Overview

The 1407 Altus includes soldered tone holes and is available with a variety of keywork and headjoint options.

Material Composition

Sterling silver lip plate, riser, headjoint, body, footjoint and mechanism - soldered tone holes

Comprised of 92.5% silver, Sterling Silver has long been the industry standard and widely accepted for making high quality flutes. This silver alloy is strengthened with copper to increase hardness. 

The process to create the sintered 99.7% silver key pipes is unique to Altus. Powdered silver metal is compacted at a high temperature to fuse particles together directly into a rigid tube, strengthening our key pipe structure and increasing playability.

The tone hole chimneys are formed separately and then soldered to the flute joint. This process allows for a consistent wall thickness around the holes and thus enables an even better resonance and timbre.

Altus Scale

Altus flute maker Shuichi Tanaka and renowned British flutist William Bennett shared an admiration for Albert Cooper’s vision of updating and modernizing the traditional flute scale. They created the Altus Scale to provide effortless intonation, impeccably tuned harmonics, and exceptionally balanced registers, setting a new standard for flute design. This monumental achievement is one of the hallmarks of the great Altus flute making tradition.