What Is The Double Contrabass Flute?

This flute is also referred to as the octobass flute and is considered as the world’s biggest metal flute and with the lowest pitch as well. We know that the hyperbass is bigger and has a lower pitch, but it is not made out of metal, instead PVC pipes and wood are used.

The double contrabass flute is 8 feet tall, has tubing of up to 22 feet and weighs about 30 pounds. This means that this giant of an instrument easily outsizes most of its counterparts. Excluding the hyperbass flute, some of its closest opponents with regard to size and pitch, include the contrabass and the sub-contrabass flute that feature 9 feet and 11 feet of tubing respectively.

What Is Position Of Contrabass Flutes In The Flute Family?

The flute has a big family. It is generally composed of 12 members namely piccolo, treble, soprano, concert, flute d’amour, alto, bass, contra-alto, contrabass, sub-contrabass, double contrabass and the hyperbass flute. This is an arrangement in descending order from the smallest to the largest. The ability of flutes to cover the complete range of a piano keyboard makes them quite reliable. The highest pitched member of the flute family is the piccolo while the lowest is the hyperbass flute. Our focus will however will be solely on the double contrabass flute.

How Does It Sound?

Whereas the normal bass flute is a single octave lower than the concert flute, the double contrabass is one octave lower than the contrabass flute, two octaves lower than the normal bass flute and three octaves lower than the typical concert flute. The flute is pitched at C with the lowest note being the C1. To play this flute, you would need to make your mouth bigger and looser. This is because you will need to blow in a lot of air to get the desired sound.

The flute may be easy to learn but the effort required to generate the sound is far greater than the piccolo or the concert you are used to. Constant breaks in phrasing are a consideration that writers and composers for this gigantic flute need to make to ensure an easy time when playing. The great size of this instrument makes the response very slow. A common technique used with this flute is beat boxing. This technique helps to generate a much louder sound but limits the true capability of this flute.

The sound produced by this flute can be quite powerful when amplified. It can be described as soft, warm and lacking a bit of clarity. The flute produces deep bass sounds often sort in orchestras. Flutists who play this flute usually do it while standing. This is mostly because of the massive size of the instrument. If the flutist has to sit down, then a tall stool will be used so that he or she is able to reach the embouchure hole with relative ease.

What Material Is It Made Of?

The flute is composed of two versions: the brass version and the PVC version. The brass version includes the likes made by Kotato while the PVC version was made by Jelle Hogenhuis, an instrument maker from the Netherlands. The PVC version may seem cheap but it does have some benefits over the brass version. For example, it has a wider bore, it is lighter and because it is made out of PVC pipes, they can be made at a faster rate and at lower prices. Moreover, you will be able to get a broad tone.

Where Can I Find One?

The Kotato and Fukushima firm in Japan is one of the most notable producers of this flute. This firm makes flutes in almost every range of sizes. They produce the soprano flute in F, the C and F key bass flute, the C contra bass flute and of course the spectacular double contrabass flute. Our big bass flute is however not produced in large numbers making them rare and therefore most people do not own them.

During the 90’s and early 2000’s the only way you could try out this instrument was to make a journey to Tokyo and meet up with the famous flute maker Mr.Kotato or you could instead fly to Germany to try the other one which he had made for his representative there. Despite all those years, the instrument still remains limited in availability. As a matter of fact, there are only 4 Kotato double contrabass flutes in the world right now.

See more: Top 5 Best Flute Brands in the Market

How Much Does It Cost?

The uncommonness of this flute makes them quite expensive. In fact, almost all the metal bass flutes are expensive. To get a good bass flute, you will need to have at least $10,000 and above. The bass flute in C crafted by Kotato will cost you $13,600 while the bass flute in F costs $21,300. When you go to the much larger ones such as the contrabass and the double contrabass, then the price will sky rocket. The contrabass flute will cost you around $24,000 while for the double contrabass you will have to part with $40,000 or more.

See more: How much do other flutes cost?

Where Is It Used?

Although this great flute can be used as solo instruments, it is best used in flute choirs, orchestras, concerts, ensembles or film scores. This is because it enables the flutists to play even the lowest notes of an orchestral instrument. When played in such special occasions, it is always best to keep them at the back because of their enormous size. However, this may reduce their sound impact and hence the reason they are amplified.

See contrabass flute solo by Jeroen Goossens

Conclusion

Double contrabass flute was developed due to the need for a much lower range instrument. So far, it has lived to its expectations and most flute choirs are thankful for them. Their large size may seem intimidating at first but with time one is able to learn and incorporate them into the choir.

The fact that this flute is a rare piece of musical instrument is quite discouraging to anyone who wants to learn them in future. But we hope that as time goes by, more and more will be produced thereby enabling even the small community-based choirs to own them.

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Flutes are exceptional musical instruments which produce a breathtaking clear, warm and bright sound. They are actually among the first musical instruments ever made and are widely used in orchestral, classical, jazz, rock, film and folk genres. Apart from sound and ease of use flutes have a number of other advantages and that makes them popular among many places around the world.

