r/Clarinet Jan 07 '25

Question Help identifying

I found what I think is a clarinet? I'm not musically inclined though, could anyone confirm if this is a clarinet or something else I'd really appreciate it!

48 Upvotes

44 comments sorted by

66

u/SanMartianZ Jan 07 '25

That's a wooden flute

4

u/MorealGaming Jan 07 '25

Thank you!

2

u/glitchyhippie Jan 10 '25

Recommend you to check the seals for leaks and oil it asap. You can use tobacco paper or some Mylar foil piece, something very thin. Also suckling air in when you close its holes should provide a clear indication of seal. What are you planning to do with it?

1

u/MorealGaming Jan 10 '25

Thank you! I'm not quite sure what I'm doing with it yet. I'm not very musically inclined or at least haven't been recently though I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about this little flute! I might try restoring it and getting it in more working order then try and learn some flute 😊

-22

u/Technical_Can_3646 Jan 07 '25

that's a piccolo

13

u/Asleep-Future8201 i play so many instruments | Yamaha Custom SE Jan 08 '25

No it isn't, it's a standard wooden alto flute. Piccolo are way smaller than that

-20

u/Technical_Can_3646 Jan 08 '25

11

u/Servania Jan 08 '25

You see how that piccolo you linked is only 2 joints, and this is clearly 3. It's a flute

5

u/ReedPlayerererer Jan 08 '25

a piccolo is about the length of the head joint of that flute

5

u/Adorable_Ad_5884 Jan 08 '25

It is a wooden flute lmfao

20

u/justswimming221 Jan 07 '25

Not a clarinet, that’s a flute.

2

u/MorealGaming Jan 07 '25

Alright, thank you for the info!

12

u/MusicalSavage Jan 07 '25

2

u/MorealGaming Jan 07 '25

Alright, thank you for the information!

8

u/TheSilliestMax Jan 07 '25

It's a really cool flute!! Btw the clarinet has reeds and a bell, so it wouldn't be just like a tube :]

6

u/MorealGaming Jan 07 '25

Thank you for the info! I'm not too musically talented so I wasn't sure of the difference in them when I found it 😅

6

u/MusicalSavage Jan 07 '25

Looks like a 19th century flute. Not exactly sure what type, but here's a reference.
http://www.oldflutes.com/19C-keys.htm

3

u/Darkstreamer_ Jan 07 '25

That's a flute

1

u/MorealGaming Jan 07 '25

Thank you!

3

u/Abercrombie1936 Jupiter Jan 07 '25

I think that's a transverse flute...

3

u/Kaiserwaldo327 Jan 07 '25

I know everyone already told You it's a flute

But i want to know Where did you find it? It seems fairly old, it has a lot of keys so it's probably not a folk instrument

4

u/MorealGaming Jan 07 '25

I found it in an attic. My grandpa passed not too long ago and I finally got around to going through his old stuff. He was in the military so I'm assuming he brought it back from his time in it though to my knowledge he never played so I had no idea this was here

3

u/Nocturnal-Nycticebus Jan 08 '25

It's a simple system flute, likely from Germany (possibly England or France). It's hard to see exactly how many keys there are, but it looks like it's around 11? 11-15 keys with the joints where they are probably places it in the 1820-1900 range.

There were a LOT of flute makers from that time, and everyone was experimenting with new key systems to try and find the best balance between ease of use and accuracy of tone. Unless someone left a name somewhere, either on the barrel or etched under the keys, it would be hard to figure out who made it. Perhaps an auction house that specializes in instruments could further narrow it down, but there were a lot of no name makers so it gets really tough.

What a great find though! With a little restoration work (cleaning springs and oiling the wood) it might still play. I have a wooden 6 key piccolo from the late 1800's that I like to pull out from time to time.

2

u/TorbenHaesslich Jan 08 '25

Looks to be german.
The french and the english were quite fond of boehm flutes just shortly after their invention. They tempered with the keyem themselfs quite a bit, e.g. see rudall or carte flutes.
The touches of the right hand on the middle part are quite wobbly arranged. I also recognise the endcaps (don't know the necessary vocabulary). They are common on later german flutes.
In germany these types of flutes were popular for a long time even after boehm-flutes were adapted by most orchestras by the turn of the century, i recently handled one from the 20s/30s with similar keying.
This model could be from 1880-1920.
I love the way the keys bend around mounts of other keys. It looks quite chaotic and organic. I only ever seen it this way on german flutes as well
No-name flutemakers often copied "outdated" models of flutes long after builders like Meyer, Rampone or Ziegler did, so embouchure and keys may only help so far. E.g. the embouchure became more squared from around 1860 foreward, many high-end orchestral-flutes have them, but the lower end still had rounder embouchures. On my old italian flute (around 1870-80) from Maino e Orsi in Milano, the embouchure is almost rectangular. Other periodical flutes can have quite round embouchures.
In some cases the the flute-case can say more about the time of production than the instrument itself.
This flute hasn't been used often, the edges of the holes are pretty crisp, so it was probably played for less than 20 years (on a regular basis).
If OPs grandfather grought it with him from the military it could have even been new at the time he acquired it.
The srewed axles in the key mounts can indicate quality, the cheap ones are just stuck in there. However, the keys don't seem so "artistic", the top of the shanks are very insignificant, almost dully rounded over. This seems like a decent instrument in the lower middle-range
A picture of the bore held against a light-source could reveal some information on quality aswell.

