Best Flutes [Buyer's Guide + Reviews 2021]
Posted in Woodwind Instruments | Last Updated on February 21, 2021
If you are in search of a durable and practical flute for your musical career, you have come to the right place. They come in various sizes and types, directed at beginners, intermediaries and professional players.
Hence, it will be a good idea to have a guide to hold your hand through the process of selecting the best flute. We have dug through customer reviews, read questions and answers before picking our list of best wind instrument.
For everyone who wants this wind instrument, be it beginner or professional, we have you covered. Find in here, our top flute reviews:
Easter EFL-2 Open/Close Hole C Flutes
Easter is a producer of musical instrument; especially wind instrument you can trust.
Easter EFL-2 comes with an open hole silver that has an elegant basic layout. It is suited for students and beginners from America and Europe, and other parts of the world. It has a superb mechanical performance which makes it highly sensitive. It comes with a silver plated body which gives it a rich, broader and thicker tone. It comes with a beautiful and noble appearance, featuring high-grade diamond cut surface. The pads are classy alongside the double sheep casing which fosters a long useful life for your wind instrument. Weighing just 400 grams, it is light in weight, easy to play and suitable for beginners and young players.
It was made with premium grade silver and features 16 keys with an open/close hole. It features a cupronickel body with high-quality leather mats which enhances the echo and makes it durable, producing functional resonance and warm response.
It is backed up by a 30 days warranty hence you can buy this with peace of mind. All in all, it is a , good value for the money.
Jean Paul USA - FL 220
Jean Paul brands of wind instruments are well known for producing top quality flutes that serve the need for beginners and intermediate players very well. Besides the advantage of a 12 months’ warranty that accompanies it, all their products are tested to ensure it meets industry standard before selling.
This is a beautiful wind instrument with superb characteristics. It features power forged keys which help its durability and gives an even response. Playing with superb intonation and fast response time is easy. It comes with many features that make it perfect for use for all who wants to learn how to play this wind instrument, examples are plateau-key style, offset G key, etc.
It comes with a durable robust contoured case for easy transportation. The fact that Jean-Paul FL-220 comes with all essential accessories makes it appealing. Users get access to cleaning cloths and rods, gloves, etc. Weighing 2.15 pounds, it is light and easy to handle. It also plays in the key of C.
It was made with excellent quality material - Cupronickel body finished with Nickel plating. It is your key to an outstanding sound, a beautiful addition to your musical instrument.
Mendini by Cecilio - MFE JN+SD+PB: Overall Best
If you need one of the top-selling flutes approved by teachers, go for products of Mendini by Cecilio. It comes with a beautiful, perfect and flawless design that makes it appealing for use. It has a closed hole with undercut beveled embouchure as well as high-quality, durable bladder pads all designed to ensure you have a long lasting wind instrument
All their outputs produced in Mendini by Cecilio are double checked to ensure that they are of the highest quality before shipping out. This explains why it remains the top choice of many. It also features 16 keys, closed hole C flute with offset G key as well as a split E key.
The user also gets a foldable flute stand as a bonus alongside a pocketbook. We also love that it comes with all essential accessories like a cleaning rod and a soft cleaning cloth, joint grease, screwdriver for adjustment and a pair of gloves.
Weighing less than 3 pounds, it is light and easy to use, fit for beginners and intermediate players. Users also enjoy a 12 months’ warranty on this product. It comes in the C key, good value for money.
Yamaha - YL 222
Over the years, Yamaha has established itself as a reliable band in musical instrument. Yamaha YL-222 standard comes in C key, withdrawn and curled tone holes. It features a nickel silver head joint, body and foot joint. Finished with silver coating, there are pointed key arms alongside a Yamaha standard flute case.
Other essential accessories are polishing cloths and gauze, cleaning rod as well as the manual. The CY head joint comes with a double flare tapper alongside a unique embouchure hole undercut design. This gives a warm and swift response. With the CY joint, it is easy for beginners to learn how to produce captivating sounds.
This wind instrument gives a quick, even and prompt response on all register, a delighting feature that advanced users will love. It features ergonomically shaped keys and placement to give a comfortable and natural feeling. Yamaha YL-222 was manufactured under strict precision which reduces the need for adjustment over time.
There are also neoprene key bumpers which are pretty durable and more reliable compared to cork. The keys are power forged, and do not break besides. Users enjoy a 12 months’ warranty on these products.
Lazarro - 120 NK
Lazzaro professional flute is a recommended choice to meet all your professional needs out there. To all advanced players out there seeking for the perfect instrument to bring out their skill, this is a wind instrument worth considering. You are bound to love it as it is ideal for many occasion – bands, orchestra, concerts and lessons.
This is a classic and stylish wind instrument made from Cupronickel. This improves the durability, making sure you get an instrument that last years to come. With this superb wind instrument, you get a rich and balanced sound that will bring life to your music.
Lazzaro professional flute comes with a C foot and split E keys. It has 16 keys and closed holes. The parts and pads are easily replaceable. You get to choose from a range of 22 colors to get what matches your style and band perfectly. All essential accessories like gloves, cleaning cloths, and rods, grease, screwdriver, etc. are included.
Indeed, this wind instrument is the definition of quality and durability
Mendini by Cecilio - MFE-BK+SD+PB
Mendini by Cecilio is one of the top producers of musical instruments that have distinguished itself over the years. With a reputation for producing the best quality instruments, they have been loved and accepted by music lovers all over the world. It comes with a perfect design, closed hole and many high-end feature designed to give you a seamless playing experience.
