Nose flute (humanatone)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plastic nose flute
Inside of the same nasal flute
Nose flute made of wood
various nose flutes made of wood and plastic; the blue one is a Humanatone

The nasal flute is a simple musical instrument in which the airflow coming from the nose is diverted into the oral cavity. The pitch is, as in the pipes and the mouth drum generated by the change in the size of the oral cavity.

history

According to the sources on Noseflute.org, the first modern nasal flute is the "Nasalette" patented by William G. Carter in 1892. According to the sources, William Carter is said to have sold the patent quickly. The instruments that were built in the United States from 1903 or 1904 by James J. Stivers, who ran a wind instrument company in New York City , became better known. These have since been sold there under the brand name Humanatone . According to another source, the Humanatone existed before that. In any case, the company was founded and the brand name Humanatone was reserved .
According to all sources, the first nasal flutes were made of sheet metal; they have been made of plastic since the 1940s. A similar model is widespread in German-speaking countries, bearing the imprint Made in Germany and a swan as a distinguishing mark. In addition to the plastic nasal flutes, which (2014) cost between 1 and 2 euros, more expensive models made of wood are also offered.

Playing technique

The nasal flute is placed on the nose and over the mouth and either held in place with one hand or fastened with a strap. The open mouth encloses the lower opening of the nasal flute, no air must be able to escape from the side. The air exhaled through the nose is diverted into the oral cavity. By changing the size of the oral cavity, the pitch can be changed continuously. The range includes, depending on the player, 2 to sometimes even 3 octaves . The volume depends on the strength of the air flow. A vibrato can be produced but also by the movement of the hand by changing the air flow. Overall, the instrument is used in a rather humorous way.

Audio file / audio sample Sound of a plastic toy nose flute, 197 kB ? / i

Use in pop music

Occasionally, nose flutes are used in current pop music, for example the twelve-member Original Oberkreuzberg Nose Flute Orchestra , founded in 1991 : The Grind Choir , performed by Die Ärzte in a 5-minute mission on their Beyond the Limits of the Reasonable Tour , played exclusively with a nose flute and drums , published as part of the live DVD Die Band, which they called Horse , of the Ohrbooten , who use the nose flute as a melody instrument in some songs, and of Die Toten Hosen on their tour Machmalauter im Lied Sascha… an upright German .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The life and work of Schmids Carter , with extensive evidence, sponsorship certificate.
  2. ^ Decatur Daily Democrat (Indiana), September 22, 1903 .
  3. ↑ by the Slivers family
  4. ^ Bill Crow: From Birdland to Broadway: Scenes from a Jazz Life . Oxford University Press, New York 1992 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. ^ Eugene B. Bergmann: Excelsior, You Fathead !: The Art and Enigma of Jean Shepherd . New York 2005, ISBN 1-55783-600-0 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  6. ↑ Karin Schmidl: beeping cuddly red. In: Berliner Zeitung . December 7, 2005, accessed June 10, 2015 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Nose Flute  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • noseflute.org Blog (English), online since 2011. With (2014) approx. 650 articles and exhaustive information, images, copies of original documents, newspaper clippings