Tin Whistle
The Tin Whistle ( called also partly Penny Whistle or Pocket Whistle ) is a simple, well-known under this name since 1825, originating from the British Isles and most of all there common flute ( whistle literally means " whistle " and limits the tin whistle so of the flute from which the German Flute equivalent ) with six holes, which is mainly used in traditional Irish folk music. The reed flute was originally rolled out simple sheet (English tin ), the mouthpiece is now usually made of plastic. The tin whistle has a high, bright and clear sound, with the highest tones can sound shrill depending on the make. In the study of instruments, the tin whistle is classified into the family of beak flutes. It developed the late 18th, early 19th century from the ( English ) flageolet. Traditionally, voted the tin whistle in D Major. There they are also in many other keys.
Moulds and patterns
Many Tin Whistles today consist of a brass tube and a plastic mouthpiece. Well-known manufacturers of such models are generation, Feadóg, Soodlum 's (now Walton's ), Oak and Acorn. In addition, there is still the classic models of Clarke in a conical design of rolled tinplate ( tin ). Robert Clarke (1840-1882) from Manchester is the first industrial manufacturer of tin whistle. This Clarke Whistles be built virtually unchanged since 1843 and represent the prototype of all tin whistles; they have, similar to a recorder, a wooden stake in the mouthpiece. Today common flutes are made of different materials (including sheet-iron, brass, copper, particularly elegant designs in silver, nickel silver or gold). Also plastic ( for example, by Susato and Tony Dixon ) and wood (eg Bleazey, Busman, Abell ) is now often used, particularly the latter is often a sign of very high quality.
Low whistles
A special form of tin whistle is the low whistle. This refers to a particularly large and low-tuned variant of the traditional tin whistle. The low whistle is a relatively recent development of the Tin Whistle. Low Whistles are usually made of metal - usually aluminum - made , for example, of Overton, Chieftain, TVI and Alba. Likewise, but also partially or completely made of wood or plastic instruments are available.
Game art
The tin whistle is played with the middle three fingers of both hands. The left hand covers the upper holes, the right hand lower. Are all the holes closed, you get the tonic. With the open bottom hole results in the major second. With each open hole results in the next interval.
Because it ( as opposed to the recorder) is no thumb hole, octave documents must be played (similar to the flute ) by " overblowing " ( overblowing ). The tin whistle is actually a diatonic instrument. Nevertheless, also head of foreign semitones can be generated by the lowest tone hole is covered only half closed. For some of these nuances exist fork handles (cross fingering ), which are easier to play in general as a semi- covered finger holes.
The Standardtonumfang a tin whistle is two octaves. Depending on the instrument and skill but also up to two and a half octaves and more are possible.
A special feature of the Irish Whistle game is that the tones are rarely initiated with the tongue. Instead, the player uses various ornaments to separate same tones from each other. The most important ornaments are the Cut ( a higher grip hole is opened very shortly ), the Strike (sometimes pad or tap called, the next lower handle hole is very short-circuited) and the roll, the latter being particularly typical of the Irish music. Here, in order to separate, for example, three G's of each other, very quickly the tone sequence GAGF # -G gripped by executing a Cut and a strike directly one after the other. Ornamented notes have no value and are embedded in the melodic line. This run quickly and safely, requires some practice and distinguishes the good tin whistle player.
The basics of Tin Whistle - game are easy to learn. That's why she was long considered a children's instrument. Only in the course of the Irish folk revival of the 1960s, she sat through as a stage instrument on a larger scale. Today, the tin whistle one of the most popular instruments in Ireland. It is sometimes used, especially in the genres of Irish folk music, folk generally, Kwela, as well as in the music of the medieval scene.