The flute is an instrument that has a sense of life and humanity, perhaps more than many instruments. Like us, it requires breath to live. Its sound is tied to our own life force, and as a result, it has an ever-changing and evolving tone and timbre.

Seven Free Flute Instruments for Ableton Live

For my 168th Free Ableton Live Pack, I have a collection of 7 flute-based Instrument Racks. A few of the instruments sound much like a traditional flute, while the others take the samples to new extremes, resulting in electric guitar like howls, pulsating pads, and distorted string plucks. It's a very diverse set of sounds, all linked by the breathy, organic sound source of the flute.

The instruments in this collection make heavy use of some of the new features in Ableton Live 10. I was able to add lush delays using Echo. On a few of the instruments, I have Macro Controls that allow you to create huge feedback swells while playing the instruments. I found it to be a really fun way to create interesting overlapping layers. Drum Buss is used to control the room noise with its Transients parameter (check out this tutorial on how you can control room noise with Drum Buss). The Stringed Flute Instrument makes use of Pedal to get larger than life distortions. By mapping aftertouch to Dynamic Tube, using Max for Live's Expression Control, the Washed Flute instrument can be expressively distorted and crushed with pressure on Ableton Push or any aftertouch enabled keyboard. 

Flute Samples Performed by Rozalind MacPhail

While I spent a lot of time constructing each instrument, most of what makes them special is the person supplying the breath and masterful technique, flute looper, Rozalind MacPhail. Sponsored by Gemeinhardt Musical Instruments, Rozalind is a world class flutist, who specializes in combining her classical training with electronic music production techniques. She's an avid Ableton Live user and is actively pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the flute and modern technology. 

The samples she sent me were from a few of her albums, including Sunset Sunrise and Head First. Many of the performances were drenched in lush effects and featured some interesting playing techniques that challenged my understanding of the sounds a flute is capable of making. 

I had a great conversation with Rozalind on the Music Production Podcast. She shared some great insights on her own musical philosophies, techniques, and how she looks to further explore her own musical boundaries.

*This Pack requires Ableton Live 10 Suite for full features. Live 10 Standard users should open the Standard Edition .als file and presets.*