What is chiff?

[Thomas-Hastay]

"Chiff" in literal terms is the momentary sounding of several high frequency harmonic tones on the initial "attack" of blowing air into the windway. The Airstream "chatters" above and below the labium lip before settling into the proper oscillation. After this initial "chiff", the whistle settles into the proper tone selected by the players fingering.

Usually, whistles with a shallow angle on the labium ramp have more "chiff",(e.g. Tabor pipe) but other factors can add to this. One example is the inner open cavity above the voicing window on a Generation Whistle. It sort of acts like a small panpipe, resonating high harmonic chiff frequencies produced by the labium.

"Chiff" is commonly (and wrongly) used to describe <b>"Tone Color"</b>, such as "Flutey" or "Reedy". This term suffers improper use like "Fipple" (this term describes the plug only), used to describe a whistle's voicing. I'm not trying to be "anal", but it would be easier and less confusing to talk about our whistles if we use the correct terms. Yes?

[amar]

"Chiff" in literal terms is the momentary sounding of several high frequency harmonic tones on the initial "attack" of blowing air into the windway. The Airstream "chatters" above and below the labium lip before settling into the proper oscillation. After this initial "chiff", the whistle settles into the proper tone selected by the players fingering.

Usually, whistles with a shallow angle on the labium ramp have more "chiff",(e.g. Tabor pipe) but other factors can add to this. One example is the inner open cavity above the voicing window on a Generation Whistle. It sort of acts like a small panpipe, resonating high harmonic chiff frequencies produced by the labium.

"Chiff" is commonly (and wrongly) used to describe "Tone Color", such as "Flutey" or "Reedy". This term suffers improper use like "Fipple" (this term describes the plug only), used to describe a whistle's voicing. I'm not trying to be "anal", but it would be easier and less confusing to talk about our whistles if we use the correct terms. Yes?

oh puuuuuuleeezee....stop being so anal!

[Jerry Freeman]

For the sake of clarity, considering that different people interpret the word chiff differently, when I talk about a whistle's sound, I try to define more specifically what I'm referring to under the general heading of "chiff." I like terms such as:

Attack chiff (Thomas-Hastay's explanation is good)

Breathiness

Buzz, rattle and squawk

Pure/sweet, birdlike, husky, edgy, raspy, reedy, complex (descriptions of timbre that sometimes get used in overlapping ways with the word chiff)

To say that a whistle is chiffy often means that it has some noticeable attack chiff (usually heard as an interesting little chirp at the beginning of notes). On the other hand, some people would say a whistle is chiffy if it's breathy, even with no attack chiff, and some would say that it's chiffy if it has a tendency to buzz, rattle and squawk.

Basically, there are two definitions of chiff that people around here use:

1. Attack chiff, as defined above.

2. Any non-musical sound a whistle makes in addition to the musical notes being played (examples above).

Non-musical sounds made during the playing of a whistle, by spouses, cats, dogs, etc. are not included in either definition of chiff.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[IDAwHOa]

For the sake of clarity

Non-musical sounds made during the playing of a whistle, by spouses, cats, dogs, etc. are not included in either definition of chiff.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[dapple]

Last spring I searched C&F to understand the meaning of chiff but came away from my search unsatisfied because of the two competing uses of the word. This thread helps.

If I now understand correctly, the complexities / overtones that provide Overton’s trademark cosmic-drainpipe sound, for example, are referred to by some as (sustained) chiff. Is that correct? Maybe not since overtones are not non-musical sounds.

What other whistles have (attack) chiff, besides Generations? Is chiff typically characteristic of inexpensive whistles and not expensive ones?

[emmline]

Is chiff typically characteristic of inexpensive whistles and not expensive ones?

No. Many pricey whistles are chiffy, and sought for their chiffiness.

