Homemade Flutes

I make and play my own Feadogs. The Feadog or pennywhistle as been around for centuries. Its antecedents are the eight-holed recorder and the six-holed flageolet, both developed in the 1400’s. However the modern pennywhistle came into its own with the development in 1785 of reliably available and inexpensive tinplate. Robert Clarke developed the best known tin penny whistle in the early 1800’s, but whistles are commonly made from brass as well. The instruments are tuned to a variety of keys, their size being an indicator of the octave range. To my ear the Feadog is a fine concert, band, or individual instrument, capable of complex harmonics (with a chanter) or lilting  Irish ballads... and everything in betwee. A really wonderful instrument. I always carry one when riding my tricycle  and often bring it out to play during a long ride high in the mountain passes.

The flutes I make, some of which I have pictured at left, all consist of eight or nine fingering holes winded via a ‘fipple’ - a mouthpiece commonly made of wood or plastic. I make mine out of metal - to me the sound is richer. The range is an easy three octaves, with sharps and flats being played by partially covering a hole or by special fingering. One thing I really enjoy about these flutes is that even though I can no longer control one of my hands properly due to illness, it is still possible to play a tune using the non-concert (simplified) fingering.

Whistles come in all tunings, but the most common are C and D. A low D (sometimes an octave lower) is also common. Prices range from $5.99 for a Clarke C Sweetone tine whistle to over $300 for professional whistles. In my opinion there is little difference between the professional and street versions other than that the later may have minor flaws or require more careful tuning. (Whistles are tuned mainly by slight movement of the fipple - not possible in some makes.)

I build most of my own flutes as the picture shows. I prefer to make them out of stainless steel or brass. The former is difficult to work, but the resultant sound is exquisite. But brass is much easier to work. I would say that the tone quality and playability of homemade flutes is at least as good as most of the far more expensive professional whistles, although YMMV. My stainless steel low D for example has a deep pure tone difficult to achieve in other metals. Cost is usually under $10 to make your own, but lots and lots of hours of labour to get a true orchestral quality instrument. Click here for my instructions in building your very own homemade pennywhistle.

I have many whistles. Of the less expensive commercial whistles my favorite is the Walton D and the standard Clarke C. I do not like Clarke’s ‘Meg’ line, preferring their ‘Sweetone’ whistles instead. When I ride my tricycle (click the ‘The Trike’ tab above to see the trike) I always take along an Irish made Feadog D. It is small and lively and loud - perfect for playing at the side of quiet country lanes. I have a spot near me in the hills overlooking the water. I like to ride there, then rest and play the Feadog for a while, then cycle back home.

Learning to play a tune is easy. Learning to play well and to play complex tunes is a slow (but fun!) experience. Listen to Joannie Madden’s ‘Song of the Irish Whistle’ - a wonderful CD showing the full range and beauty of the instrument. (Ms. Madden is a wonderfully skilled player - probably the best I’ve heard.)

You can also experiment with whistles. For example, it is possible to make a chanter by soldering two (inexpensive!) whistles together, blocking all the soundholes on one, and using a single mouthpiece between them. This creates a beautiful haunting accompaniment to the playing of the intact whistle. Lots of other possibilities to grow with the whistle exist too.

There is a great little book on whistles which will teach you how to play (it comes with a teaching tape too) written by Phil Oaks. (Pennywhistler’s Press, Box 2473, NY,NY 10108-2030.) There are other books out there too, but this is the one I started with and like it very much, especially since it didn’t cost very much.