Getting started with ethnic woodwinds: your holiday wish list

ByBret Pimentel

I’ve got ethnic woodwinds on the brain lately, and no end in sight since they are the topic of my doctoral dissertation research. If you haven’t added any ethnic instruments to your arsenal yet, here’s what I recommend for a relatively easy to play, low-maintenance, inexpensive, and versatile beginning to your collection.

1. Pennywhistles by Susato.

There are two schools of thought as far as what kind of pennywhistles are best. Some players swear by inexpensive whistles (of which Generation whistles are the quintessential example), because of their traditional, breathy sound. The disadvantage of these is inconsistency—you may have to play quite a few before you find one that plays in tune and responds well throughout its range. The advantage of these is that they are cheap, often under $10.

The other school of thought favors expensive, handmade whistles. These tend to play well in tune, respond well, and otherwise behave like a fine musical instrument should. They are also available in a wide variety of materials and styles to suit your taste. My favorites are the brass whistles by Michael Burke. But, of course, such craftsmanship comes at a price, from maybe $100-$400, or more for some rare and desirable whistles that aren’t in production anymore.

The plastic whistles by Susato are an excellent compromise for the serious musician on a budget. Here’s what I like about them:

  • They have a pleasing tone, though some players complain that their sound is too “recordery”—a little more complex than some whistles.
  • They play dead-on in tune, and are available in either tunable or non-tunable versions. The non-tunable are perfect if you know you’re going to play at A=440; personally I choose the tunable “Kildare” models.
  • They are available in any key you want. This is huge overkill for Irish traditional music, but a real lifesaver for the woodwind doubler who might be asked to play something very non-traditional. Some keys are also available in more than one bore diameter, with the narrower bores giving a sweeter tone and the wider bores having a little more power.
  • They are reasonably loud, which some trad players dislike but which suits most woodwind doubling situations.
  • They’re quite inexpensively priced, between $30-$80 for the tunable versions and less for the non-tunable.

While I maintain collections of both “cheap” and “expensive” whistles, the Susatos are ideal for the situation when you need a whistle in an odd key, need it to play reliably in tune, and need it quickly without a large outlay of cash.

If you’re buying your first whistle, get one in “D.” I would suggest the Kildare small bore. Second and third whistles, probably one in C, then one in low D.

2. Recorders by Aulos or Yamaha.

While the recorder isn’t really an “ethnic” instrument, it should be at the center of every ethnic-woodwind player’s collection. The smaller recorders (soprano/descant and sopranino) work very well for evoking a medieval or Renaissance sound, and the alto/treble is a major voice of the Baroque period. Since they are fully chromatic instruments, they can also serve in a pinch when you don’t have a pennywhistle in the right key, or otherwise need a generic ethnic-sounding instrument that can do what a chromatic instrument does.

The finest recorders are handmade from expensive woods, and might cost several thousand dollars. But there are plastic instruments that give all but the most expensive recorders a run for their money, at a tiny fraction of the price. My personal favorites are by Aulos, and are replicas of Baroque instruments by Richard Haka. I recommend the slightly more expensive versions with the faux woodgrain, which dramatically improves their appearance but also adds a slight texture that makes them easier to hold. The soprano can be had for under $40, and the alto for under $60. I like the Aulos instruments for their complex, reedy tone which works well for solo playing, especially if you’re interested in tackling some authentic Baroque solo repertoire. The comparably-priced 300-series recorders by Yamaha are, to my ears, more pure-toned, and maybe a better choice for ensemble playing.

3. Flutes by Doug Tipple.

I’m a big fan of these transverse flutes made by Doug Tipple. They are made from regular hardware-store variety PVC pipe, but they are seriously playable instruments, and have even been used in Broadway productions of “Tarzan” and “The Lion King.” In a blind test, I think these can easily pass for wooden or bamboo flutes, with the advantages of tunability, stable pitch, and consistent response.

