Gemeinhardt
Encyclopedia
Gemeinhardt Co. is the music industry's largest manufacturer of flutes and piccolos. These musical instruments are developed by this company for all levels of musicians, beginners to professionals.
History of the Gemeinhardt Company
Founded by Kurt Gemeinhardt, a 4th generation flute-maker in Germany, the company was established in 1948, 20 years after Gemeinhardt’s immigration to the United States. Initially crafting only very fine hand made flutes for professionals, the company expanded in 1952, moving to Elkhart Indiana to produce all levels of silver flutes. Beginner student flutes were developed at this time as well. It was these flutes that eventually became the bread and butter of the corporation, as Gemeinhardt’s reputation for fine beginner flutes became a hallmark of the industry.
The Gemeinhardt Company is very popular in the music field although some people have controversy with it. In the mid 1970s a man named Albert Cooper created a new way of making the flute. Before this all flutes were tuned to A435hz which was eventually changed and internationally people recognized A at 440 Hz. Albert Cooper invented a way to engineer the flute so that it would tune to the A440, many flute companies recognized his scale and decided to make their flutes in the same way, but the Gemeinhardt Company decided to simply shorten their head joints to make it match the A440 pitch. This in turn makes notes played in the higher register on a Gemeihardt flute sharp and those notes played in the lower register on a Gemeinhardt flute flat. This can cause issues for many beginner flutes, but once you learn how the flute works, you can easily figure out what you personally need to do to play all of your notes in tune.
The Gemeinhardt company sells their flutes under five different categories: student, conservatory, professional, alto(which is a slightly larger version of the Flute in C, the most commonly known flute, except it is in the key of G instead of C), and they also sell headjoints separately. The Gemeinhardt company also sells the piccolos under categories, but they only have four different, consisting of: composite, silver, wood, and Roy Seaman. The composite piccolo is made out of a material sort of like plastic with some wooden texture to it, silver piccolos can be found either as being silver plated or solid silver whichever is preferred , wood piccolos are made of wood and are rarely used outside because the wood tends to swell or shrink according to weather conditions, and finally the Roy Seaman piccolo is recognizable mostly by its “bubbly-shaped” headjoint, if you see a Ray Seaman piccolo you can tell that it is largest where the headjoint meets the body of the piccolo than anywhere else on the piccolo.
Conservatory Flutes: Model 2SH Flute, Model 2S Flute, Model3SH Flute, Model 3SHB Flute, Model 3S Flute, Model 3SB Flute
Professional Flutes: KG Millennium Std (Model Kurt) Flute, KG Millennium Ltd (Model Kurt) Flute, Model 33SB Flute, Model 33SSB Flute, Model 11A Flute, Model 11ASHCH (Curved headjoint) Flute, Model 11AS Flute, Model 11ASCH (Curved headjoint) Flute
Alto Flutes: Model 11A Alto Flute, Model 11ASHCH (Curved headjoint) Alto Flute, Model11AS Alto Flute , Model 11ASCH (Curved headjoint) Alto Flute
Headjoints: Model J1 headjoint, Model H1 headjoint, Model M1 headjoint, Model K1 headjoint, Model S1 headjoint
Silver Piccolos (used for mainly outside (Marching Band) : Model 4SP Piccolo, Model 4SH Piccolo, Model 4S Piccolo, Model 4SS Piccolo
Wood Piccolos (Used mainly for inside (Concert Band/Orchestra): Model 4W Piccolo, Model 4WSSK Piccolo, Model KG Limited Piccolo
Roy Seaman Piccolos: Model RS Limited Piccolo
History of the Gemeinhardt Company
Founded by Kurt Gemeinhardt, a 4th generation flute-maker in Germany, the company was established in 1948, 20 years after Gemeinhardt’s immigration to the United States. Initially crafting only very fine hand made flutes for professionals, the company expanded in 1952, moving to Elkhart Indiana to produce all levels of silver flutes. Beginner student flutes were developed at this time as well. It was these flutes that eventually became the bread and butter of the corporation, as Gemeinhardt’s reputation for fine beginner flutes became a hallmark of the industry.
The Gemeinhardt Company is very popular in the music field although some people have controversy with it. In the mid 1970s a man named Albert Cooper created a new way of making the flute. Before this all flutes were tuned to A435hz which was eventually changed and internationally people recognized A at 440 Hz. Albert Cooper invented a way to engineer the flute so that it would tune to the A440, many flute companies recognized his scale and decided to make their flutes in the same way, but the Gemeinhardt Company decided to simply shorten their head joints to make it match the A440 pitch. This in turn makes notes played in the higher register on a Gemeihardt flute sharp and those notes played in the lower register on a Gemeinhardt flute flat. This can cause issues for many beginner flutes, but once you learn how the flute works, you can easily figure out what you personally need to do to play all of your notes in tune.
The Gemeinhardt company sells their flutes under five different categories: student, conservatory, professional, alto(which is a slightly larger version of the Flute in C, the most commonly known flute, except it is in the key of G instead of C), and they also sell headjoints separately. The Gemeinhardt company also sells the piccolos under categories, but they only have four different, consisting of: composite, silver, wood, and Roy Seaman. The composite piccolo is made out of a material sort of like plastic with some wooden texture to it, silver piccolos can be found either as being silver plated or solid silver whichever is preferred , wood piccolos are made of wood and are rarely used outside because the wood tends to swell or shrink according to weather conditions, and finally the Roy Seaman piccolo is recognizable mostly by its “bubbly-shaped” headjoint, if you see a Ray Seaman piccolo you can tell that it is largest where the headjoint meets the body of the piccolo than anywhere else on the piccolo.
Different models of flutes that Gemeinhardt sells:
Student Flutes: Model 2SP Flute, Model 2NP Flute, Model 2(3) Flutes, Model 3B FluteConservatory Flutes: Model 2SH Flute, Model 2S Flute, Model3SH Flute, Model 3SHB Flute, Model 3S Flute, Model 3SB Flute
Professional Flutes: KG Millennium Std (Model Kurt) Flute, KG Millennium Ltd (Model Kurt) Flute, Model 33SB Flute, Model 33SSB Flute, Model 11A Flute, Model 11ASHCH (Curved headjoint) Flute, Model 11AS Flute, Model 11ASCH (Curved headjoint) Flute
Alto Flutes: Model 11A Alto Flute, Model 11ASHCH (Curved headjoint) Alto Flute, Model11AS Alto Flute , Model 11ASCH (Curved headjoint) Alto Flute
Headjoints: Model J1 headjoint, Model H1 headjoint, Model M1 headjoint, Model K1 headjoint, Model S1 headjoint
Different types of Piccolos that Gemeinhart sells:
Composite Piccolos (used for outside (Marching Band) and inside (Concert Band/Orchestra) : Model 4P Piccolo, Model 4PMH Piccolo, Model 4PSH PiccoloSilver Piccolos (used for mainly outside (Marching Band) : Model 4SP Piccolo, Model 4SH Piccolo, Model 4S Piccolo, Model 4SS Piccolo
Wood Piccolos (Used mainly for inside (Concert Band/Orchestra): Model 4W Piccolo, Model 4WSSK Piccolo, Model KG Limited Piccolo
Roy Seaman Piccolos: Model RS Limited Piccolo
External links
- Gemeinhardt Co. Website
- Gemstone Website
- Venture Magazine article on Gemstone
- http://www.fluteworx.co.za/articles/ACooper0209.pdf Albert Cooper