Azumi | Flute AZ-S2RE

Azumi flutes are a combination of  handmade headjoints, produced by the world renowned Altus,  with a high quality flute body and mechanism (produced by Azumi). The headjoint design is one of the most important elements in influencing the characteristic of any flute´s tone. The significance of the headjoint inspired the founder of Azumi flutes – Shuichi Tanaka to produce a handmade headjoint combined with a flute body that is affordable, yet of a high production quality which led to combining the Azumi flute body with a handmade Altus headjoint. With this vision the Azumi flute series was born – to satisfy the different demands of the intermediate and the more advanced musician. The ethos behind Azumi flutes is to offer players a flute with which they can develop their playing to advanced levels at an affordable price.

The Azumi AZ-S2RE is supplied with an Altus S-Cut Sterling silver headjoint (handcut in Japan) which has an oval shape to the embouchure hole providing a rich and colourful sound with slightly more blowing resistance than the Z-cut. The addition of a solid silver headjoint adds more power and tonal quality. The French pointed key arms add stability and strength to the offset G key mechanism. The body tube and keywork are all silver plated nickel silver. Open hole model with offset G key.

The Altus/Bennett scale is used on all Azumi flutes. The “scale” of an instrument is the relationship of the tone holes to each other, the size of each hole, and the distance of the tone holes from the embouchure. The musician will play with better intonation while expending less effort with a well-built scale. Based on the work and recommendations of renowned British flutist William Bennett, the Altus Scale offers excellent intonation, carefully tuned harmonics, and balanced registers. Altus flute maker Shuichi Tanaka along with Bennett admired Albert Cooper’s scale work and made some modifications of their own, creating the Altus/Bennett scale. The precise intonation not only makes these flutes effortless to play in tune, it also enhances the resonance of the instrument. A more resonant flute has more depth and colour to the sound and is more flexible.