Whistles

The history of….

Where it began

The whistle has its roots dating back to ancient China, where night watchmen would blow into the tops of acorns to alert the towns to invading Mongolians. In ancient Egypt two blades of the papyrus plant along the Nile river were held together in between the palms. By blowing into the palms the papyrus leaves would make a loud vibrant sound.

Whistle belongs to a group of woodwind instruments mouth piece that constricts the air to produce sound

Whistles were (and still are) called by many different names, including Fipple Flute, Vertical Flute, Flageolet, Tin Whistle, Penny Whistle,

Tin Flute, Feadóg Stáin (Irish name) and others The whistle works by causing the smooth flow of

air to be split by a narrow blade, sometimes called a fipple, creating a turbulent vortex which causes the air to vibrate

Sometimes, unintentional whistles can be set up. A common one is the opened sunroof of a car: air passing over the top of the vehicle can, at certain speeds, strike the back edge of the sunroof, creating a very low frequency whistle which is resonated by the closed interior of the car.

Some Uses

Officers in the first world war would sometimes blow whistles to signal all troops along a broad stretch of trench to attack at the same time.

Whistles are used by referees to officiate sporting matches

Trains announce they are crossing intersections with whistles

Clay whistles

Sgraffito technique on clay rats

Sgraffito with Blue slip on a whistle

The “How to”

Make two pinch pots- one more egg shaped than the other

Example of the pinch pots

Slip & score the pieces

Create the whistle

Check for sound

The sound will not suddenly happen after firing…..

Must make the sound with low or high puffs of air….