The Kingmasystem® is a unique invention that is available on all our flutes.
Thanks to the wonderful work of Bickford Brannen it became also available on the C flute. Follow this link to the Brannen Company. The Kingmasystem® is currently also availlable on Sankyoflutes.

Some professional opinions

Emmanuel Pahud:

"I am deeply impressed by the quality and playability of the Sankyo-Kingma Flute. It is a great challenge to find out how well one can play 'normal' standard repertoire and go for improvisation and new music with the same instrument. I believe this is contributing to the future of music and fluteplaying, opening new doors on new fields of developments"

Matthias Ziegler:

"The Sankyo-Kingma Flute bridges the gap between the Music of the past and the future. From barock ornaments to a limitless choice of chromatic multiphonics, extreme changes of dynamics and glissandi. Finally we have an instrument in our hands which enables us to express our musical imagination in the fields of interpretation and improvisation. This instrument is a true motor of creativity.

The concept

The Kingmasystem® flute is, in all respects, a Boehm system flute with a C# trill. All of the normal touch pieces and fingerings are where you would expect them to be. What makes this flute so unique is that, in addition to the standard Boehm mechanism, there are six extra keys. This is made possible through the use of the patented key-on-key system that has been used so successfully on our alto and bass flutes for many years. These keys are used to produce six of the seven quartertones and multiphonic vents which are "missing" on the normal French model flute. The seventh "missing" quartertone is achieved by using the C# trill key together with the normal C key. The other five quartertones are produced by using the normal, open hole keys.

Acoustics

This new design allows the Kingma System player to perform in remarkable new ways. The first and most obvious possibility for the flautist is to play accurate quartertone scales. While a French model flute can produce quarter steps by venting the open holes and shading certain notes with alternative fingerings, the Kingma System flute is able to play a complete chromatic quartertone scale through all the registers. It is possible to half-vent every key on the Kingma System, not just the open hole keys. This means that the flautist can now play accurately all of the quarter steps from e.g. F# to G #or from Bb to D. This aspect of the flute makes nonwestern types of music far more accessible to any player, and also provides some interesting special effects for the jazz player.

The second acoustic advantage of this instrument is its ability to produce unique multiphonics. Because the flute is able to vent all the normally covered keys, chromatic progressions of multi-phonics can be produced. As a result of this, there are some marvelous compositional opportunities built into this flute. It is possible, for example, to play "triple stops," starting with fundamentals in the low register and moving chromatically up the scale with "triple stops" as keys are sequentially vented. The practiced player can play not only chromatic scales on this flute, but chromatic quarter-steps and chromatic multiphonics as well.

Kingmasystem® on a Bass Flute

The final acoustic advantage of this instrument is one that both players and listeners can appreciate: superb pitch control. For years, players have used "sensitive fingerings" on difficult notes to match intonation with other instruments. Perhaps the biggest advantage of the French model flute is that it allows the flutist to close a ring on a key in order to shade the pitch down, or to pull the finger slightly off a hole in order to shade the pitch up. With the Kingma System flute, this possibility has been developed to its fullest. With the opportunity to vent what have traditionally been closed holes, the flautist has incredible opportunities to alter notes that would otherwise be “off.”. Two notes immediately come to mind: the high G and the high Ab. The Kingma System allows the player to shade these notes down by closing rings, specifically the F# or the G# ring, respectively. One can confidently play these notes fff without going sharp. Additionally, the Kingma System creates unique opportunities for alternative fingerings, such as on the high F#. In this case, there are at least three alternative fingerings that result in a stable high F# at various pitch/dynamic levels. For the flautist who plays in a great variety of ensembles, or circumstances, the pitch-control capabilities of this instrument are invaluable

Documentation

For an animation of a Kingma System Flute click here for the C up, G up, F sharp up and the D up.
Click here for the B up, B flat up and C sharp trill keys.

For a fingering chart of this instrument you can download a brochure here.

Karen Bijsterveld and Marten Schulp mention the Kingma System extensively in their article: "Breaking into a World of Perfection: Innovation in Today’s Classical Musical Instruments". This article is available here.

A link to a NYU topic proposal / article: Implications of the Brannen-Cooper Kingma System Flute on Twenty-First Century. Techniques, Repertoire and Performance Practice by Cindy Ying Shiung.

Deborah Fether wrote a dissertation titled: "A Discussion of Contemporary Flute Designs and Issues Surrounding these Developments" for the City University of London.
On a fast internet connection you can download this work here. Take care, it is nearly 2 megabytes! You need Adobe Acrobat to read those files.