Flared bottoms

OBrien · Post by **OBrien** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 10:37 pm

Can anyone tell me what effect flaring the bottom end of a whistle body will have on the tone or tuning of the whistle?

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 4:40 am

Sorry...I thought this was about pants. (In which case the answer is: the better to get stuck in bicycle chains.)

I suspect it's cosmetic in the case of whistles.

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 5:47 am

[quote="emmline"]Sorry...I thought this was about pants. (In which case the answer is: the better to get stuck in bicycle chains.)

In this neck of the woods,pants are what you wear underneath your trousers.......

Slan,
D.

John S · Post by **John S** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 5:53 am

Elasticised waist trousers, a Godsend to the flared-bottomed.

I don't know of any whistle or flute type instrument that has this feature, so I'm guessing it is no advantage.

John S

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 5:56 am

O'Brien wrote:Can anyone tell me what effect flaring the bottom end of a whistle body will have on the tone or tuning of the whistle?

AFAIK, at least with flutes, it's done to strenghten the low octave notes.

waitingame · Post by **waitingame** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 6:09 am

John S wrote:
I don't know of any whistle or flute type instrument that has this feature, so I'm guessing it is no advantage.

Harper whistles have a flared bell. Whilst I know of no advantage it certainly doesn't seem to do them any harm.

chas · Post by **chas** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 6:17 am

The flared ends on some whistles are functional -- Swayne, Bleazey, and Rose, for example, are conical bore instruments, and as Glauber said, those have flared ends to balance the octaves.

AFAIK, the flared ends on cylindrical-bore whistles, Harper is the only one that comes to mind, are purely cosmetic.

waitingame · Post by **waitingame** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 6:18 am

...,,and Tully silver whistles so I'd guess Mr Tully would know the answer.

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 6:24 am

[quote="emmline"]Sorry...I thought this was about pants. "

Sorry, I thought this was about butts.....

Oh, never mind :roll:

Mary

tomcat · Post by **tomcat** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 6:29 am

the weston whistle i tried (a hi d) that norcal has coordinated a whistle tour for also has a flared bottom. it was a positive addition to a cool looking whistle.

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 8:38 am

tomcat wrote:the weston whistle i tried (a hi d) that norcal has coordinated a whistle tour for also has a flared bottom. it was a positive addition to a cool looking whistle.

All of Simon's copper whistles have a flare at the bottom. I do not know if this is functional to his design or not.

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 8:48 am

Some answers are a bit confusing... but so was the question.

Are we talking of an external flare, or one affecting the bore?

Some conical whistles have a flared bell end outside shape: see Swayne, Le Coant (soprani and alti), Bleazey, Sweet "professional".

This is a purely functional, mechanical desig, to strengthen the wood where it's more likely to get a shock and develop a crack. You may also put a silver ring instead, and then keep a cylindrical shape (or conical, narrowing down) if you put a metal ferrule at the tip. This is the case for Le Coant Low D, or the Sweet Kilhoury (both older straight bore or new, conical).
And of course, many cylindrical bore whistles do that, including the Rose which is not conical.

Now a few whistles, all metal FAIK, have a bell flare. Tullys', Harpers' come to mind. It will mean a longer tube for the same tuning. I never played either, but and I can't see why this mostly cosmetic detail could adversely affect the tone.
And since I read somewhere Mr Harper's bazaar to be a firearms shop, it seems only logical he went for his...

"escopette" design.

Now since we know as of recently there's more than one cross-fippler in this community, you need a Trichterflöte by Adler-Heinrich, dear Abner and Friedrich...

And if this wan't bad enough for you, here's a "tonette", Bernadette.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 10:01 am

Zubivka wrote: And if this wan't bad enough for you, here's a "tonette", Bernadette.

I grew up in a house with something very similar to this. It was called a "song flute" and was slightly narrower, with a bit less flare at the end.
In '67 my brother got a re*****r at school. Light brown.
In '69 I got a re*****r at school. Dark brown.
But in '68 the county school system must have either been experimenting, or on a tight budget, because my sister got the song flute.

It's still around. Wonder what it'd go for on eBay?

and don't call me Bernadette, Zoob

Jeferson · Post by **Jeferson** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 12:25 pm

New Tonettes are easy to find. I saw some recently at Restoration Hardware for around $8.00.

Jef

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 12:59 pm

But see...I would be offering a genuine, original, 1960's school issue "song flute!" Who wouldn't want that?

Chiff and Fipple Forums

Flared bottoms

Flared bottoms

Re: Flared bottoms