Chiff and Fipple Forums

According to the FAQ, this is the forum for the discussion of “roll-like things.” I’m a tin-whistle-playing musicologist with an interest in ornamentation from both practical and historical perspectives. Documents relevant to the latter indicate that the distinction between the Irish roll and the classical turn is less clear cut than it is commonly taken to be in current tutorial and performance contexts.

The blurriness varies from instrument to instrument. I’ve started examining this with mid-17th-century accounts of ornamentation practice on the flageolet and its kin. Anyone who is interested in the upshot will find the first in an envisioned series of reports here. (The flute and forebears of the uilleann pipes are up next.)

stringbed wrote: ↑The flute and forebears of the uilleann pipes are up next.

The follow-up text is now online. It extends the discussion of ornamentation into documents from the 18th century, when the first collection of specifically Irish tunes was published. It is also when the arrival of the Baroque transverse flute in Ireland can be attested, and bagpipes with overblowing chanters made their first documented appearance.

Part 2 of the series is available here.