Already an accomplished flutist, it seemed only natural that his innate talents would lead his skills and interests towards the sculpting of headjoints in addition to the art of flutemaking. where he began at 20 years of age to learn the art of flutemaking. Takohashi, he developed a sincere interest into the characteristics and technical aspects of flutes and was soon referred by his teacher to the Muramatsu Manufacturing, Inc. Tanaka began his serious flute studies at 16 years of age under the tutelage of the renowned Japanese teacher and performer Toshui Takohashi. A man who is as unique as his flutes, he is abundantly knowledgeable and diverse as an artist, flutist-musician, engineer, businessman, and most notably as a master flutemaker. Shuichi Tanaka is admired throughout the world for his fine talents as a flutemaker. Related to the latin root - alu, alere, alui, altum - to nourish, to support, to strengthen, to increase, to make grow, to promote and advance. The only thing lacking is a fancy name to help market it better! Oh well, you’ll just have to try it and see for yourself.Altus (al-tus) = (Latin) The highest in development, point of culmination, grown, great, high, noble, high born, of high character, to have high aims, to look deep, ëAltus of timeí - reaching far back, ancient ëAltus of heightí - high heaven ëAltus of the seaí - the deep sea.
It ticks all the boxes when it comes to what one would want in a mechanism and best of all, they’ve included it on all their flutes, from their entry level professional quality flute, model 807 all the way up to the venerable model 1807 (AL). It is quick to respond, light, silent and stays in adjustment for an extremely long time. They have absolutely perfected their version of a pinned mechanism.
Altus never switched to a pinless mechanism because they simply don’t need to. You really need to run your fingers over these keys yourself in order to appreciate it.
What is not subjective is how good their mechanism is, and it is one of the best there is. Perception of sound is subjective though so you will need to try them and see if they suit you. In terms of sound, I find them extremely malleable, colourful, offer great projection and evenness throughout the registers. I’ve had several flutes throughout the course of my career and two of them, including my current one, have been Altus (and they were purchased long before I started working for F&F after trying every brand under the sun!). Each flute comes in a French style leatherette covered wood case with a zippered, fleece lined cover and a shoulder strap. Other standard features include stainless steel springs, French-pointed keys, and a gizmo key. The extruded body tubes maintain a standard thickness and include drawn tone holes and the Altus-Bennett scale.
Through the careful selection of materials and the Altus dedication to handmade craftsmanship, the Artist Series achieves an unparalleled balance between performance, quality and affordability.Īrtist Series flutes feature handmade silver-plated mechanisms well-known for their hardness, strength, and durability without sacrificing exceptional fluidity and feel.
The masterfully hand-sculpted headjoints and precision tubings produce the remarkable sound of the Altus flute. The meticulous design of the Altus flute and its acclaimed Altus/Bennet scales offers excellent intonation, carefully tuned harmonics and balanced registers. Created by Master Flute Maker Shuichi Tanaka, each Altus flute reflects his passion to combine the finest playing flutes with the finest materials and artistry. ALTUSįor almost 30 years, Altus has hand-crafted flutes that embody the ideals of vintage inspiration and modern technology. Each Altus flute comes with a hard case, soft carry cover, cleaning rod, inside cleaning cloth and outside cleaning cloth.