Best Music Instruments Online 2018

The type of flute you play should be determined by the level of your music ability. If you have never played a flute before, the most logical thing to do is to consult a professional first before you spend your hard-earned money for one. On the other hand, if you’re moving up the ladder, you will find out that you’ll need a piece with the ability to deliver fullness of sound,variation in tone color, and speed of response.

There are many different makes and models out there that provide different levels of quality. While you can always go for popular bands, sometimes they are not within the reach of your budget. To help you out, here are few of the best high-quality flutes on the market today.

Best High-Quality Midrange Flute

The Azumi AZ3 Flute is from one of the mos trusted music brands, Altus. It is one of their most impressive offerings yet. And its price point says a lot about the amount of attention to detail to its construction. It has very advanced features, such as a split E mechanism, the option to have the in-line or offset G and the C# trill key. Even at first glance, you can see how it is very well constructed.

Made of sterling silver from its headjoint to the body combined with silver-plated keys, it can produce very high quality sound appropriate for intermediate players who are to perform on stage and who want their instruments to have the ability to keep up with the demand of their advanced practices. Another great highlight of this flute is the Z-cut headjoint. It is easy to get a good sound out of this instrument, no matter which of its three registers you’re playing in. The Azumi AZ3 comes with the option to have the trill key or not and to have the in-line or offset G key. Whichever option you choose, you can be certain that you are getting exactly what you want from a flute. Included in the package is a case and cleaning products to keep the instrument at its best condition.

Best Flute for Intermediate Players

If you talk about quality flutes, Yamaha is always on the list. One of our favorites in their lineup is the Yamaha YFL-461 Series, which is primarily designed for advanced players. It features solid silver head, body, and foot joints, allowing it to produce warm and rich tone. Additionally, it boasts an undercut embouchure, which makes the instrument very responsive to different styles of play.

Yamaha has a manufacturing technique for their adjustment hardware. The screws are designed in a way that you can adjust them easily and precisely. And once they’re in place, they are not going to rotate out of place on their own. It also helps that the headjoint, body, foot joint and lip plate are all made out of sterling silver. Sterling silver has great tonal characteristics. This high-quality features come with a price, though, so get your pockets ready for it.

Best High-Quality Flute for the Money

If you’re ready to move up from beginner level, then consider the Pearl 665 Quantz.  Pearl has a great reputation for producing quality instruments for beginner students, but their intermediate flutes deserve some praises as well. This particular model is constructed with the advanced student in mind. It has  French pointed arms, which are typically only seen on higher end flutes, but which are made available on this flute to students who are just starting on their way to becoming truly advanced. Moreover, it comes standard with a B footjoint and an optional off-set G key and split E mechanism. The flute also include key hole inserts to aid students transitioning from a closed-hole flute.

You need not to worry about quality with this flute even when it is one of the most affordable in its class. Upgrading won’t be necessary for a long time and, in some cases, it may not even be necessary until you reach the level of a true concert performer and need a professional quality instrument. Lastly, let’s consider yet another great feature that makes it stand out: it has a one-piece, core bar construction and a pinless mechanism. Both of these things considerably increase the quality of the instrument overall and make it easier to play. The construction is very durable, but also offers efficiency and reliability. The pinless mechanism is smooth, easy to play and very responsive.

After months (or maybe years) of learning and practicing playing the flute, you finally get the chance to perform on stage. Can you use the same flute you did when you’re still a student? Well, moost experts would tell you this is a bad idea, and we totally agree. There are features in your tudent flute that aren’t suitable for live performances. Moreover, a student flute give you limited choice when it comes to tune and audio quality.

This is where a concert flute comes in really handy. However, choosing which to buy can be a daunting task, because there are a lot of brands and models to choose from. To help you with that, here are a few recommendations.

Best Flute for Advanced Players

If you’re an advanced player, a silver-plated flute is the best choice. This is because it has more brilliance in its sound compared to one constructed from nickel. Silver tends to be richer in tone and has better response. And you can expect all these from the Jupiter Plateau Offset G Silver-Plated Flute 511S. Surprisingly, this model is very lightweight, making it easy to hold and does not strain the hands for a long period of playing. This is why it is a recommended model for a flutist getting his/her first time stage performance. There is also no denying that it does look and feel expensive! And the official logo of Jupiter on the instrument is a nice touch.

