Ethnic Scales & Whacky Tooters...Newbie Seeks Guidance.

[Doc Jones]

Just re-checked..

It's not the same as a C. Here's a comparison. The h fingers are half holes.

C- - - - Reyburn Harmonic minor D
xxxxxo = xxxxxx
xxxxoo = xxxxxo
xxxooo = xxxxoo
xxoooo = xxxooo
xooooo = xxoooo
oooooo = hooooo
oxxooo = xooooo
oxxxxh = oxxooo
oxxxxx = oxxxox (this one sounds like th ecorrect "Cnat" fingering for this tooter)
xxxxxh = oooooo

Doc

[MTGuru]

OK, I think I got it. It's a D whistle with a flattened 3rd (F-nat) and flattened 6th (B-flat). So the natural scale is D harmonic minor: D E F G A Bb c# d. If you substitute C-nat, you get D natural minor: D E F G A Bb c d.

You should also be able to play F major:

F xxxxoo
G xxxooo
A xxoooo
Bb xooooo
c oxxooo
d oxxxxx
e xxxxxo
f xxxxoo

And C Mixolydian

C (below range)
D xxxxxx
E xxxxxo
F xxxxoo
G xxxooo
A xxoooo
Bb xooooo
c oxxooo

And A Ahava Raba (e.g., Hava Nagila):

A xxoooo
Bb xooooo
c# oooooo
d oxxxxx
e xxxxxo
f xxxxoo
g xxxooo
a xxoooo

[Doc Jones]

Very cool. Thanks John.

It'll be nice to Hava Nagila. I don't think I've ever had one before. Do they eat much?

Doc

[I.D.10-t]

So if I take a D whistle and extend it with tape* to D♭, is there a mode that works with it?

Of course (being that I like the Bb fife, I tried it with a Bb fife, but modes are all the same with the intervals).

*I was wondering if the length affected the second and third registers the same or if they seemed ignored by the length of the tube in my experiment.

[MTGuru]

So if I take a D whistle and extend it with tape* to D♭, is there a mode that works with it?

[I.D.10-t]

I extended the tube length so that it is longer and plays:
D♭, E, F♯, G, A, B, C♯.

The scale sounded funky, but the scale is obviously not (now that I think of it, D♭= Cnat) something new.

[MTGuru]

(now that I think of it, D♭= Cnat)

Actually, D-flat = C-sharp. So you eliminated the D without adding any new scale tones. Basically, it's still just a D whistle, with a missing note.

[Thomas-Hastay]

I believe the operative word here is "Intervals". The scales of musical instruments have different frequency intervals between each note in these scales. I suggest the books Music, Physics and Engineering by Harry F. Olson and Woodwind Instruments and Their History by Anthony Baines. http://books.google.com/books You can also use the large archives at The Musicians and Instrument Makers Forum. http://www.mimf.com/

This site on temperment may be of immediate use though...
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hb ... percn.html

[talasiga]

ID10t
here is a non diatonic heptatonic scale easily playable on a standard D pipe

Maarwa: C C# E F# G A B C+
(notice D is omitted and replaced by the C#)
tonic, minor 2nd, natural 3rd, augmented 4th, perfect 5th, nat. 6th, nat. 7th.
ie. 1:3:2:1:2::2:1

(please note that the Raag Maarwa, the flagship raag notionally in this scale (on account of a traditional Hindustani classification) is hexatonic as does not utilise the perfect 5th. However, Raaga Berari and others do employ all 7 notes but I do not play these so can't talk much of them based on experience.)

The famous Raag Puriya Kalyan uses both minor 2 and natural 2. So, with C tonic on an Irish pipe:

ascending scale:- C D E F# G A B C+
descending scale:- C+ B A G F# E C# C
(From a diatonic angle, one could describe it as a raag that is in the Lydian mode BUT with special attention to an accidental or passing note, the minor 2nd.)

I can continue .....