My Whistles

Finally a photograph of my Irish whistle collection! (well, short of one though as it's been lent to a friend).

From left to right:

1. Walton's C
2. Walton's D
3. Feadog Brass C
4. Feadog Brass D
5. Feadog Pro (Nickle D)
6. Generation Brass Bb
7. Generation Brass C
8. Generation Brass D
9. Generation Brass Eb
10. Dixon Trad Brass D
11. Clarke Sweetone C
12. Clarke Sweetone D
13. Clarke Meg C
14. (Not in picture) Clarke Meg D
15. Clarke Original C
16. Clarke Original D

My favourites are 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 :).

Making the Khaen

I have one of these! (albeit a small one)

I Love My Azumi

I'd like to mess with people and tell them I have a Japanese girlfriend, but too bad most of them already know I was going to get a flute. Well, here's the actual piece, played by the lady who sold it to me (she plays much better than me, of course). Susan took the time to record a flute test for me and answered a load of my questions, and it was great doing business with her! I wasn't planning to get a flute till the end of the year, but 2nd hand Azumis in good condition are rare (actually 2nd hand Azumis are rare to start with), so after some prayer and consideration, I decided to go for it. It's a lovely flute. You can visit Susan's website at http://flutastic.com/. She's got a bunch of other instruments for sale. No more Azumis at this point of writing though.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the video:

Handmade Bamboo Flutes

Quena Headjoint for Boehm Flute??

Ok. This must be the strangest thing I've seen recently, and yet it makes me go: "Now why didn't I think of it?" The end-blown headjoint at 1:00 of the video is from the South American quena flute. Makes me wonder what other types of headjoints can be attached to a Boehm flute. How about the Chinese bawu flute head, or some single or double reeds? Hmm...



In case you're interested in getting a quena headjoint, here's where you can get it: http://www.educci.de/gb_index.html

Eigenharp

If you think this is a guitar fingerboard with a mouthpiece, think again. Those are not frets and strings. Those are keys! Check this new instrument out at http://www.eigenlabs.com/!

I Want One of These!! (the flute, I mean)

Super Lightweight Boehm Flutes

I wanted to say 'plastic', but nobody knows the secret formula composite material used to make these things. It's called Grenaditte, and it looks and feels like some kind of polymer. I came across them while paying a music school a visit (which happens to be the only place in Singapore that sells Irish whistles, but only Susatos).

It took a bit of searching, but I finally found some information (and videos!) of these flutes on the web. Check 'em out!





Grenaditte Flute Review @ Chiff and Fipple: http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewtopic.php?p=657112

Oh, and I'm told they retail for over $2000 SGD. They're good flutes, I'm told, but I don't have enough experience to appreciate them yet.

DidgeriFlutes?

People have asked me before if didgeridoos can play different tones. Well, I guess they can if you consider the hoots as a different tone. In fact if you're a brass player you may be able to get several tones by tightening your lips more when you blow. But that's not how you play the didge anyway. They are essentially monotone instruments - until now.

Introducing the Didj Flute!

Created by Marko Johnson, these modified didgeridoos have tone holes! Well, actually they are Didjboxes (also his creations) with tone holes. Didjboxes are compact didgeridoos (I have no idea how he makes them to have that low pitch at such a size. Maybe he winds the air column inside the box).

Anyway, so as to not keep you waiting, here's the link:

http://www.didjbox.com/flute.php

And here are some sound samples:

http://www.didjbox.com/soundclips.php

There-What??

Theremin! Sounds like some vitamin or mineral? Think again. It's a musical instrument that I just got to know about from a friend. Not your conventional instrument with pipes, strings, skins or those things. It's more like air guitar - with sound! (not guitar sound of course) Or maybe a better description would be making music on TV antennae. And to think it was invented in 1920!

Check out the following post on Wikipedia and the YouTube video!

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin

Do You Kazoo?

Haven't been blogging for a really long time (except for my art blog). I finally managed to take photographs of all of my musical instruments. Unfortunately some of them turned out blur and would need some reshoots. But for those that are sharp enough, they'll go on the blog first.

