How is the flute different in certain stages?

Answer 1

By "stages", do you mean student flutes vs intermediate and professional? If that's the case there are many differences Student flutes are almost always a nickle/silver compound from head to foot. All the keys will be "closed hole", meaning that there are no holes in any keys. The foot joint will be a "C" foot, meaning it only has three total keys, an Eb, Db, and C. It will be mostly assembly line produced. Intermediate flutes you will start to find open holes (five of the keys have openings in the holes to improve tone, among other things), and a "B" foot, which means an extra key has been added to expand the Flute's range to a B rather than C. Also, the head joint will almost always be pure silver of varying qualities, while the body can be either pure silver, or silver plated nickle, depending on the brand and over-all quality. Often it will have some parts (especially the "embouchure", the opening in the head joint that you blow into to produce the sound) hand cut and hand made, while other parts are still assembled by machine. Sometimes you will find other options such as a "split E", and you can choose between "inline" or "offset G". These are just variations in the key structure. "French joints" are also sometimes found (more on those in the Professional section). Professional flutes will pretty much always be pure silver throughout the flute, in varying purities (from .925 to .975+). More often than not you'll find what are called "French joints" rather than the basic "Y joint". This refers the how the joints of the flute rods are connected to the keys themselves. Generally French joints are accepted to be better joints, and at least more attractive. Most (if not all) of the flute will be completely hand made by no more than 2-3 people total from beginning to end. All of the key options mentioned in the Intermediate flutes ("Split E" etc) are also available in professional flutes, as well as some extras such as "roller bars" on the foot joint to make finger changes easier, and extra trill keys. You can also get professional flutes in other, purer metals, such as gold and platinum. I hope i didn't miss anything.