Weird Crossover Discovery-From PW to Bansuri

[Emrys]

I know, I know, some of you are already groaning... but lately my newest wind-instrument explorations have taken me to the Indian flute called the Bansuri. It has a very distinctive tone that really fits the classical Indian music sound. However, lacking that repertoire and having hundreds of Celtic tunes at my fingertips, I just had to experiment. And yes! Some Celtic tunes sound amazing, in their own right, on the Bansuri. Just sayin'.

[Mr.Gumby]

Listen to Ronan Browne using bansuris. He's being doing it for twenty years or so.

This would be one example, if I remember the clip correctly.

[Emrys]

Thanks, your example is lovely, and that's not a bansuri flute--but some form of wooden whistle (though perhaps not Irish). Bansuri's are sideblow and truly flutes, not whistle. Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O-wwqD9v0w

[Mr.Gumby]

I know what a Bansuri is. I didn't watch the clip but, as I said, seemed to remember he was using one in that particular setting (and the blurb does list him as using one), you may want to check other clips then. Point was ofcourse: your discovery wasn't as weird or unexpected as you seem to think.

[brianholton]

I remember Finbar Furey playing big bamboo whistles in the early 70s in Sandy Bell's, back when the lowest whistle available was the Gen Bb.

Someone broke one of his bamboo low whistles at a party, I was told, and Bernard Overton, organ-builder, happened to be there. He promised to make Finbar an unbreakable aluminium one, and the low whistle was born.

I bought an Overton A in 1973, when I was a student in Edinburgh, and I have it still. It's a cracking whistle.

b

[dunnp]

Bansuri means something like bamboo melody. I think the term refers to the fippled variety as well.
Much like we may say flute and fipple flute.

I think Fabrice de Graef is doing some nice things with Irish music and the transverse bansuri.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dMKR6uc7zB0

He's been mentioned a few times on here and the session.

[pancelticpiper]

I've seen Bansuris, tooted on them. I could be wrong but I don't see any structural difference between a Bansuri flute and any other sort of ordinary diatonic bamboo flute: the same six fingerholes giving the same Major scale as an Irish whistle or flute.

So I don't see any real leap of playing Irish music on one.

Here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9yiIROE61o

[Emrys]

Thanks folks for your fascinating comments and links! I am thrilled that what I'm doing isn't competely weird (though, coming from Austin and Ann Arbor "weird" is pretty much the watchword).

Some responses to your posts:
~ Yes-the structure of the bansuri flute CAN BE exactly the same as any diatonic sideblown bamboo flute. Or, it can be tuned in ways that facilitate playing classical Indian music (with quarter steps). Also, to tone is distinctly Indian sounding, except... that link above (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMKR6uc7zB0&app=desktop) demonstrates beautifully how perfect the sound is for Celtic tunes as well.

The high-quality bansuris are made with very light bamboo, and as such they are particularly resonant. In fact, they require a lighter kind of approach than I typically use with the silver flute or the whistle.

[pancelticpiper]

That's a good point, I've played Patrick Olwell bamboo flutes and Bansuri flutes and the Olwells (made for Irish music, I believe) had thicker walls, a higher chimney, and played more like a wood flute than the very thin-walled Bansuris I've played.

I had a big Bansuri in Low C that I used for a few years, it was great.

BTW how would a quartertone bamboo flute be made? We don't have enough fingers to cover that many holes.

The Bulgarian Kaval is (mostly) chromatic, using the normal number of fingerholes, and it does that by usually playing in the 2nd and 3rd registers, due to the gap of missing notes between the 1st and 2nd registers:



For quartertones you'd have a bigger gap yet.

[Emrys]

Hmmm, enjoying your "knowledability" on the subject...

Actually, the bansuri wouldn't be set up to play each step--including each quarter tone. That's not what I meant to imply because you are quite right. What a mess of fingerholes! Simply, it is tuned in ways that bring certain notes of the scale closer to being in tune the Indian way, which includes notes that sound out of tune to the Western ear. And these tunings facilitate playing the quarter steps, which is done just like on the whistle, by cocking your finger slightly and half covering the hole.

Wow, I envy you for being able to play a low C bansuri. I do play a middle octave C bansuri, but could never ever get my hands around a low C. In fact, you'll see that on C&F I'm currently selling a beautiful set of low O'Riordan whistles (Low D-E-Eb) because I simply cannot play them.

[Mae]

This is very interesting. I do like to play around on basic 6-hole transverse flutes. The ones I am most familiar with are the Chinese dizi flutes. These are made with bamboo so they are very light. They also have that extra hole between the embouchure and finger holes, where one places a piece of damp rice paper. It creates this kind of buzzy quality to the music:
https://youtu.be/irKcN3FsWkk
I also don't use the rice paper, as I'm not that fond of the buzzy sound. I just use Parafilm to wrap around and cover the hole, then I'm set.

These are not expensive, and a lot of them are jointed so you can do minor adjustments to the tuning, plus you can get these in different keys (so different lengths). I have 4 of them in G, E, D and C (about alto down to tenor). I have cheapie ones that I bought off Amazon, so they cost me a total of maybe $70. You can get better ones, but I'm not really trained on transverse flute. The scale is your basic diatonic scale, even though a lot of Chinese music is based on pentatonic scales. You could totally use these to play Celtic music.

[Emrys]

Oh my, I'm in love. The flute in the link you sent me is just gorgeous. I will definitely check this out. And thank you for introducing me to this new instrument. I often play in major and minor pentatonic scales. And of course, Celtic music is included in this realm.