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Double flageolet

Nominal pitch: B♭ (six-finger tonic) [may have originally been E♭ (three-finger tonic)]. Type or system: 7 keys. Technical description: boxwood; 5|sections; silver keys and two cutters; cutter for left-hand pipe has a [replacement] german silver keytouch and shank; 4|ivory ferrules, and studs between finger-holes; [ivory mouthpiece]; left-hand pipe has 7 finger-holes (no plug in top one), no thumb-hole, and keys for D, F and D♯; right-hand pipe has 5 finger-holes, and keys for C (thumb, with wooden plug in key-hole), B, F and D♯; lowest 'finger-hole' on each pipe is probably a vent-hole, that on the right-hand pipe being uncomfortably far round the instrument to be covered by a finger; large "E" finger-hole on both pipes; "D" finger-hole on right-hand pipe is offset; two-part wind-cap. Keyhead type: flat square, notched and chamfered. Keymount type: ring/knob. Usable pitch: sounding A₄ c|449|Hz (left-hand pipe). Performance characteristics: few notes speak with a clear pitch on right-hand pipe; does not speak easily below F♯ (sounding D₅) on left-hand pipe; lowest six-finger note (left-hand pipe) sounds B♭₄; the lack of a plug in the top finger-hole of the left-hand pipe gives the instrument a six-finger tonic and a nominal pitch of B♭, with that pipe playing a scale of B♭ in its present condition; if there was originally a plug in the top finger-hole, the instrument would have had a three-finger tonic and be based on a scale of E♭, thus giving it a nominal pitch of E♭.

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  • Inscriptions:Stamped on wind-cap with a crown and "BAINBRIDGE / INVENTOR / HOLBORN / HILL"; stamped on head section with a crown and "BAINBRIDGE / & WOOD / 35 / HOLBORN / HILL / LONDON / PATENT"; both pipes stamped "PATENT"; stamped with note names and numbers by respective finger-holes; stamped beside left-hand pipe cutter "+" , and on upper part of wind-cap "2".
  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:421.222.12 Sets of open flutes with internal duct with fingerholes
  • Repository:Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
  • Measurements:Overall size: 448 (without mouthpiece). Sounding length: 341.