Related post: Double Contrabass Flute – The World’s Biggest Metal Flute

With so many people wanting to learn how to play the instrument, there have been a number of questions about their cost. So how much does a flute cost? We are going to tell you everything you need to know about the cost of a flute and even provide you with some of the best flutes to check out.

Price range

Flutes are generally divided into Beginner, Intermediate, student and professional. They are divided this way so as to help you in your development as a flute player. Here are the price ranges for each category of the mentioned flutes.

Beginner Flutes

Beginner flutes often range between $150 and $700, although you can get some for even less than $70. As a beginner, you should start with something less expensive. This is because you will eventually upgrade to a higher level. Despite the fact that you will buy another flute, going for a professional flute as a beginner would still not be a wise decision. An example of a beginner flute is the Jean Paul USA Silver Plated FL-220.

Intermediate Flutes

An intermediate flute will cost you between $700 and $2500. At this stage you are progressing and so you need a more quality flute to improve your skills. A good example of an intermediate flute is the Gemeinhardt 3OB Intermediate flute.

Student Flutes

Picking a flute as a student can be a very daunting task. You need a flute good enough to allow you to practice well and also perform well while at a band. The prices for student flutes normally start from around $400 and can go up to $2500. The Yamaha YFL-221 Student flute is an example of an exceptional student flute.

Professional Flutes

Choosing a professional flute needs a bit of time and patience. This is because they are expensive and you wouldn’t want to buy an expensive flute only to realize that it was not worth all the money you just spent. You first need to carry out an extensive research to find out which flute suits you and the distinct features it brings. Professional flutes usually start from $2500 and can go well past $10,000. A good example is the Yamaha Professional 577H series Flute.

Factors Affecting the Price of a Flute

Material

Flutes come in a variety of materials. There are nickel silver flutes, silver flutes, gold flutes and platinum flutes among others. We will expand on these materials later on, but what you should know now is that the type of material used on a flute does affect its price. For example, Nickel silver flutes are generally cheap and are mostly used on beginner and student flutes. Gold flutes on the other hand, are usually quite expensive. Another important thing to note is that the more pure the material, the more expensive it is likely to be.

Durability

Durability is a feature that cannot be ignored when designing an expensive flute. A lot of work has to go into it so as to ensure that it gives the value expected for the price tag on it. The components used to make expensive flutes are usually of high quality. Less durable flutes are often ridiculously cheap and are likely to break or get faulty after some time.

Brand

Popular brands such as Yamaha, Miyazawa, Gemeinhardt, Pearl and Altus usually price their flutes slightly higher than the other brands. This is because of their vast experience in the field and ability to create high end flutes that suit their customer’s needs. It would be wise to seek flutes from such brands or other more popular ones, so as to get quality flutes.

Level of Flute

The higher the level of a flute, the more expensive it will be. The price for a beginner flute is incomparable to that of a professional flute. This is because manufacturers usually improve the quality and usability of flutes as the levels increase. That means if you are considering moving from a beginner level to intermediate, then you might have to add some cash to get a good intermediate flute.

Flute Materials

There are a variety of materials used in the making of a flute, from the cheap ones like wood to the extravagant ones such as gold. The materials used on flutes are known to cause a variation in the sound characteristics as well as quality. Here are some of common types of materials used in making flutes:

Silver

Silver is the most widely used material on flutes. It has a variety of alloys such as; Sterling silver, coin silver and Britannia silver. All of which have different percentages of silver. As a general rule of thumb, the more pure silver contained in an alloy, the warmer the sound it will produce.

Gold

Flutes made of gold are normally very expensive. This is mostly because of that warm tone they are able to produce. You are usually combined with copper. However, other materials can also be alloyed with it. Flutes with more pure gold content are more expensive compared to ones with a lower percentage.

Auramite

This type of metal was named and patented by Powell and the sound produced is dark and warm almost like that of Gold.

Platinum

Platinum is a highly dense element. The sound produced is dark, clear and fresh.

Wood

Grenadilla is one of the most popular woods used on flutes. For those who do not know, grenadilla is an African blackwood that has been used by manufacturers to make musical instruments for a long period of time. It is a very dense wood. Grenadilla flutes produce very high quality sound unlike many metal flutes.

Other types of woods used in making flutes include: Boxwood, Cocuswood, Mopani and Cocobolo. A common feature in many wooden flutes is that wooden timbre that is unlikely to be found on any metal flute.

Bamboo

This is another common material used in the making of flutes and has been used for thousands of years. Bamboo is a prehistoric plant that has been used to make more than just musical instrument. It is definitely a plant human’s treasure. Bamboo flutes are easy to play, flexible and rich in tone.

Conclusion

Given the following information, you should now be able to know everything about flute prices. You now understand why some flutes are more expensive than others and this can help you establish the budget for your next flute. Moreover, it enables you to make a more informed decision thereby not paying more for less.

The Difference Sound Between a Cheap and Expensive Flute Video:

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