Bass flute

Bass flute (Fr.: basse de flûte, flûte basse; Ger.: Bassflöte; It.: flautone), 1. *cross flute pitched in c0, an oct. below the ordinary, or concert, flute, and thus in reality a tenor. For bands it is also made in d♭0 and e♭0, all with coiled heads. Bass flutes have existed since Agricola's day—he described them in 1528—but in modern form only since the mid-18th c. To reduce the length to manageable proportions, both ends were folded in. No really successful model was produced prior to the…