On 2002-11-24 11:29, Jo C wrote:
[…] the player could create a bit of chiff on a pure toned whistle through using the diaphragm to accent the start of the note.
Exactly. A sudden push from the diaphragm and/or sharp tonguing can create chiff even on a pure-toned whistle.
The purest-sounding whistle I own at present is a Busman tulipwood D (a little less breathy than my D Water Weasel and with fewer high partials, and slightly to the breathier side of the O’Riordan I lost). In my style of playing it comes out with sufficient chiff - nothing like the attack of my Copelands and Dixons, but passably satisfactory in the chiff department.
OTOH, among the cheap whistles, my Waltons, Clares, LBW’s and Gennies are LOADED with chiff, which is not controllable when tonguing or pushing the notes, but can be suppressed by playing a very smooth and boring (to me) legato.
Chacun à son goût
On 2002-11-23 15:31, E = Fb wrote:
On 2002-11-13 13:07, TonyHiggins wrote:
I never realized how strong the “chiff” (per the argued definition) was until I heard a good (electronically speaking) recording of myself. Since hearing that, I’ve felt more assured about playing staccato notes here and there for effect (like 6 in a row in a jig). I hadn’t noticed their impact while I was playing.
Question Tony: Can you elaborate a little?
Some playing techniques sound a lot different when you’re listening to yourself play (live/unrecorded) as opposed to how they sound across the room or in a recording. For me this applies to tonguing notes. I just didn’t think they sounded that great and I kept them to a minimum. At the same time, I heard recordings of other players and the punched out staccato notes sounded great in the right places. When I heard a recording of my own playing, I was able to recognize the “punched out” sound that I didn’t hear while I was playing. So, in a way, I’ve realized a technique I can use realizing how it sounds to an audience. (I have a better idea of where it fits- it can be overdone or done in the wrong places, for sure).
(Don’t ask me to elaborate on that, or I’ll become incoherent.)
Tony
Ok, now that the chiff on whistle no longer means what it does on organs, I propose a list of different classes of chiff.
hydrochiff, initial attack sounds promoted by a clogging windway.
postchiff, airy noises occuring after initial attack of note.
posthydrochiff, (sound like post nasal drip and similar), sounds promoted by a clogging windway after initial attack.
postchiff, general noises (other than note) sounded after start of note.
prechiff, sounds that violate the space-time continuum. (performed by crystal people)
microchiff, initial note noises are very small
macrochiff, initial note noises are exceedingly loud.
You can combine these together to form words such as.
Macroposthydrochiff, I love it!
Now if can load up more prefixes, the whistle community can outdo Antidisestablishmentarianism. (whew!)
Yeah, I agree with loren, I think that chiff is the initial breathy sound vs. the breathy sound in general. Chiff has a musical tone quality, whereas breathyness sounds the same no matter what note you’re playing, the tone of chiff will change with the note. I have a clarke that has both chiff and breathyness, you can hear (sometimes barely) the chiff at the start of the note, then breathyness takes over.