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!

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    I teach a woodwind methods course at my university. This class (sometimes known as “woodwind techniques” or “class woodwinds”) is for music education majors. It’s a kind of crash course in the woodwind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone) in preparation for careers in school band directing. Here are some things I try to keep in mind when teaching it.

    • It’s a pedagogy course, not a performance course. Since my background is in performance, not music education, it’s tempting to veer off into the finer points of playing. But while hands-on experience with the instruments is crucial, the real goal here is that they are able to effectively teach beginning and intermediate students, which is a (somewhat) separate skill. Give your students lots of chances to practice their teaching.

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    • Keep it mission-critical. Mine is a one-semester course; some schools offer the luxury of spreading the woodwinds over several semesters. But even a semester for each instrument wouldn’t be nearly enough. Be disciplined about sticking to the most central, useful concepts. Knowing the early history and development of the oboe isn’t a bad thing, but it’s not critical to this course. Ditto for show-and-tell with the alto flute or sopranino saxophone, discussion of circular breathing and double-lip clarinet embouchure, and reedmaking. Be ruthless about cutting what are probably your favorite lectures—the more advanced, obscure ones.

    • Expect your students to forget everything. They can probably learn just enough clarinet fingerings to get through the test, but they will almost certainly forget them as soon as you hand them a bassoon. Gear your woodwind methods course activities toward broader skills like the ability to read a fingering chart, rather than short-term memorization of specifics.

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    photo, Peri Apex
    photo, Peri Apex

    Lightheadedness, inability to play long phrases, fuzzy tone, weak low register. These are products of a too-large aperture (the opening in your lips). Single-reed players tend to have a mental image of a relatively large clarinet or saxophone mouthpiece held in their embouchures. Think instead of the actual opening between the tip of the reed and the tip of the mouthpiece—this is much closer to the size of opening you need to create in your lips. (Think especially of a high-pitched instrument like a clarinet or soprano saxophone, and a mouthpiece with a narrow tip opening.) Or try this: close your lips and relax them as much as possible, then blow gently until a tiny “needle” of air pokes through the center of your lips. That’s how much smaller your aperture needs to be.

    Thin/shrill tone, weak low register. The saxophone uses a medium voicing, and the clarinet uses a high voicing, but the flute uses a very low voicing. (Flute doublers coming from a double reed instrument or even a brass instrument have an advantage here.) Keep your airstream very warm, even in the highest register, to give your tone depth.

    Uneven intonation and tone. If you are counting on similarities between flute fingerings and clarinet or saxophone fingerings, then you are likely committing a number of flute crimes. F-sharp uses the right third finger, not middle finger. And you must master the ballet between the left index finger and right pinky finger, especially in the transition from first to second octave. (If middle-finger F-sharp and a lazy right pinky sound fine to you, it’s because your tone production technique and tone concept aren’t well developed yet.)

    No dynamic control. The typical problem is loud third octave, medium-loud second octave, and very soft first octave. This is a sure sign that you are trying to change octaves by blowing harder or softer. Your “octave key” on the flute is your flexible, well-trained embouchure. Instead of cranking up to gale force for the higher octaves, try pushing gently forward with your lips. (As a side note, if you find in doubling situations that your embouchure is tense and swollen when switching from reeds to flute, that’s a sign that you are playing reeds with too much tension.)

    Sluggish technique. There are two main problems here that doublers bring to the table. The first is the habit of moving relatively large, heavy, stiffly-sprung keys. A flute’s keys are small, light, and move with a feather touch. The second issue is insecurity in holding the instrument. It can be hard for a beginner to get the instrument properly balanced (laziness about fingerings can contribute to this, too), and that will slow you down. If the flute keeps trying to roll out of your hands, rotate it a few degrees so the bulk of the keywork sits right on top of the instrument.

    Sight-reading disasters in the third octave. Flutists play way up in the ledger lines as a matter of course. If you want to hang in the flute section, it’s time to learn to read those notes fluently. Stumbling around above the staff is also a sign that you haven’t really payed your dues technique-wise yet: you’re getting by within the staff because the fingerings are similar enough to saxophone and clarinet, but above the staff is a different story. Practice your scales and arpeggios.

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  • Using electronic harmonization with woodwinds

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

    In a recent recital I performed my own arrangement of Ravel’s Boléro for multiple woodwinds soloist using electronics, with piano and snare drum. I used electronics to try to approximate some of Ravel’s harmonies (and timbres), and used what in my mind are three different techniques, which I’ll try to outline here.

