The lowest of the strings, providing the harmonic foundation, and often used to add rhythm. It used to be larger than it is today, and the number of strings has varied through the years. The soprano of the woodwind family. Most modern flutes are made of silver, although some are gold. Early ones were usually wooden, but flutes have been made from cane, wood, pottery, stone, metal, leather and bones.
Flutes are among the most ancient of instruments and are found at many prehistoric sites.
Most early flutes were blown from the end. These were the ancestors of the recorder. Transverse flutes are blown from the side. A double-reed instrument with a tender, sad, plaintive sound, often used to carry the melody. Its ancestor, the shawm, was brought back to Europe from the Middle East in the twelfth century by the medieval crusaders.