minstrel: Re: Low whistle (from German)

Fri Sep 25 12:54:25 PDT 1998

I had a coworker translate it.  His text follows:
------------
Funny – the first couple sections are found, in the original English, at the
bottom of the document. A chance to test my translation abilities!

The page it was translated from

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/2186/whistle.html

(Apparently the Gernam writer translated it from English!)
------------
History 

Introduction 

The Low Whistle with it's soulful and ethereal sound
captured in recent time a firm place in Irish music. It is a Tin
Whistle (" sheet metal flute ") with tone positions of A over middle C 
down to the D. The lower tone register (?) made an enlargement of the flutes
necessary. The flute fits outstanding modern composers such as Davy
Spillane, Bill Whelan or Maire Breathnach. In experienced hands it
plays beyond that also the traditional music of Ireland. The Low
Whistle is basically (?) a vertical " fipple " flute. The flute body is a
hollow tube with six flute holes. The flute body can be cylindrically
formed or conical with itself tapering end. The upper end of the flute
carries the mouthpiece. A channel in the mouthpiece, the " fipple ",
leads air to a gap in the page of the mouthpiece. In this way the tone
develops.

Although the Design of this instrument is simple and more
unspectacular, its voice is nevertheless as rich in variation as the Irish
music. 

Information about the history of the Low Whistles is meager. The
specification varies depending upon source. The following information
supplies some theories about the origin of this instrument.

The Low Whistle as an instrument in the 17. Century 

Due to it's form the Low Whistle was originally called the " vertical flute"
called. It is a descendant of the Fipple flutes, developed during the 16.
Century.
An example is the " baroque recorder ". The first Low Whistles took
over the conical flute body and the six holes of the early transverse
flutes. They were manufactured from wood and were not not tuneable (?).
 In the late 17. Century metals such as nickel and brass were used 
for the production of the Low Whistles. Usually the metal was rolled up
and soldered then. Some makers (?) inserted a tuning slide also. These
metal flutes spread in  the 18. Century. One found it in Ireland,
Great Britian, Canada and the United States. It is assumed that the
metal flutes were re-introduced into Irish music in the early 1970er years
by Finbar Furey. Some state, he coined the term Low Whistle for this type of
flute.

The Low Whistle as instrument 20. Century 

The Low Whistle is a recent find in the last (approx) 25 years;
it's acceptance in traditional music, to whatever degree it is accepted (?),
even shorter. Although recently occurring in Riverdance and other places
increased the attention on this
instrument, only few players regard the Low Whistle as a very useful
back-up for the traditional concert flutes or Tinwhistles. Quite generally
 they use the Low Whistle as a " special effects " instrument in
few selected pieces (there are some exceptional players nevertheless).
Many people seem to have the opinion(?), the Low Whistle is for the flute
player who would like to sound like a concert flute, without actually going
to the trouble to play a concert flute. This is not so.
The Low Whistle in the form developed by Bernard Overton 

The first Low Whistle was built by the English flutemaker Bernard
Overton, after Finbar Furey broke an old (not Irish) wood flute, which
he possessed. He was looking for the same soulful sound,
which a wood flute can bring out, but was however allegedly too lazy to
learn the " Irish " wooden flute. Colin S. Goldie and a
partner acquired the license and started manufacturing the flutes of Bernard
Overton in the 90's, who had gone into retirement. (since then the
instruments.) (????) 

 Thank you to Joseph Mulvanerty for permission to translate from his
PAGE " Whistling Low " into German. I took the liberty to make corrections
in regards the OVERTON Whistles.

history

Information regarding the low whistle's history is scarse. Different sources
make different
claims. The following information provides theories of the insturment's origin.

The low whistle as a 17th century instrument

The low whistle was first named 'vertical flute' for its form. It is a
descendant of fipple flutes developed during the
16th century, such as the baroque recorder. The first low whistles adopted
the conical bore and six hole design of
early transverse flutes. They were constructed of wood, and not tunable. In
the late 17th century, metals such as
nickel and brass were used to build low whistles. Usually the metal was
rolled and soldered. Some designs
incorporated a tuning slide. These metal vertical flutes were used through
the 1800's. They were found in Ireland,
Britain, Canada and United States. It is said metal vertical flutes were
reintroduced to Irish music in the early 1970's
by Finbar Furey. Some say he also coined the term 'low whistle' for the
instrument.

