Tin whistle
The Tin Whistle , also Penny Whistle or Pocket Whistle , is a simple beaked flute with six finger holes that comes from the British Isles , where it has been known by this name since 1825. It is mainly used in Irish folk music and in the South African Kwela . English whistle means “ pipe ”, a short gap flute closed at the end without finger holes, and tin , “sheet metal”, describes the material of the flute tube. The mouthpiece is now mostly made of plastic. The Tin Whistle has a high, bright and clear sound, whereby the highest notes can sound shrill depending on the make. It developed from the (English) harmonics at the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century . Traditionally, the tin whistle is tuned in D major . They come in many other keys as well.
Forms and models
Many tin whistles 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. Besides there is still the classic models of Clarke in conical design of rolled tinplate ( tin ). Robert Clarke (1840–1882) from Manchester is the first industrial manufacturer of the Tin Whistle. These Clarke Whistles have been built almost unchanged since 1843 and represent the archetype of all tin whistles. They have a wooden stake in the mouthpiece, similar to a recorder. Flutes in use today are made of different materials (including sheet iron , brass, copper, particularly noble versions in silver, nickel silver or gold). Plastic (e.g. from Susato or Tony Dixon) and wood (e.g. Bleazey, Busman, Abell) are now popular, the latter in particular is often a sign of very high quality.
Low whistles
A special form of tin whistle is the low whistle . This is a particularly large and deeply 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 - mostly aluminum - e.g. B. from Overton, Chieftain, TWZ and Alba. However, instruments made partially or completely of wood or plastic are also available.
Playing technique
The tin whistle is played with the middle three fingers of both hands. The left hand covers the upper holes, the right hand the lower ones. When all holes are closed, the tonic is obtained . The big second results from the open bottom hole . The next interval results with every further opened hole.
Because it (unlike the recorder is no thumb hole), octave documents have (similar to the flute ) by over-blowing ( overblowing are played). The tin whistle is actually a diatonic instrument. Nonetheless, semitone steps that are not part of the ladder can also be created by only half closing the lowest covered tone hole. For some of these nuances there are also forked handles ( cross fingering ), which are usually easier to play than half-covered tone holes.
The standard range of a tin whistle is two octaves. Depending on the instrument and ability, up to two and a half or more octaves are possible.
A special feature of the Irish whistle game is that the notes are seldom struck with the tongue. Instead, the player uses different ornaments to separate the same notes from one another. The most important ornaments are the cut (a higher finger hole is opened very briefly), the strike (sometimes also called a pad or tap ; the next deeper finger hole is closed very briefly) and the roll , the latter being particularly typical of Irish music. In order to separate three G's from each other, for example, the tone sequence GAGF # -G is picked very quickly by performing a cut and a strike one after the other. Ornamented notes have no time value and are embedded in the melody. Doing this quickly and safely takes some practice and is a hallmark of a good tin whistle player.
The basics of tin whistle game are easy to learn. That's why it was considered a children's instrument for a long time. It was not until the Irish folk revival of the 1960s that it became established as a stage instrument on a larger scale. Today the tin whistle is one of the most popular folk instruments in Ireland . It is mainly used in the genres Irish Folk , Folk in general, Kwela and occasionally in the music of the medieval scene.