Mendini by Cecilio enjoys top quality material in its production. The bladder pads, for instance, are of very high quality. It also features a lacquered body plated with nickel keys. It comes in varieties of colors, giving you the ability to choose what meets your style. This is a 16 key flute with offset G key alongside split E key and a closed hole C key.
There are rubber key bumpers, and an undercut beveled embouchure, all assembled to make sure you get a good time playing on it. You get a durable case, joint grease, a pair of rods and cleaning cloth & rods. You also get a full year warranty with this wind instrument.
Buying guide
Before deciding on your choice, be sure to check out our buying guide. Here are things you should consider before making your choice of pipe:
Inline or Offset G
This is entirely up to the player, although most professional players play the inline G. This is because inline G brings out your skill on fast passages. It is also essential when tuning since the tube hole placement determines the tuning.
The Open Hole or Closed Hole
The most popular type is the open hole flute type. Beginners and intermediate players, on the other hand, can use plugs in the holes till their fingers can cover the hole with their hand, rightly positioned to ensure the fingers are centered.
Intermediate and advanced players perform better with an open hole key flute since they desire more power and projection from their equipment while beginners and students to go for the closed hole key. Shall we examine what each style has for users:
You can easily play it with the closed keys because it requires less precision. However, it comes with less resonance and projection compared to the open hole type.
With the open-hole keys, the air travels in via the holes in the key. This allows the instrument produces a robust, rich and full tone. However, to get a perfect and bright tone, you will have to close each hole.
B Foot
Just like pianos and harmonicas, they are usually made in the key of C. They typically come with foot joints having C as the lowest note. There are models with B foot joints with some extra keys down to B. this is good for advanced players.
The foot joint
With the right pinky finger, you can play the entire keys on the footjoint. Advanced recorders come with extra keys added. With the keys on the foot joint, the player can extend the bottom of the range. There are gizmo keys which enables player produce high C note with ease.
Inline vs. offset G keys
The G key is usually one of the biggest variants when looking for a flute to buy. It will either have an offset G key or an inline. While only a single key is shifted to the left, the whole playing position of the hand differs entirely. According to pros that play both types, one enables them to have a quick trill compared to the other. This is, however, a matter of the most comfortable position for the player.
The Headjoint
This is the top of the flute that houses the embouchure hole and the lip plate. In here lies the cork – a fragile part that needs care while cleaning. With the cork, you get to seal the it so that air only passes through the body of the wind instrument and not the other way around. With a damaged cock, you will get an airy, inconsistent sound, hence, must be repaired. You can also upgrade the headjont to a better quality tone.
This is the top of the flute, the part closest to the player while playing it When air is blown into it, a beautiful and appealing sound is produced. Headjoints are usually made of silver although, there are others made from platinum, gold or wood.
Materials & Construction
While getting a flute, the material is the most important thing, and often the first thing to consider. Just like wood is an important part of a guitar and a violin, the material (silver or gold) is a vital part of a wind instrument.
Generally, they are made of silver, nickel-silver or alloys of gold. These materials can also be used for plating. Some high-grade flutes are also made with platinum and titanium. Some things to know about the materials are explained below:
Nickel-Silver: they are pretty affordable. They are usually used for making wind instruments for student and beginner. Nickel-silver gives a sound light and bright tone. It offers a swift, agile response. If you are a beginner, this is the best choice.
Silver: This is the most popular material used in the production over the world. With these types, you get a light and rich tone. They could, however, be a little bit heavy compared to their nickel-silver type. While they are a bit expensive, they offer a rich, better sound. Besides, they need more care hence, not recommended for beginner. If you are serious about taking your playing skills to another level, this is the right choice.
Gold: Gold is quite heavy compared to silver; hence, it gives a warm tone. The disadvantage with gold, however, is that it is very soft and works best when combined with other metals. As a result of this, silver and copper are the most common choice. The ones made of gold are quite pricey, hence recommended for advanced players only.
Gizmo Key
There are times B foot could have what is called Gizmo key. This key gives the wind instrument the ability to reach high C and other C note. This feature is peculiar to a high-grade wind instrument
Split E Mechanism
There are many features with which you can improve the tone of the wind instrument one of these is the split E mechanism. With this, the player can separate the lower and upper G keys. They can be closed at the same thing just like a regular flute although, it allows the lower G close itself while playing the third octave E
Besides the fact that the lower G key is autonomous, the split E system also helps improve tone quality as well as tuning.
Top Flute Brands
We have hand-picked just a few of the top and well-known brands. They are trusted brands when it comes to producing top quality wind instrument with high durability and reliability. Some of them are discussed below:
Yamaha
Anyone familiar to the music world will know about Yamaha. This is a top musical brand known for its high quality outputs over the years. Talking about flutes, they make the perfect types with superior quality metals. No wonder their wind instrument gives a rich, warm and full sound.
Over the years, Yamaha has established itself as an industry standard. Hence, whether beginner, intermediate or a professional player, Yamaha has a flute for everyone meant to perfect their skills. Without a doubt, Yamaha has proven itself as a brand that can be trusted. They produce rich, airy and full sound to bring out the best in you. Whatever level you are with the wind instrument, I am pretty sure Yamaha has something for you, something to bring out the best in you.
Lazarro
While Lazarro might not be more than a couple of decades old in the production of musical instrument, they produce a massive range of wind instrument within budget price as well. Their products are cheap, sold on kits, and directed towards students and beginners. If you are tight on budget and want to get a good quality flute, consider products from Lazzaro. It is an excellent instrument to help hone your skills.
Mendini By Cecilio
According to opinions from customers, Mendini is one of the best producers of musical instruments. Their outputs are high in quality and pretty durable. Besides, Mendini prides itself in complying with industrial standard in producing musical instruments that meets industrial standards.