The flute is a woodwind instrument that is played by blowing a stream of air over a hole (the ’embouchure hole’). The pitch is changed by opening or closing keys that cover circular holes. The direction and intensity of the airstream also affects the pitch, timbre, and dynamics.
The standard concert flute is pitched in C and has a range of about three and a half octaves starting from the note C4 (middle C).
The flute is extensively used in classical music, as well as occasionally in jazz, folk, pop and rock. The four compositions below are my attempt to showcase the unique character of the flute in a variety of non-orchestral contexts.
Because I don’t play the flute and don’t know any flautists, I’ve used a library based on meticulous recordings of a highly skilled flautist. The library is called Passion Flute and is available from Orange Tree Samples.
Perfect Caravan
This track is essentially a simple duet between a flute and a nylon guitar – and you don’t get to say that often!
Apart from the flute, I used the following virtual instruments:
Bass: Mellow Virtual Bassist from ujam
Acoustic Guitar: Session Guitarist Picked Acoustic from Native Instruments
Solo guitar: Evolution Modern Nylon library from Orange Tree Samples
Drums: Studio Drummer from Native Instruments
Below you’ll also find a ‘karaoke’ version, without the flute part, so you can play or sing along to if the mood takes you …
Lydian Moves
This track takes advantage of the Lydian mode, a modified major scale that I discuss in the Melody section of Labwerks. The flute is accompanied by an acoustic guitar and later by a full string section.
The instruments I used were:
Acoustic Guitar: Ample Guitar M (based on a Martin D-41) from Ample Sound
Strings: String Ensemble from Native Instruments
Seventh Prime
If you take every note in a C major scale and add a 3rd, a 5th and a 7th, taken only from the scale, you get the following seven chords:
Cmaj7 (C + E + G + E)
Dm7 (D + F + A + C)
Em7 (E + G + B + D)
Fmaj7 (F + A + C + E)
G7 (G + B + D + F)
Am7 (A + C + E + G)
Bm7b5 (B + D + F + A)
And that’s what this track uses as its basis. The richness of the sevenths gives the whole thing a jazz feel.
I used the following virtual instruments:
Piano: The Maverick from Native Instruments
Electric Piano: Arturia Stage-73 V Piano
Bass: Mellow Virtual Bassist from ujam
Drums: Studio Drummer from Native Instruments
Horns: Session Horns Pro from Native Instruments
And the karaoke version …
The Old Tide Mills
This 3/4 track is my attempt to place the flute in a folk context, with a G minor drone running through everything but the chorus. For the full folk effect, add another 15 verses!
These are the virtual instruments used on this track:
Drone pad: Cloud Supply from Native Instruments
Percussion: Damage 2 from Heavyocity
Acoustic Guitar: Session Guitarist Picked Acoustic from Native Instruments
Strings: Novo Essentials from Heavyocity
String pad: Arkhis from Native Instruments
And here’s the karaoke …
Notation
The following PDF file includes chord symbols and flute parts for all four pieces. It also includes the nylon guitar part for Perfect Caravan, and the guitar and violin parts for Lydian Moves.
The scores were created using Steinberg’s Dorico Pro app.