    In performance, I used the BOSS GT-1000CORE guitar multi-effects unit to do most of the heavy lifting. I did find that it had difficulty tracking my flute playing (though, surprisingly, it did better with piccolo), so I used an Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork + to assist with that instrument in particular. I also used a BOSS SY-200 to try to create some non-woodwind tone colors. There are plenty of other equipment options that can achieve similar effects, but you’re on your own to read the manuals.

    All of this was done with a microphone rather than pickups, which was less complicated for quick instrument switches, but did make it difficult to get relatively isolated woodwind sounds into the electronics, which ultimately caused problems with the audibility of some of the electronic sounds.

    The warts-and-all live performance is available on my YouTube channel, but I’ll provide some clearer, isolated examples here. For rehearsal numbers in the orchestral score, I’m referring to the Durand Edition on IMSLP.

    Technique 1: parallel intervals

    At rehearsal mark 8 in the score, horn and celeste play the A theme in octaves, with two piccolos playing in parallel a perfect fifth and a major tenth above the celeste’s highest octave, perhaps in imitation of a pipe organ’s mixture stop.

    To achieve this harmony with electronics, I played the upper piccolo part “live,” and routed the piccolo’s sound into the GT-1000CORE where I split it into two separate signal paths. One got transposed down using a digital pitch shifter to create the second piccolo part. The other got transposed down to the melody pitch and split into octaves, then routed through the SY-200 to turn the sound into something vaguely celeste-like.

    Since the intervals are strictly parallel, this is a pretty straightforward use of pitch shifting: whatever note I play on the piccolo gets transposed to the specified intervals.

    Technique 2: smart harmonization

    At rehearsal mark 16, a thickly-orchestrated ensemble of woodwinds, brass, and strings plays the A theme in harmony. I opted to play this portion on soprano saxophone, thickened and harmonized with a synthesized string section.

    Since the harmony in this section is largely diatonic, I used the GT-1000CORE’s smart harmonizer. I added voices a diatonic fourth and diatonic sixth below in the key of G (like a first-inversion triad), which tracks with the notes in the first part of the theme. But there’s a moment in the first part that uses F-natural instead of F-sharp, and the second part of the melody uses F-naturals exclusively, so I used the unit’s footswitches to change to the key of C major as needed. I routed all of this through the SY-200 to change the three soprano saxophones into a string section sound, with the “live” soprano remaining audible in the room.

    For the key switching, I set one footswitch as a “momentary” switch, so it changes the key just while I’m pressing it, and another as a “toggle” switch, so I can press and release it and the key remains changed. This gives me some helpful options for live performance.

    Technique 3: smart harmonization with custom scales

    The smart harmonizer works well out of the box as long as you want to use notes of a major scale (or mode thereof), but at rehearsal mark 15 Ravel’s harmonization is more complicated than that. Luckily, the GT-1000CORE supports smart harmonization with custom “scales.” What this really means is that I can tell the unit that any time I play a certain pitch, it should add one or more pitches that I can specify arbitrarily. I can add whatever pitches I like to each note of the chromatic scale.

    I chose to play this section on clarinet, using the electronics to turn it into a 3-part clarinet section. During the first phrase, the melody pitches are harmonized in a consistent way: every time there’s a melody concert B-flat it’s harmonized with a G and an E, every time there’s a melody C it’s harmonized with an A and an F, every time there’s a melody E it’s harmonized with a C and a G, and so forth. I can just tell the effects unit which harmony notes to add to each melody note.

    But things change in the first half of the second phrase: melody B-flat is now harmonized with G and D, and C is now harmonized with A and E. To accommodate this I have to create a second custom “scale,” and use a footswitch to activate it at the right time. To finish the second phrase requires a third scale, engaged with another footswitch.

    Because of the flexibility of the custom scale system, I can recreate harmonies that use a variety of intervals. With a little analysis I can figure out where the scale changes need to be (basically anywhere a given melody pitch is harmonized in a new way).

    Additional thoughts

    There are some limitations to using pitch shifters and harmonizers, depending on your equipment. Each virtual pitch shifter and harmonizer in the GT-1000CORE can only add two voices, though by (virtually) splitting the audio signal into multiple paths and passing each through its own shifter/harmonizer I can build thicker chords.

    When trying to reproduce specific harmonies written by a composer, there may be some decisions to make to balance accuracy with practicality. Serendipitously, most of Ravel’s harmony translated fairly easily to the effects unit’s capabilities. But there were a few spots where I decided that certain chord voicings were close enough, and that I didn’t need to complicate things with one more custom scale plus the corresponding onstage footwork.

    As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m more interested in electronic effects that give my woodwinds new capabilities, like polyphony, than in just adding some distortion or echo (though those are also fun). Enjoy!

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