Moldavian Caval

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 12:42 pm

I was looking at whistles in Dusty Strings (wonderful shop in Seattle) yesterday and ran across a neat little wooden instrument they called a "Moldavian Caval in D". After playing it a bit, I decided to buy it.

Here it is taken apart, showing the metal inlay work on the ferrules and the cork on the tuning slide:

This caval is basically a 6-hole whistle in the key of D, but with no beak on the fipple:

In the store, they had the caval put together so that the blade opening was on the same side as the finger holes. After experimenting some at home, I discovered that the caval is much easier to play if the blade opening is aligned on the opposite side from the finger holes. The instrument is nicely in tune and well-balanced across the octaves, with a sweet, slightly breathy tone. C-natural is OXXOOO.

I'm very pleased with this distinctive whistle; it's a nice addition to my small collection.

Cheers,
John

amar · Post by **amar** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 12:58 pm

jsluder wrote:I was looking at whistles in Dusty Strings (wonderful shop in Seattle) yesterday and ran across a neat little wooden instrument they called a "Moldavian Caval in D". After playing it a bit, I decided to buy it.

Here it is taken apart, showing the metal inlay work on the ferrules and the cork on the tuning slide:

This caval is basically a 6-hole whistle in the key of D, but with no beak on the fipple:

In the store, they had the caval put together so that the blade opening was on the same side as the finger holes. After experimenting some at home, I discovered that the caval is much easier to play if the blade opening is aligned on the opposite side from the finger holes. The instrument is nicely in tune and well-balanced across the octaves, with a sweet, slightly breathy tone. C-natural is OXXOOO.

I'm very pleased with this distinctive whistle; it's a nice addition to my small collection.

Cheers,
John

very nice indeed. i wonder how it sounds...

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:05 pm

So to play it you put that whole big end in your mouth? Perhaps it is narrower in diameter than I am thinking. Or do you just put your lips so they are sealed around the opening on the fipple. These might be insanely stupid questions. Sorry if so.

amar · Post by **amar** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:06 pm

Cynth wrote:So to play it you put that whole big end in your mouth? Perhaps it is narrower in diameter than I am thinking. Or do you just put your lips so they are sealed around the opening on the fipple. These might be insanely stupid questions. Sorry if so.

that's how you do it.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:10 pm

Okay, thanks.

I have not seen many whistles.

Thomas-Hastay · Post by **Thomas-Hastay** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:20 pm

John

I thought a "True Kaval" was an end blown flute similar to a Bansuri of India? Here is a photo of the voicing...

http://memory.loc.gov/dcmflute/0100/0114/0114dr.jpg

There are also 2-4 tuning holes located on the "foot" of a True Kaval to tune the harmonics. Do you think that the term "Kaval" is a generic Balkan word for flute that includes Recorder, end-blown and cross voicings?

I also thought that the Kaval had differing intervals between notes than the American Piano Forte' scale(?)

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 2:04 pm

amar wrote:
Cynth wrote:So to play it you put that whole big end in your mouth? Perhaps it is narrower in diameter than I am thinking. Or do you just put your lips so they are sealed around the opening on the fipple. These might be insanely stupid questions. Sorry if so.
that's how you do it.

Yep.

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 2:11 pm

Thomas-Hastay wrote:John

I thought a "True Kaval" was an end blown flute similar to a Bansuri of India? Here is a photo of the voicing...

http://memory.loc.gov/dcmflute/0100/0114/0114dr.jpg

There are also 2-4 tuning holes located on the "foot" of a True Kaval to tune the harmonics. Do you think that the term "Kaval" is a generic Balkan word for flute that includes Recorder, end-blown and cross voicings?

I also thought that the Kaval had differing intervals between notes than the American Piano Forte' scale(?)

I suspect my "caval" is simply a modern whistle made to look similar to a true kaval. It is definitely a western scale, key of D, with a fipple plug (but no beak). Hopefully, someone else will know more about these instruments. I bought it mainly for the novelty, but it is a nice-sounding whistle.

Cheers,
John

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 2:17 pm

amar wrote:very nice indeed. i wonder how it sounds...

Well...

jsluder wrote:The instrument is nicely in tune and well-balanced across the octaves, with a sweet, slightly breathy tone.

Also, I'd say it is medium in volume (i.e., somewhere between a Hoover and a Susato

). It actually sounds much better than I expected when I first saw it, and it's not too loud or shrill in the top of the 2nd octave. I'm quite pleased with it.

Cheers,
John

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 5:27 am

amar wrote:
Cynth wrote:So to play it you put that whole big end in your mouth? Perhaps it is narrower in diameter than I am thinking. Or do you just put your lips so they are sealed around the opening on the fipple. These might be insanely stupid questions. Sorry if so.
that's how you do it.

If you wanted to put a beak on this interesting little flute, it should be quite easy. You could take a diagonal slice off with a band saw, then use a sanding drum to smooth it out into a bit of a radius. That's how I do it on my whistles! Mark out the outlines of the beak with pencil first.

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:06 am

brewerpaul wrote:If you wanted to put a beak on this interesting little flute, it should be quite easy. You could take a diagonal slice off with a band saw, then use a sanding drum to smooth it out into a bit of a radius. That's how I do it on my whistles! Mark out the outlines of the beak with pencil first.

I briefly considered cutting a beak into this whistle, but I think I'll leave it as it is. The flat fipple is remarkably easy to play if you align the blade to be on the opposite side from the finger holes, and the odd configuration just adds to its charm. Besides, I'd need to buy a band saw and a sanding drum, and I'd rather spend the money on whistles.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 8:33 am

[quote="jsluder Besides, I'd need to buy a band saw and a sanding drum, and I'd rather spend the money on whistles.

[/quote]

Oh, have you C-een anything you like?

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:13 am

brewerpaul wrote:Oh, have you C-een anything you like?

Well, not yet. I'm operating on blind faith here.

KDMARTINKY · Post by **KDMARTINKY** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 11:35 am

It looks to be structured similar to that of a Calmont (No beak). If so, octive changes are made by either pulling or pushing the whistle towards or away from you.

Thats my take.......

markbell · Post by **markbell** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 11:43 am

There's a traditional Romanian whistle just as you describe. The fipple window is on the opposite side as the finger holes, and it is a six-hole instrument.

The one I have is a one-piece instrument. Unfortunately, it is rather poorly-made, but nevertheless a souvenir from my trip to Romania (next door to Moldava) in 1995.

Mark

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