Chiff and Fipple Forums

I am mainly a whistle player, but if I play a flute, it is 90% of the time
a piece of PVC I turned into a flute. I guess the answer is "a piece of
PVC schedule 40 pipe!"

I will buy a Doug Tipple flute in the future though.

Didn't Tommy Makem play a 5 string banjo?

Do you mean finger holes or are you talking about vent holes in the foot? Are you aware that all holes (including these) affect the intonation? My guess is that your flute was either playable and out of tune (in which case you got lucky), playable and in tune (in which case you've spoiled it), or u...

I may as well add this, some Amazon/Ebay wooden Irish flutes might be playable, if you know what you are doing and aren't afraid to modify the flute. The one wooden flute I own is a Pakistani model from Amazon which was unplayable by me until I made the finger holes bigger in the tail section. Now I...

Neither am I, having just Googled autoharp videos and discovered it to be a more capable instrument than I'd imagined. Or at least let's say I'm not convinced of my second question ('How are autoharps on rhythm?') when they clearly have rhythmic capabilities. The first ('Is it?') I kind of stand by...

Because, I think, the guitar and other fretted instruments have capabilities beyond just chording. They're more intuitively suited for contrapuntal accompaniment as well as melody. Note that I didn't say that autoharp couldn't be used for this, too, but I think it's readily apparent that fretted in...

Is it? How are autoharps on rhythm? Well I don't play autoharp, I have just see people play it. I would think it would be better for slower stuff or with less instruments, since its usually used by a singer to accompany him/herself (as far as I can see). I would think you could do rhythm on it, aft...

Just observation or a question perhaps. Why is the guitar more popular than the autoharp, if the main job of a guitarist in ITM, is playing chords? Is there a need for a break into ITM for the autoharp, like the bouzouki did, or is it a matter of the guitar perhaps having more volume? Sorry if this ...

Post a video of you playing it or a sound clip, then people can decide it it sounds like a recorder ;). I see some advice online about making the labium/lip a little more blunt to make whistle less "recordery", but I would hate for you to ruin your hard work. Edit: I am actually envious of...

The whistle looks good. I have been experimenting myself with making whistles and flutes and PVC plastic pipe is a good (and cheap) material for making whistles. Maybe after you have perfected making a PVC whistle you can try again using metal.

I will buy a Tipple soon then.

Hi, I have been playing cheap or junkie flutes until now, and I wanted to perhaps try out a flute that wasn't junk so I could differentiate between my own failings as a player and those failing of the flute. I like the look of Hall Crystal Flutes, though I have heard else where that they are hard to...

Indeed, it is definitely not the case. I think there's a perception out there that since the flute is essentially just a tube with holes, it ought to be easy to find a good one for cheap. But the flute's apparent simplicity is deceptive; it belies the difficulty and care in the craftsmanship it tak...

Sure it is, as long as you adjust what your perception of cheap and playable are... Tipple flutes have wonderful embouchure cuts, great tone, and a real a real bargain. I personally find the tonehole spacing a bit uncomfortable, probably the result of the cylindrical bore, but those who are used to...

Funds are tight yes ... yet over the last couple of years you've bought a number of cheap, seemingly unplayable instruments. Wouldn't it have been better to put those amounts that you spent on cheap instruments together and get a playable instrument? True, but I had found cheap and usable instrumen...