Here’s another one of those jargon questions. What exactly is “chiff”? I’ve heard people review whistles saying that they have “a little chiff.”
Chiff seems to have two (or maybe even more) working definitions.
The one I think is most accurate is that chiff is the lovely little “popping” (nonmusical) sound that introduces itself between notes on the whistle as you change notes. This sound is one thing that many whistle players love about inexpensive whistles. It adds a great deal of lift and elegance to the sound of the whistle.
The other way of thinking is that chiff is all the nonmusical sounds a whistle makes. Folks who think of it this way will refer to a pure-toned whistle as having little or no chiff, and a whistle with a lot of nonmusical content in the sound (say, for instance, Generation, or Feadog) as having a great deal of chiff.
–James
Well, the experts will chime in with better than this, but as I understand it, “chiff” can be described as the background hissing noise that can be heard when a flute or whistle player articulates a note or phrase. It imparts a certain roughness or earthyness to the sound.
Although eshewed in classical music, where clean, clear notes are desired, “chiff” is considered a desirable thing in Traditional music. I don’t know why, tho…perhaps having to do with Traditional music being the music of woodshed trained and pub lovin’ musicians of the working class. Most are not technical “experts” and they all play from the heart. What you hear is what you get, warts and all. 
Therefore, part of the desirability of a given flute or whistle is rated on the “chiff” that a player can add…er, I think… 
The term chiff is frequently misused. It’s actually a pipe organ term, and it means the popping sound before the note establishes its tone. Airiness or other sounds heard once a note has established itself is not chiff.
This is true. I wonder, though, about a better word than “popping.” Discuss.
We should discuss how to pop because I’m bad at that 
So how could a whistler make it pop and leave off the raspy, rattles, squeks, ect…?
You could call it “a large percentage of high-frequency components
during the attack of each note”. But “popping” is shorter.
I wonder, though, about a better word than “popping.”
Yeah, popping isn’t a good word. Really, chiff is an onomotopoeia…the sound chiff makes is chiff. (And this only makes sense if chiff is understood–according to its correct meaning–to be the sound before the note.)
I used be steadfastly in this camp.
I’ve since changed my mind. Why? The tinwhistle is not a pipe organ…and often when terms flow between genres, they tend to change in meaning to fit the genre where they are used. Also, English isn’t a dead language..it grows. new words are added tot he dictionaries every year…based upon usage.
And since so many people want to use chiff to describe the airiness in a whistle’s sound (including the Clarke Tinwhistle manufacturers), I’ve come to just accept that’s what some people mean by the term. I try to differentiate between the two when doing a review. Granted, it’d be more convenient if there were two totally different terms in common usage..but there you are.
And so it is that I decree:
“Chiff” = n. start-of-note chiff
and
“Turkey” = n. airiness or complexity of sound, previously (and erroneously) known as “chiff”
I think that settles it. 
The term in my acoustics book is ‘onset transients’, but I like ‘chiff’ better. As for distortion, I just call high freq distortion ‘fuzz’ and low freq distortion ‘grunge’. Oversimplification is an art unto itself.
I figured some smart alec would say something like this…which is why I said “in common usage” But if enough people call note-chiff “turkey” i’ll buy it
And so it is that I decree:
“Chiff” = n. start-of-note chiff
and
“Turkey” = n. airiness or complexity of sound, previously (and erroneously) known as “chiff”I think that settles it. wink
so, therefore Dale should rename the site “Chiff and Fipple with Turkey”
Chiff is a sound, that depends on the context of the sentence it is being used in.
Unless his original understanding of “chiff” would mean that it would become “Turkey and Fipple”.
Buy a better whistle. That usually gets rid of 80%of it. The rest is breath control and sealing with the fingers. (What else is there).