Wooden Flutes and Headjoints

The silver flutes we mostly play on today bear very little resemblance to the flutes that were crafted over the last 40,000 years. The first all metal flute was made around 1877, and before then all flutes were crafted out of wood and sometimes ivory. There are many different types of wood that are commonly used for flute-making, the most common being Grenadilla, Boxwood, Mopani, Cocobolo, and Cocuswood. The relatively low density of the flute-making woods allows for a starkly different timbre than flutes made of metals. The density of flute-making woods can vary between .5 and 1.3, while the density of silver is about 10.5, the density of pure gold is about 19.3, and the density of platinum is about 21.5. Many flutist find that in more intimate settings, swapping our their metal headjoint for a wooden headjoint can allow them more flexibility in tone colors and a wider range of dynamics. Wood flutes offer a player the warmth and flexibility of even today's modern silver flutes, but with a distinctively "wooden" timbre. There are more and more professional players deciding that a new wooden flute is now their primary instrument. We carry the new wooden Boehm flutes from Powell, Sankyo, Yamaha and Di Zhao and we have vintage wooden flutes as well. Call us today for a trial.