Willow flute

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Willow flute

The willow flute, also known as sallow flute ( or sälgpipa, or pajupilli), is a Scandinavian folk flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike other woodwind instruments, a flute is a reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air against an edge....
, or whistle

Whistle

A whistle or call is a simple aerophone, an musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means....
, consisting of a simple tube with a transverse fipple

Fipple

Fipple Flute or Tubular Ducted Flute mouthpiece are commonly found on end-blown woodwind instruments such as the tin whistle and the recorder....
mouthpiece and no finger holes. The mouthpiece is typically constructed by inserting a grooved plug into one end of the tube, and cutting an edged opening in the tube a short distance away from the plug.

The willow flute is a type of overtone flute

Overtone flute

Overtone flute refers to a flute that produces overtones only.* - pictures, sounds and information* - videos, sounds and information* Willow flute, a Scandinavian flute...
.

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The willow flute, also known as sallow flute ( or sälgpipa, or pajupilli), is a Scandinavian folk flute

Flute

Whistle

Fipple

Overtone flute

Overtone flute refers to a flute that produces overtones only.* - pictures, sounds and information* - videos, sounds and information* Willow flute, a Scandinavian flute...
. It is played by varying the force of the air blown into the mouthpiece, with the end of the tube being covered by the finger or left open. The tones produced are based on the harmonic series

Harmonic series (music)

Definite pitch musical instruments are often based on an approximate harmonic oscillator such as a string or a column of air, which oscillates at numerous frequencies simultaneously....
. Playing the instrument with the end of the tube covered produces one fundamental

Fundamental frequency

The fundamental tone, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0 or F0, is the lowest frequency in a harmonic series ....
and its overtone

Overtone

An overtone is a natural resonance of a system. Systems described by overtones are often sound systems, for example, blown pipes or plucked strings....
s, playing it with the end of the tube left open produces another fundamental and series of overtones. Willow flutes cannot be tuned to an equal tempered

Equal temperament

Equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of Musical tuning in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratios....
scale.

Modern willow flutes are typically made of plastic (PVC

Polyvinyl chloride

Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is the third most widely used thermoplastic polymer after polyethylene and polypropylene....
tubing is often used), but the original willow flutes were made from sections of bark cut from green willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
branches. Willow flutes could only be made this way during the spring, and became unplayable when the bark dried out.

Noted modern willow flute artists include The group Hedningarna

Hedningarna

Hedningarna is a Sweden and, for some years partly Finland, folk music band that mixes electronics and rock with elements from old Scandinavian folk music....
and Anders Norudde

Anders Norudde

Anders Norudde is a Sweden folk music musician, multi-instrumentalist, and luthier.After finishing school, Anders took a job at the ironworks in Degerfors, where, in his spare time, he practiced orienteering and played rock music on the guitar....
of Sweden. Other Scandinavian groups that use the Seljefloyte in traditional arraingements include Eivind Groven,Hedningarna,Groupa and Bask.

There is also a Karelia

Karelia

Karelia , the land of the Karelians, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden. It is currently divided between the Russian Republic of Karelia, the Russian Leningrad Oblast, and Finland ....
n variant of the willow flute that is made in Finnish Karelia

Finnish Karelia

Karelia is a historical provinces of Finland. It refers to the Western Karelia that during the 2nd millennium AD have been under Western World dominance, religiously and politically....
and the Russian Republic of Karelia

Republic of Karelia

The Republic of Karelia is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia ....
. It is made the same way as the willow flute, however instead of using willow bark, it is made out of birch bark

Birch bark

Birch bark or birchbark is generally understood to be the bark of the Paper Birch tree , or sometimes of related species such as Gray Birch ....
. The musical group based out of Petrozavodsk

Petrozavodsk

Petrozavodsk is the Capital of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, with a population of 266,160 . It stretches along the western shore of the Lake Onega for some 27 kilometers....
in the Russian Karelia, uses this instrument in their music.

Willow flute

See also

External links