The “Tipple-Fajardo wedge” is a nice touch, and for a few extra dollars makes a nice improvement to pitch in the second octave (which is otherwise a problem with cylindrical flutes). Mr. Tipple also makes available an optional lip plate, which apparently makes the tone more like a thicker-walled wooden flute; personally I skip this option since I’ve got wooden flutes and I like the Tipple flutes for their slightly more rustic sound. Additional options are to have the flute made with a joint between the left and right hands and to have the bell end extended (the “eight-hole” flute). These are only necessary if you prefer the ability to adjust the hand position for comfort or like the balance of a longer flute.

The Tipple flutes are available in almost every key (no B flute—maybe if you asked nicely?) at prices ranging from $55-$85. Start with a low D model if you don’t already have bamboo or wooden flutes.

Happy holidays!

Similar Posts

  • A woodwind player’s introduction to: recorders

    ByBret Pimentel

    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

    For a “modern” woodwind player, recorders might show up in “period” classical music performance or in commercial situations like musical theater or studio gigs. They might be used in commercial settings to evoke Renaissance or Baroque periods, to function generically as “world” or folk flutes with robust chromatic capabilities, or (maybe due to their association with elementary school classroom music) to suggest themes of childhood or naivete.

    The use of recorders in classroom settings is an odd one, as something like a pennywhistle has a similar just-blow “fipple” (duct) mouthpiece and a much simpler fingering scheme. The effort required to play recorders fluently and convincingly shouldn’t be underestimated.

    Here are some important things to know:

    • While the finest recorders are usually made of wood, there are high-quality and relatively inexpensive ones made of plastic that are quite playable. The top-of-the-line plastic ones made by Yamaha and Aulos are well worth considering, at least as a starting point.
    • The alto (“treble”) recorder is the primary instrument of Baroque repertoire, with a solo range similar to the Baroque flute. The soprano (“descant”) is the one used in elementary classrooms.
    • Recorders are available in “modern” pitch (A=440 or similar) and in various historical pitches, which may be required for playing with period ensembles.
    • Recorders are often misunderstood as being in the “keys” of C or F. This isn’t quite the same thing as, say, clarinets in B-flat and E-flat, since properly-written recorder parts are always written in concert pitch (sometimes with octave displacements). Rather than learning one set of fingerings and reading from transposed parts, recorder players learn two different sets of fingerings, and may read in multiple clefs. (I’ve written more about this in a previous post.) However, some composers and orchestrators get this wrong, and transpose parts for “F” recorders as they would for F horns.
    • Recorders require much less breath than “modern” woodwinds. Like most fipple flutes, they don’t have much dynamic range, since blowing harder tends to cause sharpness or unwanted leaps into the upper registers.
    • The recorder’s left-hand thumbhole functions as an octave vent (this feature distinguishes the recorders from pennywhistles and other fipple flutes). The thumb octave vent helps balance the volume of the upper and lower registers, and gives the player some agility for moving between them.
    • Recorders respond best to a low, open voicing.
    • Vibrato may be produced on recorders using the breath-pulse technique used on modern flutes and double reeds. It can also be done with flattement, a microtonal trill technique common in the Baroque period.
    • There are many historical and modern method books available for recorders; I like Walter Van Hauwe’s The Modern Recorder Player (in three volumes) as a good introduction that assumes a strong musical background.

  • Bassoon F-sharp fingerings

    ByBret Pimentel

    I recently set out to try to make sense of the handful of bassoon high F-sharp fingerings that I was aware of. As it turns out, I had no idea what I was getting into. I looked at a number of online and offline sources, and ended up with about 60 fingerings (yes, you read that correctly). I have compiled them into a document for your reading pleasure, with sources listed.

    A few points:

    • The sorting is fairly arbitrary; I tried to organize them into groups and orders that made some kind of sense to me. The indications “Legato” and “French” come from the venerable Cooper/Toplansky book; the rest are my own.
    • The numbering is strictly for convenience.
    • I mostly omitted fingerings that seemed to be specifically for individual trills.
    • Many of the sources indicated pitch characteristics; I have not included these since so much depends on the individual instrument, reed, etc. If you are looking for a good fingering for pitch alteration, there are plenty here for you to try out.
    • Some of the authors differentiated between half-hole, one-third-hole, etc. I have normalized all of these with a visual half-hole representation, since I find the exact amount of opening to require experimentation anyway.
    • I did try all these fingerings myself, and was able to produce approximately an F-sharp with virtually all of them, with varying degrees of difficulty.