The low whistle as a 20th century instrument

The low whistle is a very recent (the last 25 years maybe) invention;
whatever level of acceptance in traditional
music it has gained is even more recent. While its recent widespread
exposure in "Riverdance" et al has done much
to increase the visability of the instrument, few players have found it a
very usable replacement for the traditional
roles of either flute or tinwhistle: generally speaking they use low whistle
as a "special effects" instrument on a few
selected tunes (though there are some exceptional players). Many people seem
to be under the impression that the
low whistle will allow a whistle player to sound like a flute without having
to do the work of actaully playing the
flute, which it will not.

Cliff Hoyt, Customer Service, Repairs, and Technical Support, House of
Musical Traditions

The low whistle as invented by Bernard Overton.

As far as I have been told, the first low whistle was made by Bernard
Overton (English flute maker) when Finbar
Furey broke an old (non-Irish) wooden flute he had and liked very much. He
was looking for ther same haunting
sound a wooden flute can produce, when alledgedly was too lazy to learn the
'Irish' wooden side-flute. It has been
since then copied by Walton's (Dublin) but abandonned, plus other makes.

>
>From: Robin <rhayes at powerup.com.au>
>Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 21:59:25 +1000
>Subject: minstrel: Low Whistles in period (text in German)
>
>At the following address
>http://www.overton.co.uk/texte/Geschichte.html
>
>is a page in German about the "Low Whistle" i.e. whistles an octave lower
>than the normal penny whistle pitch. You may be interested in particular in
>the paragraph "Die Low Whistle als Instrument des 17. Jahrhunderts", which
>refers to the C17.
>
>Part of the site is translated into English, but this part is only in
>German - perhaps they haven't had time to do so, and would appreciate the
>return text of a translation. While I can read every other odd word in
>German....
>
>[Babbel] ...and Greman has some odd words indeed...
>[Quibbel] ... who be this Greman chap?
>[Battel] Pesky Printer's Demon!
>
>...I can't produce a quality enough translation for any useful purpose for
>anybody else... if anyone can translate and kick it back either to me or
>the list it would be appreciated.
>
>~~~~~~~
>Geschichte
>
>Einf=FChrung
>
>Die Low Whistle mit ihrem schwerm=FCtigen und =E4therischen Klang hat sich i=
>n
>j=FCngster Zeit einen festen Platz in der irischen Musik erobert. Es ist ein=
>e
>Tin Whistle ("Blechfl=F6te") mit Tonlagen von A =FCber mittleres C bis runte=
>r
>zum D. Der untere Tonbereich machte eine Vergr=F6=DFerung der Fl=F6ten notwe=
>ndig.
>Die Fl=F6te pa=DFt hervorragend zu modernen Komponisten wie Davy Spillane, B=
>ill
>Whelan oder Maire Breathnach. In ge=FCbten H=E4nden spielt sie dar=FCber hin=
>aus
>auch die traditionelle Musik Irlands. Die Low Whistle ist im Grunde eine
>vertikale "fipple" Fl=F6te. Der Fl=F6tenk=F6rper ist eine hohle R=F6hre mit =
>sechs
>Fl=F6tenl=F6chern. Der Fl=F6tenk=F6rper kann zylindrisch geformt sein oder k=
>onisch
>mit sich verj=FCngendem Ende. Das obere Ende der Fl=F6te tr=E4gt das Mundst=
>=FCck.
>Ein Kanal im Mundst=FCck, das "fipple", leitet die Luft zu einem Spalt in de=
>r
>Seite des Mundst=FCcks. Auf diese Weise entsteht der Ton.=20
>
>Obwohl das Design dieses Instruments simpel und unspektakul=E4r ist, ist
>seine Stimme doch so variantenreich wie die irische Musik selbst.=20
>
>Informationen =FCber die Geschichte der Low Whistles sind sp=E4rlich. Die
