Tin whistle

The tin whistle, also called the whistle, pennywhistle, Irish whistle, or, anachronously, the flageolet, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. The Irish words for the instrument are feadóg ('whistle' or 'flute') or feadóg stáin ('tin whistle'); feadóga stáin is the plural. 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 woodwind instruments found in traditional music.

History

L.E. McCullough notes that the oldest surviving whistles date from the 12th century, but that, "Players of the feadan are also mentioned in the description of the King of Ireland's court found in the Brehon Laws dating from the 3rd century A.D." The names tin whistle and pennywhistle 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 Clarke?s whistles "produced a unique sound which, though attempts have been made to copy it, no-one has ever improved."

Related Topics:
Notes - Brehon Laws - Wales - United Kingdom - Robert Clarke - England - Norman Dannat - The Penny Whistle - The Clarke Tinwhistle Co

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While whistles have most often been produced in higher pitches, the "low" whistle is not unknown historically. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has in its collection an example of a 19th century low whistle from the famous Galpin collection. During the 1960s revival of traditional Irish music the popularity of the low whistle was boosted largely to the efforts of Bernard Overton.

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The whistle?s fingering system is the same as the six-hole, 'simple system' ("simple" in comparison to Boehm system flutes) used on baroque and folk flutes, and was of course well known before Robert Clarke began producing his tin whistles circa 1843.

Related Topics:
Boehm system - Baroque - Folk flutes

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