Five-key flute Five-key flute The five-key flute is a musical instrument once common in school marching bands, and composed of wood with metal keys. It is a transposing instrument, most commonly in Bb, this variant being known as the Bb flute and sounding one tone below the orchestral piccolo. The next most common variant is the Eb flute, sounding a fifth below the Bb flute and used as its bass instrument in band harmonies. It is now often found in British military corps of drums, often playing various regimental marches. As the name suggests, the five-key flute most commonly has five keys,
Eunuch flute Eunuch flute The eunuch flute, or onion flute, or mirliton (Fr. "flûte eunuque, flûte à l'oignon" and "mirliton"; Ger. "Zwiebelflöte") is a musical instrument of the woodwind family used during the 16th and 17th centuries, producing music akin to the comb-music of the nursery, and still manufactured as a toy ("mirliton"). The eunuch flute consists of a wooden tube widening out slightly to form a bell. The upper end of the tube is closed by means of a very fine membrane similar to an onion skin stretched across the aperture like the vellum of a drum. The mouthpiece, a simple