Flute Weight

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FlameDesire
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2008 5:39 pm

Flute Weight

Post by FlameDesire »

Hey,
I have this Selmer flute, but unsure of the model number. Compared to other flutes it seems way heavier than others. Is it because of the metals used to make Selmers or something else?

FluteFellow
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2008 2:54 pm
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Post by FluteFellow »

There are a variety of factors which contribute to the weight of a flute. Material is one factor, the wall thickness (thickness of the tube) is another, also any mechanical options such as split-E mechanism, C# trill, or B foot would also add weight.

I'm not very familiar with Selmer flutes, but I would suspect that your flute would be silver-plated nickel silver (which I believe is slightly lighter than sterling silver), also the Selmer website says their flutes have .018" wall thickness, which is definately on heavy side (the typical range for thicknesses is 0.014"-0.018"). I don't think the selmer flutes come with any mechanical options so that probably is not a factor. I would say the wall thickness is most likely the reason for the heavier weight.

By the way, a heavier wall thickness does not make a flute better or worse, its more of a personal preference. Thicker wall flutes tend to have a darker sound (given the same material).

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