Chip and Fiffle

[Katharine]

I'm not a charter member, nor long term member for that matter.

Its nice that the board does not assign its membership inane titles like "rank noob" and "whistle god" (such titles oftentimes have no bearing on an individual's skill or knowledge level, rendering them all the more asinine and pointless).

I'm just a penurious tone deaf beginner (with some experience now) whistler trying to pick up a tune.

Another great thing about this board: come to learn about things musical, stay to expand your vocabulary!

And the ones where the required post count to be a "senior member" or "guru" (or whatever the "highest-ranking" title is), is ridiculously low...

[stiofan]

Well, I just ran across the same description of a tin whistle in which the word 'chiff' was (mis)used to refer to the body of a whistle on another traditional music site (no, I'm not going to say which one). I suppose the former copy editor in me felt obliged to send the webmaster a friendly email, so I've done just that.

Out of curiosity, I searched for 'chiff' and found this amusing entry in the Urban Dictionary:
When you find something just funny enough to exhale sharply out of your nose, but not funny enough for a full-on laugh.
Like a chuckle and a sniff combined.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Chiff

By the way, OAIM edited the diagram in question, now calling it the "bore." Close, sort of.
https://www.oaim.ie/tin-whistle/learn-tin-whistle/

[benhall.1]

By the way, OAIM edited the diagram in question, now calling it the "bore." Close, sort of.
https://www.oaim.ie/tin-whistle/learn-tin-whistle/

That strikes me as being almost worse, in that the way it used to be was, to my mind at any rate, just a mickey take. Calling the body the "bore" is just plain wrong, and doesn't even have the excuse of possibly being a joke.

[stiofan]

That strikes me as being almost worse, in that the way it used to be was, to my mind at any rate, just a mickey take. Calling the body the "bore" is just plain wrong, and doesn't even have the excuse of possibly being a joke.

Agreed. The notion that it was just a joke didn't make sense to me. I've been around the block enough times in web editing to recognize the difference. My guess is that they hired someone completely clueless about the simple construction of the whistle, who moreover was too lazy to "research" the anatomy of our beloved instrument. Go figure.

[busterbill]

Okay, at the risk of being unmasked as a total idiot, wouldn't you just refer to the brass on that diagram as "the tube?" I do think of the bore as more of a flute, clarinet or oboe term which references the cut on the inside of the body, and, therefore, in the case of the flute, the corresponding outside appearance. Or the bore itself being "the interior chamber" if I use Wikipedia as my guide.

So, while a whistle does technically have a bore, the term seems a bit highfalutin on the humble whistle.

So I would refer to my flute body as a body, not a bore. Most simple system wooden flutes we use for ITM would have a conical body corresponding with a conical bore cut.



All this being said, I often do refer people who live far from Irish whistle teachers and communities of musicians to the teaching on OAIM. It seems particularly useful and systematic in the whistle and concertina courses, and can provide folks with a virtual session to play along with at various speeds. This sense of community seems to have grown with Covid adding monthly zoom play along performances att a leisurely pace, perfect for beginners.

I subscribed to them a number of years ago when I was starting to explore the concertina. I did find myself wandering over to each of the tutors in all the instruments and learning something from everyone's take on what they were playing. There are some very serious players putting some great stuff out on that site.

[Sedi]

My wife certainly thinks it's a bore or more of a nuisance.

[stiofan]

So, while a whistle does technically have a bore, the term seems a bit highfalutin on the humble whistle.

Well, not really, IMO. I mean, there are differences in bore diameter (both OD & ID) between whistles, even of the same maker in some cases, so I think it makes perfect sense to refer to the bore of a whistle for some purposes. However, in the OAIM diagram, it's clearly referring to (or trying to) the body of the instrument or tube, if you like.

There are some very serious players putting some great stuff out on that site.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. As a returning player to the flute, I've been using the flute tutorials to go over some fundamental technique, which are done by Steph Geremia and Kirsten Allstaff, both brilliant players. A new course, 'All About Reels' just came out today. https://www.oaim.ie/course/all-about-reels/

[fatmac]

Why call the parts more than what they clearly are - the mouthpiece & the finger tube......

[Peter Duggan]

the finger tube

Who calls it the 'finger tube'? That's as artificial as 'tone body'.

[Steve Bliven]

[fatmac]

the finger tube

Who calls it the 'finger tube'? That's as artificial as 'tone body'.

As literal as one can get.....

[Katharine]

"That part with all the holes in it."

[ytliek]

Best one of the new year!

[Peter Duggan]

As literal as one can get.....

It doesn't describe its purpose. You can laugh all you like but, if you want to be literal, you should call it something like the 'standing wave frequency adjuster'! (I'll just stick to 'body' or plain 'tube'...)

[Nanohedron]

The fingery bit.