Today, I'd like to introduce one of my toys. Well, I consider it a toy rather than a serious instrument (though there are probably some who would beg to differ). It's called a Kazoo, and it's a type of wind instrument. These things are available in Singapore. At least a couple of shops in Bras Basah sell them for just a couple of dollars.

Construction
The body of the Kazoo is conical, and open at both ends. In the middle is a resonator where there is a membrane covering a hole, somewhat like the membrane hole on the Chinese bamboo flute (dizi). This gives the Kazoo its buzzing sound.

Playing Method
If you blow into the Kazoo, you get.... NO SOUND! That's right. You don't blow into the thing. You have to vocalize. That means you hum, sing, or speak. There has to be some sound (coming from your voice box) for the Kazoo to work with. So vocalize into the end with the bigger hole. It's that simple

Videos
Check these videos out!

How to Play the Kazoo


Somewhere Over the Rainbow on the Kazoo


More information on the Kazoo can be obtained from Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazoo

How to Play the Shofar

The Shofar - Expanded

My earlier post about the shofar was the third video clip in a series of 3. I found the earlier 2 clips, so here they are again - all 3 of them:







If you prefer to see the entire series of clips without breaks, you can do so here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe3V4t7D8zM&feature=related

Disclaimer: The author of this blog doesn't necessarily share the views expressed in the video clips

Little Geese and Dragon's Eggs

Animals in my music blog?? Not really. In fact the instruments described here are not related to animals at all. They're what are commonly known as Ocarinas - enclosed clay wind instruments with holes.

Wikipedia tells us: The word ocarina is derived from Italian meaning "little goose." Don't ask me why.

Ocarinas are ancient instruments that, like flutes and panpipes, seem to have existed in cultures all over the world for centuries (or perhaps even millenia!). The Chinese have theirs, the Europeans have theirs, the Mesoamericans have theirs. Today I'll introduce a few that I have.

my ocarina collection

The Little Goose

When we use the word 'ocarina', what comes to mind most readily is the kind with a mouthpiece that resembles a whistle. The Chinese call it the "tao di" (陶笛).

Such ocarinas come in all shapes and sizes. Lots of them come in animal shapes too. It's up to the creativity of the maker.

I own 6 ocarinas of this type. The first is a plastic one I bought from Yamaha at Plaza Singapura (the yellow one). It's a 10-hole instrument. I think the piece I got wasn't too well made as some parts don't have a good seal (it's made in 2 halves joined together).

Clay ocarina

The second one is a clay handmade piece made by my friend's uncle who's a potter. It's a nice piece of pottery with interesting texture and a glazed mouthpiece. It's not tuned very well though, and probably needs some tweaking to sound better.

Fish-shaped ocarina from Eastern Europe

The third one is one that a friend of mine purchased for me in Eastern Europe. It's made of red clay and shaped in a piece. This unfortunate one was the victim of my carelessness when I accidentally swept it off my desk and shattered it to pieces. I've since glued the pieces back together, but I think it leaks air and doesn't sound as it once did...

TaoDi

The other 3 are Chinese TaoDi. Two of them were made by a famous ocarina shop in Taiwan. My friends who visited Taipei got them for me. They are 6-holed ocarinas. The last one was given by someone else and made elsewhere.


The Dragon's Egg


It doesn't take a genius to guess why this ocarina is referred to as a dragon's egg. Apart from the shape, it originates from a culture where dragons are symbols of power and good fortune - the Middle Kingdom, China.

This ocarina is known as a Xun (埙). Unlike the TaoDi, it is edge-blown and doesn't have a mouthpiece. You play it the same way you blow across a bottle opening to get a sound.

I bought this Xun at a roadshow in a shopping mall during Chinese New Year a few years back. It has lovely carvings of carp. Paid $50 SGD for it. It's more an ornamental piece than a musical instrument though. While playable, it's not tuned well.

Listen to the Xun here!

Note: You can probably make ocarinas of this type using ostrich or emu eggs. I've seen instructions on this in a library book on making your own musical instruments. That set of instructions included making a fipple (mouthpiece) for the ocarina.

