Is a flageolet another word for whistle, or does it refer to a specific type of whistle?
A flageolet is actually a different instrument entirely. However to totally confuse the issue, Generations call their whistles Flageolets. If you type flageolet into a search engine, or look up historical woodwinds, you will probably find a picture of one…unless one of the many computer gurus on this site can find one and post it for us!
Description:
http://www.bartleby.com/65/fl/flageole.html
Picture:
http://www.albawhistles.com/whistles/shopflag.htm
Audio pronunciation
Food:
http://home.earthlink.net/~kitpath/kitchen/recipes/flageotwist.htm
I guess this is where the beans, beans, the musical fruit poem comes from…
[ This Message was edited by: Tony on 2002-01-27 19:17 ]
Bobj
I think the confusion about the “Flageolet” stems from it’s 2 types.
A French Flageolet has 4 toneholes in front and 2 dorsal thumbholes. The index and middle fingers play the X’s while the thumbs play the O’s,like this…{ XOX XOX }. The French Flageolet also has a slightly decreasing bore,like a Recorder, but has a slight flaring bell as well.
The “English Fageolet” has 6 toneholes in front and a slight decreasing bore with no flaring bell. The professional versions had a wind chamber filled with a sponge, to collect moisture,between the “beak” mouthpiece and the voicing. The English and French Flageolets could also have keywork for sharps and flats.
Our strait and conical bore “Tin Whistles” are simplified versions of these 2 types of woodwind with a little Recorder(Holy smoke!)thrown in. 
My understanding is that a Flagelet is any end blown fipple flute, these would include half a dozen ‘folk’ flutes, the recorder, and, of course our tin whistle.
I find the term is commonly used with fipple lutes that are not tin whistles and are also not recorders. This covers a lot of folk flutes with 4-10 finger holes, keys, not keys, etc.
Hope I’m right, it would be nice suprise for it to happen this early in the year, in the mean time remember to …