Chris Mudrak, age 12, of St. Paul, Minn., for his question:

WHO INVENTED THE FLUTE?

The origin of the flute is difficult to trace, for it is very ancient. The Hindus, Chinese and Japanese allclaim to have invented it.    We also know that the woodwind instrument, which consists of a pipe pierced with lateral holes and blown directly through a mouthpiece without the addition of a reed, was used by the early Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.

The first flute in Western Europe was found in the 12th Century. Theobold Boldm, a Bavarian instrument maker, is given credit for completely remodeling the music maker with models which he brought out in 1882 and in 1846.