    I welcome corrections, and would be mildly curious if you have other good published or otherwise reputable sources (not anecdotes) that list fingerings I have missed here. I will update the PDF as needed. I’m much less interested in hearing which fingering is your personal favorite, unless you have something more to contribute to the conversation, but some of you will email me or leave it in the comments anyway.

    Okay, on to the list. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here:
    F-sharp fingerings for bassoon: a perhaps-unnecessarily-comprehensive listing

    Version 1.0: initial release

  • Creating fingering charts with diagrams from the Fingering Diagram Builder

    ByBret Pimentel

    My Fingering Diagram Builder has been around for a little over five years now. I was careful to name it the Fingering Diagram Builder instead of the Fingering Chart Builder because it is a tool for creating individual diagrams, not for assembling them into comprehensive fingering charts. But the difference can be a little confusing, so I get frequent questions from users who complain that they can’t figure out how to create and download a “chart” with multiple fingerings on it.

    The reason I didn’t try to build a complete system for creating fingering charts is that I assumed users would have widely-varying needs, and would do better to assemble charts using some other kind of software. Here are a few examples of how that might be done, using music notation software, using a word processor, and using a text editor to create HTML code (such as for a website). All the software I’m using here is free to download on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, but whatever free or commercial programs you are already using probably have similar features. You’re on your own to work out the details (and feel free to share them in the comments if you are feeling helpful).

    Creating a fingering chart in music notation software

    I am using MuseScore here, but commercial software like Finale and Sibelius and other free software like LilyPond could be used in similar ways.

    First I set up a musical “score” with the notes for the chart. I used whole notes, separated by double bar lines, but that’s up to you.

    MuseScore setup

    Next I created my fingering diagrams in the FDB. I sized the diagrams “tiny” with “thick” lines.

    Adding the diagrams to the score is very simple in MuseScore—I just dragged the downloaded diagrams from my file manager right onto the score. If I drag the diagram and hover it on top of a note, that note gets highlighted. Then I can release the diagram and it attaches to the note.

    musescore-drop

    Initially the diagrams are placed right on top of the note. I selected the diagrams and used the Inspector panel to give them a horizontal offset of -2.5sp and a vertical offset of -10.5 sp, which moved them above the staff, more or less centered above the noteheads. I adjusted the A and tenor B-flat fingerings’ horizontal offsets a bit more to make them look just right.

    Here is the finished product, a small chart with a few bassoon fingerings:

    bassoon-fingering-chart-sample

    Creating a fingering chart in word processing software

    I am using LibreOffice Writer, but something like Microsoft Word or Apple Pages would work just as well.

    First I opened a new document and inserted a table. My table has three rows and seven columns.
     writer-table

    Then I dragged the downloaded diagrams from my file manager into the bottom row of the table.

    writer-diagrams

    I merged some cells together, dragged in some images of notes on staves, and added some text.

    writer-complete

    A few more little tweaks and here is the finished chart:

    clarinet-fingering-chart-sample

    Creating an HTML fingering chart in text editing software

    This code be used in any text editor or HTML source editor, and of course similar results could be accomplished with a visual/WYSIWYG editor. I’m not showing complete code here, just the most relevant parts.

    I started with a framework for a table that I could use to show a note with two alternate fingerings. (This is a flute fingering chart with horizontally-oriented diagrams. For an instrument with vertically-oriented diagrams, you may want to rearrange things a bit.)

    <table>
  <tr>
    <th rowspan=2><!— note image here —></th>
    <td><!— first fingering image here —></td>
    <td><!— first fingering text here —></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><!— second fingering image here —></td>
    <td><!— second fingering text here —></td>
  </tr>
</table>

    Then I plugged in <img> tags and text:

    <table>
  <tr>
    <th rowspan=2><img src="images/f-sharp-note.png" /></th>
    <td><img src="images/f-sharp-standard.png"</td>
    <td>Standard</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="images/f-sharp-trill.png"</td>
    <td>Trill from E</td>
  </tr>
</table>

    I duplicated that code for additional notes. Since this is a sample alternate/trill fingering chart, each note has at least two fingerings. For notes with more fingerings, I added <tr>s and changed the rowspan values accordingly.

