Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hi Everyone,
I was given this instrument today. It is a well made item but I Have no Idea what it may be;

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wci7i8cvzxpat ... 8.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6de5431gcgz3o ... 9.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z117qbflqgqhl ... 0.JPG?dl=0

This is very interesting. As an amateur organologist I am always trying to identify and classify musical instruments, even though I can't play anything well except my recorders.
It is obviously a fipple flute of some sort. It has six fingerholes, so it is probably diatonic like a tin whistle. I didn't see (or missed) a picture of the back so I dont know if it has a thumb hole.
It looks like it is made of wood, rather than cane or bamboo, so I guess the wire binding is decorative rather than structural (to prevent splitting).
It has no beak, so it looks like a folk instrument. It sort of looks like a suling but they have more than six fingerholes I think, and the fipple is made by tying a rattan ring over the ramp..
A very cursory internet search has similar fipple flutes like the souravli (Greece) and the stabule (Latvia). The stabule supposedly has a plug in the foot end.
It could be a one off instrument by a very talented maker (the workmanship looks good) based on a folk model.
FrankP

I've seen that kind of mouthpiece before in posts from the past, here. I don't remember anything about it, other than while not being common worldwide, IIRC there are at least two iterations, possibly more, and occasionally the windway and ramp are on the underside (which, for that kind of mouthpiece, makes sound ergonomic sense).

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Aha! Found the khlui:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khlui



If not exactly the same instrument, it's definitely in that branch.

Thanks for your observations.
There is no thumb hole and it plays very much like a tin whistle. The folks that gave it to me said it was possibly Balkan.

May be a frula (Serbia)? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frula
FrankP.

FrankPerrone wrote:May be a frula (Serbia)? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frula
FrankP.

Good find. The frula seems to be one of those with the fipple on the underside:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VifoF_Nu6qM

He's playing a professional model with what appears to be a tuneable/rotatable head (not having watched the whole video, I can't be sure the metal below the head is not just a ferrule), but I've seen one-piece examples without ferrules carved that way, too, so I expect that's the norm for the frula.

Jeez, kintailpipes - I just realized that in your pics, the windway and the fipple are on the underside, too! My eyes are getting bad.

Looks like the khlui is arranged the same way.

FrankPerrone's guess of it being a frula is looking pretty good.

Hey Tom—

It is a frula. Here's a similar one. Like many instruments, there are good ones that get used in traditional music and similarly-designed tourist versions. Over the years I've been gifted several, only one I've kept. The rest went to kids as noisemakers...

Best wishes.

Steve

Couldn't find anything in Sachs or Baines on the matter, but I do wonder if the decorative copper wire isn't intended to mimic the segments of cane or bamboo.

A turkish Kaval maybe?

Yes, a khlui does indeed have windway on the bottom, but not fipple (if we're referring to the wood block as the fipple). However, a khlui is larger than in the pictures (they do come in various sizes) and I have never seen one wrapped with wire. And, it does have a thumb hole. And a couple holes at the bottom end, the use of which I'm not sure, but sometimes a string will be through it for easy hanging.

(Also, they are traditionally played with the*right* hand on top, though some players these days are using the left.)

I have several of these. It is indeed a Serbian frula, one very common version of which involves the twisted copper wire for decorative purposes. Fipple on the underside/opposite side from fingerholes. Note that the fipple is close to the top of the end into which player blows, so that he or she can partially cover the windway with lower lip, thus allowing some modification to the amount anf prominence of certain overtones, greater emphasis on "breathiness" sound, and so forth. If you wish to see more about it, go to http://frulasisrbije.blogspot.com/ The entry consists of photos of Serbian players and pix of recording covers. One of the more famous Serbian players -- Sava Jeremić -- appears in some YouTube videos -- see: https://www.google.com/search?client=fi ... remi%C4%87 . These guys like to play fast and with loads of decoration.