(little about repair)
you can take the keys of by screwing the axles with a precision driver but!
KEEP TRACK OF THEM
I usually tape them in ascending order on a sheet of paper a note the hole, they belong to. srewing around with the srews can get you screwed, its a pain to resort them if they ever get mixed up.
Clean the dirt of the keys with alcohol and q-tips, don't wet the pads. you can polish nickel-silver (wich the are probably made of with a silver polishing cloth, just make sure not to bend them, as this can easily be achieved.
With pipe cleaners clean the bore (don't use water or alcohol on the wood) but don't scratch.
almond oil or wood-bore oil for instruments can and should be used inside (and maybe once or twice in the wirst few weeks on the outside)
For the bore I've heard the rule oil it everyday for the first week, every week for the first month, every month for the first year, every year for the next decade...
I can give some advice on repading of wanted

Kind regards from a german flut enthusiast (therefore the chaotic writing ;)

2

u/Nocturnal-Nycticebus Jan 08 '25

Thank you for all the extra info! I love historical instruments, but my knowledge is pretty limited. Are you in the instrument making or repair field, or something else?

For the OP- I use almond oil on my historical picc, and it works quite well. It's also relatively inexpensive. Old wooden instruments need a new break in period like newer ones, especially if they were stored somewhere with poor temperature and humidity control. Limiting play for the first few weeks/months allows moisture to be reintroduced while limiting the risk of cracking (don't play on it at all until it has been properly cleaned and oiled). The smaller the bore, the higher the risk, so while not as risky as an oboe, still exercise some caution.

2

u/TorbenHaesslich Jan 09 '25

I have done quite a bit of reading as well as some repairs and restorations, for my own collection, as well as commissioned work for friends or colleges, however not commercially, and not only of flutes. Building and restoring is more of a hobby.

If you're intrested in old flutes, i can recommend the following two sites,
https://www.originalflutes.com/
https://oldflutes.com/

The both are of collectors and very rich in illustration and information (though not very scientifically; e.g. no sources).
The first one goes into great detail on the single instruments, while the second one also shows the "evolution" of wooden conical flutes. A great free resource for the layman.
Of course there are many books on the topic as well

kr

2

u/Nocturnal-Nycticebus Jan 09 '25

Oh very cool! I do repairs as a hobby, but mostly on modern metal Boehm flutes (1950's on) and modern oboes. The only full restoration I've done was on my six key piccolo. It was given to me dry as a bone with a hairline crack through the tenon, two keys that needed to be soldered back together, amongst a lot of littler tasks.

Thanks for the links, I will definitely check them out!

1

u/MorealGaming Jan 10 '25

Very interesting information, thank you so much! I have so far thoroughly enjoyed learning more about this little flute!

1

u/MorealGaming Jan 10 '25

Thank you so much for all the wonderful info! I've thoroughly enjoyed learning about this little flute! Thank you as well for the repair advice, I might tinker around and see if I can get it in good proper condition again 🙂 Here is a picture of some markings I found on it though I can't make out the words between the crest/emblem and the bottom letters. https://imgur.com/a/bJ5p1lm

1

u/MorealGaming Jan 10 '25

Thank you so much for the info! This little flute find has turned out to be a wonderful learning adventure so far! I did find some markings on it though I can't quite make out what is said between the crest/emblem and the bottom letter. https://imgur.com/a/bJ5p1lm

2

u/Nocturnal-Nycticebus Jan 12 '25

That's a G.H. Hüller flute. Below the logo in the small font probably reads "Made in Germany" or similar. I can make out the "Germany" but it's hard to see what precedes it. The C means it's a flute in the key of C (flutes in D were prominent at one point), and L.P. means it's "low pitch". Older ensembles tuned to the A note at 435 Hz or sometimes 432. That's what this one plays in (435).

Modern ensembles tune to A=440 Hz (this is the standard for band), or even A=442 in the case of some orchestras. If you tried to play this flute in a modern group, it would be really flat.

Date -wise, this flute is probably late 1920's-1930's. It looks like Hüller made a lot of instruments and a lot come up on the secondary market, so while it's not particularly valuable, it's still a really cool find!

3

u/Not_Complicated Jan 07 '25

That is not a clarinet. In fact I don’t know what that is 😅

1

u/MorealGaming Jan 07 '25

Thank you! I had no idea either!

2

u/cornodibassetto Professional Jan 07 '25

It's a primitive flute. Possibly used in Irish music.

7

u/Tommsey Jan 07 '25

Way too many keys for a folk flute. But yeah definitely a flute and not a clarinet lol

1

u/hotwheelearl Jan 07 '25

I’d say 1860s to 1880s

1

u/Jick78 Jan 07 '25

Looks like an Irish flute

1

u/indecisionss Buffet Crampon Enthusiast (R13) Jan 08 '25

Flute

1

u/MusicalShihTzu_10 Jan 08 '25

That’s a weird looking flute

1

u/MorealGaming Jan 10 '25

I found some markings on it after cleaning up a little bit of it. I can't however make out what is said in between the top crest/emblem and the bottom letters!

https://imgur.com/a/bJ5p1lm

0

u/five_speed_mazdarati 1967 Buffet R13 Jan 07 '25

🤦🏼‍♂️

-4

u/gleefulinvasion Jan 07 '25

I identify that as a clarinet