    I also added a little CSS to spruce things up:

    <style>
  table {
    display: inline-block; /* make tables wrap gracefully depending on screen width */
    margin: 1em; /* put some space between tables for legibility/clarity */
  }
  th img {
    max-width: 8em; /* manage size of note images */
  }
</style>

    Here is the result:

    flute-fingering-chart-sample

    I hope that sparks a few ideas for you if you are considering putting together a fingering chart. If you have other methods or tips, please share in the comments section!

  • Being a beginner on your doubles

    ByBret Pimentel

    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

    I’ve mentioned often on this blog the idea of “being a beginner” on your woodwind doubles. Here’s what I mean by that.

    When I was a college saxophone major just starting to get serious about doubling, I arranged to take some flute lessons one summer. At my first-ever flute lesson, the teacher told me she knew that I was an accomplished saxophonist already (a generous assessment) and therefore wouldn’t need much more than some instruction on embouchure. That made sense to me, so she sent me away with my first repertoire assignment: a Mozart concerto. Read More “Being a beginner on your doubles”

  • Evaluating reeds

    ByBret Pimentel
    Photo, chelseagirl

    There are three things to consider when evaluating a reed. I consider these same factors for either single or double reeds, and prioritize them in this order.

    1. Response. The overriding concern for me is that the reed responds exactly as I expect it to. A reed that is stiff, sluggish, stuffy, or otherwise unresponsive isn’t a good reed (at least in its current state), even if it “has a good sound” or whatever. Many reed players, I believe, are consistently using reeds that are overly stiff, often in the name of “good” tone.
    2. Stability. This is the flip side of the coin from response; a reed that is too responsive is uncontrollable. (Think of the gas pedal and brake in a car: unresponsive pedals make the car feel lethargic, but overly responsive ones make for a jerky ride.) With an unstable reed, it’s hard to play in tune, hard to control dynamics, and hard to keep the tone consistent.
    3. Tone. Once I’ve selected a reed that has the right balance between response and stability, I evaluate the reed’s contribution to tone quality. Remember that the reed is only one of many factors that affect tone, and that tone is relatively easy to manipulate if the reed is responsive and stable. Resist the temptation to rank your reeds based on their tone alone.

  • What kind of ligature should I get?

    ByBret Pimentel

    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

    I’m on record as believing that clarinet and saxophone ligatures make little if any actual difference in how you sound. You’re welcome to disagree, but you might want to watch Michael Lowenstern’s video about it first.

    So, assuming the ligature has little direct influence on sound, what is the best kind to buy?

    Consider the humble fabric-type ligature:

    Fabric-type clarinet and saxophone ligatures

    They can be made of fabric or various other flexible materials. Fake-leather materials are popular.

    Here are their advantages over most other ligatures:

    • Generally inexpensive, although there are pricier versions available if paying more makes you feel better

    • Relatively easy to fit to even unusual mouthpieces and reeds, since they are flexible

    • Durable: I still have and use one I bought in high school

    • Not easily damaged: can be dropped, stepped on, or otherwise battered with little if any ill effect

    • Won’t dig into or otherwise damage reeds or mouthpieces

    • More expensive than an actual shoelace, but quicker and easier to install

    • Ambidextrous: many of the popular inexpensive ones can be switched for left- or right-handed screw tightening

    • Usually just one screw to tighten, so 50% less tightening/loosening time than the many other kinds of ligatures that have two screws

    • Available: no waiting lists or custom-building, easily purchaseable from just about any brick-and-mortar or online band-instrument retailer

    I have a number of fancy and expensive ligatures that various teachers required I buy over the years of my education, including some plated in actual gold. They don’t outperform my fabric-type ones in any meaningful way. You may still see them in my performance videos, etc., as I am still trying to get my money’s worth out of them. When they break or wear out, I’ll replace them cheaply and easily with good reliable fabric ones.

    Get a good, reliable, no-nonsense ligature to hold your reed in place, and happy practicing!

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  2. Pingback: What is World Music? A Beginner's Guide | Hannah B Flute

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