The flute is one of the oldest instruments in the world. Most likely, after humans figured our percussion, they blew across reeds to make sounds. And so the flute was born. They are an instrument shrouded in mystery and ritual, but that is not what this text will be focusing on. Rather I would like to ask the question how we went from making flutes out of the bones of animals, to wood and today to using precious metals such as gold and silver? What makes this material so much better than the wood that had been the standard for hundreds of years, even though it arguably is much more difficult to acquire? In this text I will explore the different materials used throughout history for the European Flutes, and when and why it changed.
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