off a willow twig in the Spring. A wood plug with a groove was put in one end and a sound hole cut where the plug reached inside the flute. The player blows into the opening between the shaped plug and the bark. The flute is "overblown" and produces the notes of the harmonic scale. It has no finger holes, but by stopping the end of the flute one gets another set of notes and together they form a complete set of harmonic notes. Nowadays flutes are made from PVC/birchwood or metal/birchwood. In Romania and the Ukraine a similar flute is called a Tilinca, in Uganda it is called Ludaya. Overblown flutes are also found in Mongolia and South Africa.

Silver Flute

This flute developed out of the simple six-holed folk flute brought from the East to Europe in the 1300s. To meet the special demands of western music such as volume of sound, accuracy of pitch and easy facilitation of chromaticism the tone holes had to be increased in size and repositioned in awkward places. To compensate for this an elaborate system of levers and pads was invented.
View fingering chart (pdf)