Best Alto Flute for Performances

Alto flute is a type of flute featured in many orchestral performances. Its low timbre adds that mellow and sweet sound in an orchestra. It sounds a 4th lower than the standard C flute and plays in the key of G, but they are the same when it comes to fingering.

One of the few recommended alto flutes is the Allora AAAF-302 Alto Flute. It has a beautiful tonal response, enabling it to deliver that warm and inviting sound professionals expect frm an alto flute that’s made of sterling/solid silver. It comes with straight and curved headjoints, giving you the flexibility you need when playing. The curved headjoint is particularly helpful for players to have better reach on the keys.

Best Concert Flute for the Money

The Pearl 795 Elegante Coda Flute is one of the many flutes categorized as the main instruments in the flute family. A concert flute is the primary instrument not only for advanced flutists but also for beginning students. In fact, learning to play a concert flute is a very critical phase for a student before he/she can specialize in other kinds of flutes, such as the alto and the bass.

The Pearl model here is one of the most recommended ones for beginning and advanced students alike. It is handcrafted in sterling silver and has a Forza headjoint with gold lip plate. The construction, especially that of the headjoint, allows the instrument to deliver pure and sweet tone that is highly expected from a quality concert flute. The workmanship is very impressive that it is nothing short when it comes t sound performance.

Are you’re ready to take your flute-playing to the next level? If so, then it is time to upgrade your flute. But shopping for a professional flute can be daunting. Of course, you would want to go with a trusted brand. However, brand name mustn’t only be your qualifying factor. What you need is an instrument that won’t hold you back technically, because you want as much as versatility in it as your performance requires.

Professional flutes tend to be a lot pricier than beginner flutes. Moreover, the price tends to increase as the amount of solid silver increases. We hope that you find exatcly what you need and the one that your budget would allow with the list we have below.

Best High-End Flute for Young Professionals

Manufacturers understand that most young professional flutists would want a high-caliber flute without necessarily breaking the bank. After all, these flutists may not be earning that much money. This is exactly what Yamaha has to offer when they released the Yamaha Professional 777H Flute. From its sterling silver headjoint, body, and keys, this instrument is sure to deliver he warmth and expressive colors that only the finest silver flutes can provide. The headjoint, body and footjoint are all heat treated with Yamaha’s proprietary acoustic annealing process to provide an impressive evenness of tone and response throughout all registers.

Its sterling silver headjoint is hand-finished, assuring buyers that it has gone through rigorous test of hands. The specially designed cut of this headjoint offers incredible response and an impressive dynamic range. The 700 series where the 777H belongs to boast a 0.43mm wall thickness which, when combined with the hand-finished sterling silver headjoint, provides a remarkably warm and rich tone. Moreover, all the models from the said series come standard with Straubinger Phoenix Pads for a more precise and consistent seal. Straubinger Phoenix Pads allow you to play with a lighter touch and quicker action.

Best Standard Professional Flute

Standard professional flutes are considered the creme de la creme of flute, as  they feature the finest materials and highest craftsmanship. And that comes with a price. Solid silver is standard throughout professional flutes and most are available with a variety of precious metal upgrades.  These can include the use of a variety of types of gold and even platinum. One of our favorite standard flute is the Pearl Maesta Professional Flute. The Maesta Series is known as the “jewel in their crown” of this brand.

As with other Pearl professional flutes, this model is equipped with the company’s patented Pinless construction, which eliminates the problems of protruding needles and corrosion and binding that affect the keys. Added to this is the additional bridge mechanisms that add strength to the entire mechanism and the socket-head screws are inserted from the underside of the key work, preventing the entry of perspiration into the mechanism. Its headjoint is one to be impressed about as well. It is ery responsive, and produces a dark centered tone. A wide dynamic range is ensured throughout the entire registers. Indeed, this flute gives justice to its high price.

Best Wooden Flute for Professional Flutists

Wood is a preferred material when it comes to most musical instruments, and flutes are not an exception. A wooden flute gives richer, more solid and powerful tone compared to those made of metal. However, it requires tighter and more work on the lips for the blowing style. This is why wooden flutes aren’t usually recommended for students; they can be easily tired out with this type of flute.

