Contra-alto flute repertoire for bass flute and contrabass flute see: Peter van Munster, "Repertoire Catalogue for Piccolo, Alto Flute and Bass Flute", Roma: Riverberi Sonori, 2004. More and more flute ensemble repertoire is incorporating the contra-alto flute. Typically, it is doubled with the contrabass (and/or bass) flutes, however, in recent years, composers and arrangers such as Alexandra Molnar-Suhajda and Judy Nishimura have been pushing the boundaries of lowness by writing independent parts for the instrument. Contra-alto flute The contra alto flute is in the key of G (or sometimes F), pitched one octave below the alto flute - which is a fourth
Irish flute Irish flute players tend to strive for a dark and reedy tone in comparison to classical flautists. Though most commonly pitched in the key of D, simple system flutes are available pitched in other keys, and are often heard in Irish music pitched in E flat, B flat and C. Although referred to as a D flute, this is a non-transposing instrument, so if you finger C, a concert-pitch C is sounded. The name D-flute comes from the fact that the simplest 6-hole wooden flute has D as its lowest note and plays the scale of D without any cross-fingering.