>Angaben variieren je nach Quelle. Die folgenden Informationen liefern
>einige Theorien =FCber den Ursprung dieses Instruments.=20
>=A0=20
>
>Die Low Whistle als Instrument des 17. Jahrhunderts
>
>Aufgrund ihrer Form wurde die Low Whistle urspr=FCnglich "Vertical flute"
>genannt. Sie ist ein Abk=F6mmling der Fipple flutes, die w=E4hrend des 16.
>Jahrhunderts entstanden. Ein Beispiel ist der "barock recorder". Die ersten
>Low Whistles =FCbernahmen den konischen Fl=F6tenk=F6rper und die sechs=
> L=F6cher der
>fr=FChen Querfl=F6ten. Sie wurden aus Holz gefertigt und waren nicht tune-ba=
>r.
>Im sp=E4ten 17. Jahrhundert wurden Metalle wie Nickel und Messing zur
>Herstellung der Low Whistles verwendet. F=FCr gew=F6hnlich wurde das Metall
>eingerollt und dann verl=F6tet. Einige Ausf=FChrungen bauten ein tuning-slid=
>e
>mit ein. Diese Metallfl=F6ten waren im 18. Jahrhundert verbreitet. Man traf
>sie in Irland, Gro=DFbritanien, Kanada und den Vereinigten Staaten an. Es
>wird angenommen, da=DF die Metallfl=F6ten in den fr=FChen 1970er Jahren durc=
>h
>Finbar Furey wieder in die irische Musik eingef=FChrt wurden. Einige
>behaupten, er habe den Begriff Low Whistle f=FCr diesen Typ von Fl=F6te=
> gepr=E4gt.=20
>=A0=20
>
>Die Low Whistle als Instrument des 20. Jahrhunderts
>
>Die Low Whistle ist eine noch junge Erfindung der ca. letzten 25 Jahre;
>ihre Akzeptanz in der traditionellen Musik, zu welchem Grad auch immer,
>liegt sogar noch k=FCrzer zur=FCck. Obwohl das j=FCngste Auftreten in Riverd=
>ance
>und anderen Veranstaltungen die Aufmerksamkeit vermehrt auf dieses
>Instrument gelenkt hat, sehen nur wenige Spieler die Low Whistle als einen
>sehr brauchbaren Ersatz f=FCr die traditionellen Konzertfl=F6ten oder
>Tinwhistles an. Ganz allgemein gesagt nutzen sie die Low Whistle als ein
>"special effects" Instrument bei wenigen ausgew=E4hlten St=FCcken ( dennoch
>gibt es einige au=DFergew=F6hnliche Spieler). Viele Leute scheinen den Eindr=
>uch
>zu haben, die Low Whistle w=FCrde es dem Fl=F6tenspieler erlauben wie eine
>Konzertfl=F6te zu klingen, ohne die M=FChe tats=E4chlich eine Konzertfl=F6te=
> zu
>spielen. Dem ist nicht so.=20
>=A0=20
>
>Die Low Whistle in ihrer von Bernard Overton entwickelten Form
>
>Die erste Low Whistle wurde von dem englischen Fl=F6tenmacher Bernard Overto=
>n
>gebaut, nachdem Finbar Furey eine alte (nicht irische) Holzfl=F6te, die er
>besa=DF, zerbrach. Er suchte nun nach dem gleichen schwerm=FCtigen Sound, de=
>n
>eine Holzfl=F6te hervorbringen kann, war aber angeblich zu faul, um die
>"irische" h=F6lzerne Seitfl=F6te zu lernen. Anfang der 90=B4er Jahre haben C=
>olin
>S. Goldie und ein Partner gemeinsam die Lizenz zum Bau der Fl=F6ten von
>Bernard Overton, welcher in Pension ging,=A0 erworben und stellen seitdem di=
>e
>Instrumente her.=20
>=A0=20
>=A0=20
>Vielen Dank an Joseph Mulvanerty f=FCr die Erlaubnis aus seiner Page
>"Whistling Low" ins deutsche zu =DCbersetzen. Ich habe mir erlaubt,
>Korrekturen vorzunehmen soweit es um die OVERTON Whistles ging.=20
>
>~~~~~~~
>
>Robin
>still strugglibg with The Fooles Troupe...
>
>rhayes at powerup.com.au
>http://www.powerup.com.au/~rhayes/index.htm
>Author of The Virtual Fooles Troupe
>http://www.powerup.com.au/~rhayes/vfoolshm.htm
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Corrie Bergeron			 	corrie at tro.com				
Senior PLATO Courseware Designer, TRO Learning	www.tro.com 
President, Intra-Active Designs			www.itasca.net/~corrie/iad.htm
All-around neat guy		corrie at itasca.net	www.itasca.net/~corrie 

"Short term memory don't mean a thing when you've lost your mind" - Ellis
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