[Jerry Freeman]

[quote="dapple"]If I now understand correctly, the complexities / overtones that provide Overton’s trademark cosmic-drainpipe sound, for example, are referred to by some as (sustained) chiff. Is that correct? Maybe not since overtones are not non-musical sounds.[quote]

I would classify those complexities/overtones as part of the timbre of the whistle. If some of the cosmic drainpipe sound comes from breathiness, some people might call the breathiness part of it chiff. I don't have hands-on experience with Overtons, but the recordings I've heard didn't sound breathy to me. Just rich in overtones and big-sounding, which I would not characterize as chiff, but as timbre.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[emmline]

Apologies to the Bard:

What is Chiff?
(insight you're after,
not explanations met with laughter,)
What it means is still unsure.
In such quibbles there's no plenty,
Got an Alba? I'll take twenty,
If my lungs will but endure.

[vomitbunny]

I think of chiff as that tubular ocarina-like sound some whistles get. A bit like the sound that a steam caliope gets. As opposed to airy or raspy sound. Chiff can be present on a very pure sounding whistle. At least that's the way I think of it. Anyone have an alternate term for that tubular sound? (that's the sound I like)
I think the "drain pipe" sound on a low whistle and the "tubular ocarina-like" sound on a high whistle are actually the same thing in a different octave . Thoughts?

[Daniel_Bingamon]

Chiff is a term that originally comes from Organ makers and users. When you start the initial note, there is an expression of non-intentional sound or voice that emanates from the pipe. This sound varies depending on construction - so it is hard to define. It can can be a squeek, a wisp of air, a burr sound, a gargley sound. It's the way the instrument starts up a note when the air column in the bore begins to charge up.

The chiff originally refers to the initial sound made in the note but due to confusion of its meaning, whistleplayers also refer to 'airyness' in the sound as chiff.

[brianormond]

-I hadn't heard of a chiffchaff before, only of the chaffinch. Are they the same bird? -Perhaps named after chaff feeding or shifting about like a sullen teen at a family gathering ?

-We've simplified bird I.D. here - LBB means little brown bird. This reduces precision of classification, but rewards we dilettantes unable to grasp more subtle features of avian anatomy. A recent survey of local birding logs revealed a positive correlation between brandy intake and the likelihood of recording any small hedge-hopping bird as an LBB. Under review is a proposal to add another category-The LGB, for little gray bird. Science marches on!

[talasiga]

Chiff is a term that originally comes from Organ makers and users. When you start the initial note, there is an expression of non-intentional sound or voice that emanates from the pipe. This sound varies depending on construction - so it is hard to define. It can can be a squeek, a wisp of air, a burr sound, a gargley sound. It's the way the instrument starts up a note when the air column in the bore begins to charge up.

The chiff originally refers to the initial sound made in the note but due to confusion of its meaning, whistleplayers also refer to 'airyness' in the sound as chiff.

Such explanations deserve a thanks.

[PhilO]

OK, I understand that chiff is a good thing for whistles or organ pipes.

No, Doug. Accepting the broad theory of chiff, wherein it applies both to attack noise and sustained airiness, there are some of us who do not think chiff is "...a good thing for whistles..." I detest air in the notes and further distinguish air from what I refer to as the desirable trait often labelled overtones, darkness, character, (think good Copeland), etc. For me, airiness is distracting, unnecessary, weak, unfocused.

I consider chiff to be the "pop" one gets whilst attacking the tone hole, yes that classical definition wherein only the wonderful extra sound when striking the holes is considered chiff. Within that definition, chiff is "...a good thing for whistles..."

The perfect whistle has both complex overtones in its sustained notes and chiff, or popping upon the attack.

Those most likely to share in this belief are born in the Bronx (a strange land where eating pizza with a knife and fork is a capital offense) and may have come late to the lore and lure of the whistle - sometimes referred to as the "dark popoff" sect of classical chiffists.

Philo

[Nanohedron]

Googlism for: chiff

chiff is
chiff is not a defect
chiff is a defect of pipe speech
chiff is manufactured in high
chiff is n the bottom octave; this is typical of these organs
chiff is now very pronounced
chiff is really two people
chiff is also acquiring a buddha
chiff is a small female tabby
chiff is hiding in a bush at ambush wargames
chiff is a marvellous thing
chiff is the consonant that precedes the vowel
chiff is heard at the beginning of each note
chiff is after me
chiff is unwanted and must be reduced
chiff is reflected by
chiff is currently 5 months old and a staffy cross
chiff is so tired of it he wants you to stop

[CHIFF FIPPLE]

Chiff is fed up of folk askin what chiff is