- Piccolo, flute, alto flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, bamboo flute in low F [optional], bamboo flute in low E-flat [optional], bamboo flute in low D [optional], bamboo flute in low C [optional], shinobue in D [optional], shinobue in C [optional], wooden flute to low A [optional]
- Oboe, English horn, clarinet, tenor saxophone
- Clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, tenor saxophone
Allegiance
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Ethnic flutes in this version of the show are (low) bamboo flutes in F, Eb, D and C and shinobue in D and C, as well as a large wood flute that plays down to low A.
Updated to include this information. Thank you!
Why are some listed as bamboo but the low A just says wooden? Aren’t they all bansuri?
I believe it has something to do with the size/octave of the instrument. All the large flutes are designated as, e.g., ‘C Wood Flute’ (not ‘bamboo’). The shinobue are both closer to piccolo in size/range. The low A wood is the only one designated as a bansuri in the part. (Even then, inconsistently.)
Everything is double-staved either in concert pitch or for alto flute. The large C instrument was too big for my hands, so I’ll be playing those parts on an alto.
Harry wrote me that, instead of an instrument with low A, he had one special made to go to a low Bb because of some difficult fingering passages involving Ebs and Bbs. This makes total sense when seeing the part, though it must be a mammoth sized instrument.
As the bamboo and wood flutes are all double-staved, I have marked them as optional. Thanks!
In my second paragraph, I mistakenly wrote, “The large C instrument…”. It should be, “The large A instrument…”.