Our best pick of wooden flute is the Carrotmusic Model CD301 Alto C Professional Level Dizi Bamboo Flute. The main body of the instrument is made of bamboo with thread wraps around it between holes. There’s also an engraved calligraphy near the head of the flute, a nice additional touch for how gorgeous it already is! The flute has a range of about two octaves. This instrument is tuned to the diatonic western scale with a good full sound in the lower register and a bright upper register.

Best Rated Piccolo Flute

Piccolo is the smallest type of flute, sounding an entire octave above the standard C flute. Since piccolos are much more difficult to play than the C flute, beginners are encouraged to try their hands first on the latter. Though, there are piccolos now that are designed for beginning students.

If you are an advanced student or ready to step up into the professional level, one of the best to buy is the Yamaha YPC-82 Professional Piccolo. It looks so gorgeous, and the craftmanship is obviously high-quality! It’s not doubtful at all that this instrument has been handcrafted by accomplished artisans. It has a body top-grade grenadilla wood, which gives it that stable and full sound. It also features a sterling silver headjoint. Ask any piccolo experts, and they would tell you it’s worth the price especially when you’re moving up into the musical ladder.

Buying your first flute can be overwhelming and confusing. There are just so many names, so many brands, and so many types to choose from. And then you consider the different prices, there are just too many information to absorb. There are, of course, ways to make things a bit easier. The most obvious step is to do your research beforehand. Secondly, be careful of flutes that look too cheap. You don’t want to get one from this bunch, as they tend to be more costly in the long run than that of good-branded flutes.

Since you are still a beginner student, avoid flutes that are not designed to suit your level. A good quality beginner flute will be easy to play, light to hold, and should withstand the knocks you’re going to give it. On the other hand, professional flutes tend to be heavier, offer the fuller sound and increased projection that an advanced player needs. Without further ado, here are our most recommended flutes for beginner students.

Best Student Flute for the Money

The Yamaha YFL-221 Student Flute is made from durable nickle-silver, so it can withstand the rigors of any starting player who needs a lot of practice. This is one favorite of most flute teachers because of its playability, thanks to its CY headjoint with specially designed embouchure hole. This headjoint tends to be more restrictive — which means there’s a little control as to its dynamics and expressions — without taking away the ease of playing. The restrictiveness of the instrument isn’t much of a concern to beginning students; they are more focused on being able to make the flute sound.

If you’re ready to step to the next level of playing a flute, you won’t need to throw the entire flute into the garbage. Since 70-90% of a flute’s sound quality comes from its headjoint, you would only need to upgrade this particular part to get into the next level.

Best Rated Flute for Beginners

The Gemeinhardt 2SP Flute is a silver-plated student flute that is regarded for its excellent tonal qualities. It is also built tough to take a bit of abuse of practice. And you’d be glad of its delivery; you will be able to get a lot of color out of your tone with this instrument.

For the best tonal quality out of a flute, silver is always the primary choice. But for beginner students, a silver-plated one is good enough, and since the Gemeinhardt 2SP is  triple coated silver plated finish, it can impressively deliver what is expected out of it. It also has that superior tonal quality to it over nickel-plating. Included with the flute itself are pad cups, power coined keys and other enhancements that make their instruments serious enough for students who want to advance. This particualr model is notable because of the way it balances out its capability for subtlety.

Best Open-Holed Student Flute

The Jupiter 511 Series Student Flute is an open-holed flute that boasts a silver-plated body, keys, and headjoint. Attributes include an in-line G, gizmo keys and a B foot that not only extends the lower range, but also allows the higher octaves to play more in tune, and improves the flute’s overall projection. The 511 series utilizes a ribbed construction and a high nickel content to produce excellent sound quality.

This particular model has been regarded for its durablity. It has power-forged keys that provide strength and durability. It also features hidden adjustment screws, which prevent tampering and reduce the need for repairs. Moreover, it features offset finger buttons on keys that educe the stretch required for small hands to play the standard tone hole spacing of the modern Boehm flute. This one is an expensive flute yet it has a lot of advanced features suited to both beginner and advanced students.