Modern Flute Making in a Small Workshop

摘要

So, we come to the engineering for a modern flute. I have already described the broad requirements but before describing how the parts are made let's drill down further into the characteristics of good keywork. All musical instruments have traditionally been built with an eye to aesthetics: apart from needing to sound well they also try to satisfy the eye and the touch. Unlike early keyboard instruments that might have been lavishly decorated with either fine veneer work or paint, the flute is relatively bare in this respect, but the keywork can be made to have an understated beauty of its own. Form, function and comfort are intricately linked. The old French makers were masters of this but their example has rarely been followed by 20thC mass producers for such subtleties of design are usually at odds with economic production. One route towards this refinement is to remove all material unnecessary to strength and stiffness, a rigour somewhat reminiscent of aircraft or bridge design.