Members of the western concert flute family or private collections. This distinctive sounding instrument is rarely found at present. A few American publications for flute choir currently include a part for an E (soprano) flute, an instrument pitched a minor third higher than the standard C flute. In these publications, an alternative part is provided either for the C flute or for the piccolo. The standard concert flute is by far the most common member of the flute family. The flute is used in many ensembles including concert bands, orchestras, flute ensembles, occasionally jazz bands and big bands. The instrument is pitched in C and has a
Eunuch flute France, adds Mersennus, and they had the advantage over other kinds of reproducing more nearly the sound of the voice. The Irish writer Samuel Beckett wrote a series of fifty-nine small poems in French called mirlitonnades after the instrument. The eunuch flute's sound highly resembles a kazoo. The eunuch flute, unlike a kazoo, is held horizontally against the mouth while the user vocalizes into the aperture. 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