Make Your Own Instruments (Part 1)!!

I decided to try making my own PVC pipe didgeridoo just a few days back. It's probably one of the simplest instruments to make, being just a simple cylinder. But if you're more adventurous, the possibilities are almost limitless! Here are some things I found on the web about making your own instruments:

Let's start with some inspiration:



Here are some interesting sites:

• http://www.philtulga.com/Didgeridoo.html - Didgeritubes?? Where did they get that from? A cross between a panpipe and several didgeridoos!
• http://www.philtulga.com/Panpipes.html - Panpipes - something more conventional
• http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~dl1s-ymgc/tsukur-e.htm - Yokobue - Some kind of Japanese flute
• And a whole load of other odd homemade instruments at http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/. This is the guy behind the video above. Hard to read cos it's all in Courier font, but with detailed instructions.
  

Didge Your Way To A Good Night's Sleep - Why I want to learn to play the Didgeridoo

Sounds weird? Well, maybe not! A medical journal published a paper several years ago documenting the benefits of didgeridoo playing in managing certain sleep disorders!

I have a family history of sleep apnoea (American: apnea). People with this condition tend to snore, and their airways get blocked when they are in deep sleep. When the airway gets blocked, the body wakes itself up. Usually the sleeper isn't aware of this. Nevertheless it results in interrupted sleep and tiredness throughout the day. Treatment for sleep apnoea can range from operations (which may provide only temporary relief, and are very expensive) or some other expensive sleep equipment, none of which I can afford.

Welcome to Didgeridoo playing! Here's an excerpt from an article in ABC News Online dated 23 Dec 2005:

Researchers in Switzerland have examined 25 patients who suffered from snoring and moderate obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, both common sleep disorders.

Half the group were given daily lessons in playing the didgeridoo.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal's online edition, found those who played the wind instrument over a four-month trial period saw a significant improvement in their daytime sleepiness and apnoea.

Their partners also reported less disturbance from snoring.

The researchers said training the upper airways through the breathing techniques required to play the didgeridoo was behind the improvement.

Here's the link to the article: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200512/s1537218.htm

An operation or one of those sleep machines could cost thousands of dollars. Didgeridoo lessons are about $30 and hour. Learn for a month (at $120) and you can practice circular breathing on your own after that. You do the math.

And oh, did I mention you get to learn a new musical instrument along the way?

The Shofar

This is an instrument that has deep religious significance. The Shofar, or Ram's Horn, is used by the Jews in their worship. In the past it was also used in battle. One such usage was in the famed battle of Jericho where God ordered the blast of the shofar prior to leveling the walls of the fortified city.

Info on the Shofar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shofar

When It's All Been Said and Done with Irish Whistle and Uilleann Pipes

We've been singing this song When It's All Been Said and Done at my church for a while now. I did a search on Youtube for the song and found this one performed by Don Moen and another musician. The other musician played the Irish Whistle and Uilleann Pipes (Irish bagpipes).

The clip starts off a little soft though.

Lamb of God on the Tin Whistle

I found this wonderful recording of Twila Paris' Lamb of God played with the Irish tin whistle. Enjoy!

Irish Whistles (my new toys!)

My new toys just arrived in the mail 2 days ago. I ordered several Irish whistles (otherwise known as tin whistles or pennywhistles), 3 nose flutes and an American fife from a US-based online store - the Whistle Shop.

Irish whistles are one of the cheapest, sweetest sounding and easiest to learn instruments. Unlike other instruments where expensive usually means better, some of the best whistles are relatively cheap. You probably have heard its rustic and sometimes haunting sound in Titanic's My Heart Will Go On, and in Lord of the Ring's Concerning Hobbits.

The whistles in the photo are (top to bottom) a Walton's D, a Clarke's Original D with natural finish, and a Clarke's Original C. The Walton's D was a gift from my cousin who visited Ireland. It cost around $30, but that's probably because of the GBP to SGD conversion. The Clarke's were just below 10 USD excluding shipping. Clarke's is a widely recommended brand. Walton's, however, doesn't seem as popular.