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Tin whistleThe tin whistle, also called the feadg, pennywhistle, Irish whistle, simply whistle or, anachronously, the flageolet, is a simple six-holed breath instrument. It can be described as an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, Native American flutes, and many other wind instruments found in folk music. ==History== The Irish language feadg (literally "flute") is first evidenced in literature and on High Crosses from the 11th century. Bone whistles are also known to have been played in 12th century Viking Dublin. The names tin whistle and penny whistle date from when the instrument was first mass produced in tinned sheet metal. Early mass production of the metal itself occurred in Wales, in the United Kingdom. The best known early producer of tin whistles was Robert Clarke (? - 1882) who lived and worked in England. Norman Dannat boasted in The Penny Whistle (The Clarke Tinwhistle Co c1993) that Robert Clarkes whistles "produced a unique sound which, though attempts have been made to copy it, no-one has ever improved." In his tutor ''Timber'' (ISBN 0951156918) Fintan Vallely called the whistles fingering system the simple system. It is also the system used by the side-blown six-hole flute and was of course well known before Robert Clarke began producing his tin whistles circa 1843. ==Contemporary tin whistles== The most common tin whistles today are made of brass tubing, or nickel plated brass tubing, with a plastic mouthpiece, or fipple (Generation, Feadg, Oak, Acorn, Soodlum's (now Walton's), and other brands fall in this category). The next most common form is the conical sheet metal whistle with a wooden stop in the wide end to form the fipple, the Clarke's brand being the most prevalent. Other less common variants are the all-metal whistle, the Polyvinyl chloride whistle, and the wooden whistle. Whistles are a prevalent starting instrument in Irish traditional music, since they are often cheap (under US$10), relatively easy to start with (no tricky embouchure such as found with the flute), and the fingerings are identical to those on the traditional six holed flute (Irish flute, baroque flute). The whistle is widely taught to schoolchildren in Ireland. ==Tuning== ===Whistle keys=== The whistle is musical tuning diatonically, which allows it to be used to easily play music in two major Key (music) and their corresponding minor keys and Musical mode. The whistle is identified by its lowest note, which is the tonic of the major key. The most common whistles are called ''D whistles,'' and can easily play notes in the keys of D and G major. Although the whistle is essentially a diatonic instrument, it is possible to get notes outside the principal major key of the whistle, either by ''half-holing'' (partially covering the highest open finger hole) or by ''cross-fingering'' (covering some holes while leaving some higher ones open). However, half-holing is somewhat more difficult to do correctly, and whistles are available in many keys, so for alternate keys a whistler will typically use a different whistle instead, reserving half-holing for accidentals. Some whistle designs allow a single fipple, or mouthpiece, to be used on differently keyed bodies. The next most common whistle tuning is a ''C whistle,'' which can easily play notes in the keys of C and F major. The C whistle is widely used in American folk music, whereas the D whistle is the most common choice for Celtic music. ====Low whistles==== There are larger whistles, which by virtue of being longer and wider produce tones an octave lower. Whistles in this category are likely to be made of metal or plastic tubing, with a tuning-slide head, and are almost always referred to as ''low whistles'' but sometimes called a ''concert whistle''. The low whistle was first produced by Bernard Overton, but is now available from most whistle makers. The low whistle operates on identical principles to the standard whistles, but musicians in the tradition may consider it a separate instrument. The term ''soprano whistle'' is sometimes used for the higher-pitched whistles when it is necessary to distinguish them from low whistles. ===Tuning adjustment=== Whistles may or may not be tuning. If they are, tuning is done by moving the mouthpiece in or out, either the mouthpiece itself sliding over the whistle body, as in the metal tube/plastic body model, or else with a tuning slide such that the mouthpiece and the upper part of the body form the 'head' of the whistle which fits into the main body. ==Playing technique== ===Fingering and Range=== The notes are generated by opening or closing holes with the fingers. With all the holes closed, the whistle generates its lowest note, the tonic (music) of the scale. Successively opening holes from the bottom upward produces the rest of the notes of the scale in sequence: with the lowest hole open it generates the second, with the lowest two holes open, it produces the third and so on. With all six holes open, it produces the seventh. The second octave is achieved with the same fingerings as the first, by ''over-blowing'' (blowing more forcefully), although the octave of the tonic itself is an exception: it can be produced by covering all the holes and overblowing, but gives a better tone if the top hole is opened. The note at the top of the second octave is also played with this fingering, but with more intense breath pressure. The standard range of the whistle is two octaves. For a D whistle, this includes notes from the second D above