I’m not entirely sure what constitutes a ‘flute’ or a ‘whistle’ but I sorta’ doubt it had the hardware to make it a flute anything like what we know…even though it was probably made by the normally clever German folk.
Dale, I think the C&F Center for Scientific Research oughta’ make the trek to Germany for further investigation and loads of tasty pastry! What say ye?
Awaiting your command,
Joe Krepps <-mostly German, sometimes clever, always ready for tasty pastry!
Em, as I recall, the article sez the shards were reassembled. My question is, is it playable? Is it in Just, Mean, or Equal temperament? May we expect replicas?
OK, I will bow to semantic hairsplitting and admit upon rereading that the article said “pieced together”, not “reassembled”. Philistines. You may be right, Em. They might have put it together like a puzzle and then got tired. How to find out? Must I travel to Swabia?
(There’s just something really funny about imagining a prehistoric human trying to make an instrument. Probably the fact that I’ve tried and felt like a caveman myself. )
One could form a lot from 31 shards of bone. What makes them so sure it’s an instrument. Without pictures it’s a worthless article. Maybe the archeologists wanted to find an instrument thus they found an instrument.
Ok, girls and boys,
as Tübingen is only a stone’s throw away, I’ll see if I can give that ol’ Schwegel a good Flogging Reel. And after that I’ll make a couple of replicas out of hens’ wings and sell them for 2.000 each. Now is that a master plan?
I have written in my will, that I insist on being buried with my trombone…the trombone I hated, and was forced to play in 7th grade. In that way, I’ll know that nobody will ever be forced to play it, ever again.
But after reading this thread, I am hoping that, 35,000 years from now, when I am dug up, some archeologist will make a discovery…ancient Homo sapiens found with curious metal musical instrument.
It appears to have a shakuhachi or quena style mouthpiece. I would guess it is more of a flute than a whistle. If I’m right, it would be held more like a whistle, but would be played like a flute as you would need an ambushure (lip position and technique using the lips an integral part of the tone making apparatus of the instrument) to even get a tone.
That notch could just be a finger hole that was a weak point and the fipple or mouthpiece was on one of the missing ends.
Rod
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