Gemeinhardt Co. was a manufacturer of

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

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piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

s. These musical instruments are developed by this company for all levels of musicians, beginners to professionals. Gemeinhardt is owned by its major supplier, Angel Industries Co. Ltd of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, widely acknowledged as the premier manufacturer of woodwind musical instruments.Gemeinhardt Company Director of Marketing Blog
/ref> The Gemeinhardt Company is headquartered in

Elkhart, Indiana Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 53,923 at the 2020 census. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana. It is the most populous city in the Elkhart–Goshen metropolitan area, which in tu ...

, where many of its instruments are still made.

Ownership

From 1993 to 2011, Gemeinhardt was owned by investment bankers under the corporate name Gemstone Musical Instruments. In June 2011, Gemeinhardt was acquired by Angel Industries Co. Ltd. of Taiwan, musical instrument manufacturers and business partner of Gemeinhardt for several years. David Pirtle, Gemeinhardt president and CEO, said the acquisition would allow Gemeinhardt more freedom to make decisions and run production in order to best serve the market. While many musical instrument brands are manufactured overseas, the partnership between Gemeinhardt and Angel Industries is unique. Gemeinhardt manufactures flute components (headjoint, body, footjoint, keys) in Elkhart, Indiana, then sends them to Angel for assembly. The assembled instruments are returned to Elkhart for testing and adjusting in the Gemeinhardt workshop. While most musical instrument brands have flute components manufactured overseas, Pirtle said Gemeinhardt's method is preferable because better quality flute parts can be made in their U.S. workshop.

History

Fourth-generation flute maker Kurt Gemeinhardt was brought to the United States from Markneukirchen, Germany, by George Bundy of Selmer USA which had recently relocated to Elkhart,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. Working with Philip H. Marcil in the Selmer flute division, they copied the typical Louis Lot design for their flutes. Kurt's father had studied under Emil Rittershausen, who was trained by

Theobald Boehm Theobald Böhm, photograph by Franz Hanfstaengl, ca. 1852. Theobald Böhm (or Boehm) (9 April 1794 – 25 November 1881) was a German inventor and musician, who greatly improved the modern Western concert flute and its fingering system (now ...

; thus, the instruments Gemeinhardt produces can trace their lineage to the creator of the Boehm system. In 1948, twenty years after Gemeinhardt immigrated, he founded the Kurt Gemeinhardt Company. Initially, the company crafted only very fine handmade flutes for professionals. However, the company moved to Elkhart and expanded in 1952, producing all levels of silver flutes. Beginner student flutes were also developed at this time; as Gemeinhardt’s reputation for fine beginner flutes became a hallmark of the industry, these flutes eventually became the bread and butter of the corporation. The Gemeinhardt Company is very popular in the music field, although they have not always followed the mainstream. In the mid '70s, Albert Cooper modified the placement of toneholes on the flute so it would match the common tuning of A at 440 Hz. Before this, many flutes were made with an older A435Hz tone hole placement (scale), despite being designed to play at A440Hz through the use of a shortened headjoint. Many flute companies recognized this change and decided to make their flutes the same way, but Gemeinhardt was slow to modify its design. This in turn made notes played in the higher register on an old Gemeinhardt flute sharp and the lower register flat, which could cause issues for beginner flautists using an old Gemeinhardt (pre-21st century). With practice, they could learn to play so the notes are correct, or they could consider buying a newer Gemeinhardt. However, the design of Gemeinhardt's flutes have changed often and have been updated and redesigned accordingly. At the National Flute Association's 2014 convention in Chicago, Gemeinhardt introduced a new line of flutes, the Kurt Gemeinhardt Generation Series. Consisting entirely of American-made conservatory and professional flutes, the Generation Series was developed by Tom Lacy and Dave Siekman. These flutes utilize the RS2012 Scale invented by famous flutists Trevor Wye,
William Bennett and Eldred Spell. This scale design is claimed to be the most accurate on the market. In 1997, Gemeinhardt acquired the Roy Seaman Piccolo Company. In addition to flutes and piccolos, Gemeinhardt also
has a line of

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

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clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

Products

Flutes

The Gemeinhardt company sells its flutes in different categories: Student, Conservatory, Professional, Kurt Gemeinhardt Generation Series (American-made conservatory and professional flutes), Alto flutes, and Bass Flutes. It also sells headjoints separately. All flutes are available with an offset G (noted by ''O'' in the model number). *Gemeinhardt models **Student Flutes: Model 1SP Flute / Model 2SP Flute / Model 2BLK Flute **Conservatory Flutes: Model 2SH Flute / Model 3B Flute / Model 3SHB Flute / Model 3SB Flute **Professional Flutes: Model 33SHB Flute / Model 33SB Flute / Model 33SSB Flute / Ali Ryerson Autograph Series Flute **Kurt Gemeinhardt Generation Series Flutes: The "Blue" Model Flute / The "White" Model Flute / The "Red" Model Flute / The "Revolution" Model Flute **Alto Flutes: Model 11A-BLK Alto Flute / Model 11A Alto Flute / Model 11ASH Alto Flute / Ali Ryerson Artists' Series BLK Alto Flute / Model 11AS Alto Flute **Bass Flutes: Model 21BSP Bass Flute / Model 21B-BLK Bass Flute **Headjoints: Model J1 headjoint / Model NG1 headjoint / Model NG2 headjoint

Piccolos

All Gemeinhardt and Roy Seaman Piccolos are made in the USA, except the 1P Piccolo The Gemeinhardt company also sells piccolos under several categories, which are composed of composite, silver, wood, and the Roy Seaman brand. The composite piccolo is made out of a synthetic material with some wooden texture to it, metal piccolos can be silver-plated or solid silver, wood piccolos are made of grenadilla wood and are rarely used outside because the wood can crack, and finally the Roy Seaman Piccolo sub-brand of conservatory and professional piccolos. *Gemeinhardt Piccolo models **Composite Piccolos - used for outside (Marching Band) and inside (Concert Band/Orchestra): Model 1P Piccolo / Model 4P Piccolo / Model 4PMH Piccolo / Model 4PSH Piccolo **Metal Piccolos - used for mainly outside (Marching Band): Model 4SP Piccolo / Model "Stinger" Piccolo / Model 4SH Piccolo / Model 4S Piccolo / Model 4SS Piccolo **Wood Piccolos - used mainly for inside (Concert Band/Orchestra): Model 4W Piccolo / Model 4WSSK Piccolo / Model KG Limited Piccolo **Roy Seaman Piccolos: Model "Storm" Piccolo / Model "Storm BLK" Piccolo / Model RS Standard Piccolo / Model RS Limited Piccolo

Saxophones

*Student models: Model GSA500 LQ Alto saxophone / Model GSA600 LQ Alto saxophone / Model GST500 LQ Alto saxophone / Model GST600 LQ Alto saxophone

Clarinets

*Student models: Model 2CN1 Clarinet / Model 2CS1 Clarinet

References

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External links

Gemeinhardt Website

Gemstone Website

Business Week

Band Director
Musical instrument manufacturing companies of the United States Musical instrument manufacturing companies of Taiwan Companies based in Elkhart County, Indiana Flute makers American brands American subsidiaries of foreign companies