middle C to the fourth D above middle C. Music for the soprano whistle is always scored an octave lower than it is played, which makes the score more easily readable. (It is possible to make noises above this range, by blowing increasingly forcefully, but the resulting sound will often be loud and out of tune.) ===Ornamentation=== Traditional Irish whistle playing uses a number of ornament (music) to embellish the music, include cuts, strikes and rolls. Most playing is legato with ornaments to create breaks between notes, rather than tongued. Vibrato can be achieved on most notes by opening and closing one of the open holes. ==Well-known performers== In 1973, Paddy Moloney (of The Chieftains) and Sean Potts released ''Tin Whistles,'' which helped to popularize the tin whistle in particular and Irish music in general. Mary Bergin's ''Feadga Stin'' (1979) and ''Feadga Stin 2'' (1993) were similarly influential. Other notable players include Sean F. Ryan. The low whistle rose to public prominence thanks to its use by Davy Spillane in the stage show Riverdance and Tony Hinnigan on the soundtrack to the 1997 film Titanic (1997 movie). Many traditional pipers and flute players also play the whistle to a high standard. ==Other types of whistles== A whistle can be made to produce a glissando effect by fitting it with a slide which can be moved up and down within the central cavity of the instrument, changing the frequency at which it resonates. These kinds of whistles are known as slide whistles, and the sounds that they are capable of making are referred to as chirps. A chirp is a sound that has a frequency that changes while it is sounding. See also Whistle, Whistling == External links == * [http://www.chiffandfipple.com/ Chiff and Fipple guide to the tin whistle] * [http://www.flageolets.com/ The Flageolet Site, devoted to Flageolet] * [http://www.chiffandfipple.com/lehistory.html Historical Notes on the Tinwhistle] Celtic music Flutes Irish music Woodwind instruments Tin whistleFull disclosure re the external link to Chiff and Fipple that I just added: I run the [http://chiffboard.mati.ca/ message board] for Chiff and Fipple as a favor to the guy who runs the main website. I added the link because it's a really useful resource, not because of my connection. User:Mendel— User:mendel User_talk:Mendel 03:14, Apr 3, 2004 (UTC) ----- From User:LaurelBush 16:14, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC): :Would the following fit somewhere within the article? :The names tin whistle and penny whistle date from when the instrument was first mass produced in tinned sheet metal. Early mass production of the metal itself occurred in Wales, in the UK, and the best known (most successful) early producers of tin whistles is Robert Clarke (? - 1882) who lived and worked in the UK territory of England. Norman Dannat boasted in The Penny Whistle (The Clarke Tinwhistle Co c1993) that Robert Clarkes whistles produced a unique sound which, though attempts have been made to copy it, no-one has ever improved. :In his tutor Timber (ISBN 185700322) Fintan Vallely calls the whistles fingering system the simple system. It is also that to which the side-blown six-hole flute responds and was of course well known before Robert Clarke began producing his tin whistles in 1843." :Sorry. Ive just put it in myself. ==Re flageolet== The tin whistle isnt a modern ''form'' of flageolet? User:Laurel Bush 12:53, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC). : Sorta, Laurel. There was a point in history, at least, (early 20th century) when the terms were used more or less interchangeably; L.E. McCullough discusses this in The Complete Irish Tinwhistle Tutor. I'll clarify this sentence. User: Craig Stuntz 2 May 2005 I believe there was a time (19th century) when Clarke whistles were bought in bulk by other companies and rebranded as more 'up-market' instruments, eg by calling them 'flagolets'. User:Laurel Bush 11:59, 5 May 2005 (UTC). : Yes, this is true. In the same McCullough book I mentioned earlier he reproduces two ads for 'flageolets' from the Sears catalogue in the early 20th century with pictures. One is clearly a tin whistle, the other, to me, looks more like a simple French flageolet [http://www.flageolets.com/flageolet8.jpg like this picture] and indeed the text of the catalogue notes that the instruments are imported from France. [http://www.flageolets.com/whatisaflageolet.htm This page] describes various types of flagolets and refers to the tin whistle as "a development of the English flageolet." User: Craig Stuntz 5 May 2005 :: I found McCullough's history discussion on the web (legally!). It's so helpful for this article that I added it to external links even though the main Chiff and Fipple site is already there. User: Craig Stuntz 1 June 2005 ==Tin whistle is an Irish invention?== I note the use of ''The Irish language feadg (literally "flute") is first evidenced in literature and on High Crosses from the 11th century. Bone whistles are also known to have been played in 12th century Viking Dublin'' as the first sentence under ''History''. I am sure that in the 11th and 12th centuries similar instruments were in use in many places other than Ireland. User:Laurel Bush 09:59, 18 May 2005 (UTC). See other meanings of words starting from letter: TTA | TB | TC | TD | TE | TF | TG | TH | TI | TJ | TK | TL | TŁ | TM | TN | TO | TP | TR | TS | TU | TW | TX | TY | TZ |Words begining with Tin_whistle: Tintwhistle Tin_whistle Tin_whistle Tin_whistles |
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