Arturo Raffaele Grolimund: Bohlen-Pierce pan flute

The first pan flute tuned to the Bohlen-Pierce scale was built in November 2009 by Ulrich Herkenhoff in Munich, Germany. The instrument was constructed based upon a suggestion made by myself and with the support of Heinz Bohlen. As the pipes of a pan flute are closed at one end there are only odd harmonics in the spectrum – this makes the instrument ideal for playing Bohlen-Pierce.  As a flutist who usually plays the modern concert flute I see this as a great opportunity for the flute family. The improvisation will begin with a circle of fifth in BP and use a scale which I call the Fibonacci Scale – with an interval structure very close to the normal diatonic scale. The play-back consists entirely of BP-pan flute sounds. This is the first time that a Bohlen-Pierce pan flute is played in public.