Perhaps this interests some normal whistle players as well.
Here is my first attempt to create a “Moldavian Kaval” style whistle using one of my low D whistle heads and 1" aluminium tubing. The whistle bottom note is low A. The bore is 22.3mm, so this is a wider bore than the wooden Kavals from Moldavia. It is fairly strong in tone, but tricky to hit bottom notes. I include a link to a sound sample. Great fun to mess around with! This whistle plays in the Romainian gypsy scale, with notes A B C Eb E F in the bottom register. Higher registers are used a lot by careful overblowing. https://www.box.com/s/b317f31b70e53e547427
The most frustrating thing about my (one-piece) A kaval is that it’s far too long to go in any bag I’m likely to carry around, let alone try to get on a plane.
You might think about cutting it in half and using a sleeve joint, as Gyorgy Ban does.
I’ve been talking to a fellow in Poland who makes aluminum kavals and whistles i think about making whistle with a kaval mouthpiece (rim blown edge)based on the open whistle idea. Is there a reason why this would not work?
Ive been blowing into a susato wth the head removed and getting some intersting tones.
are there rim blown flutes with a diatonic scale like a whistle?
“Kaval” means several different things in different cultures. The Moldavian one has five holes and a fipple - never rimblown.
What you are thinking of is a quena. It will be out of tune in the upper register unless you put a narrowing plug in the bottom.
I just noticed that Hans’s kaval has the fipple on the wrong side. Surely it’s possible in an aluminium model to put it on the bottom and with the end flat so you can lip-control the airflow if you want?
I understand that kaval can have fipple as well and different fingering systems. I mean a mouthpiece like a bulgarian kaval? ie just a sharpened edge,
but six hole and not a notch like a quena which has been done a la the open whistle.
i figured there must be an acoustical reason why it would not work or it would exist after all there is nothing new underthe sun.
wait didnt Finbar invent the low whistle?
There must have been umpteen threads about Bulgarian kavals, quenas, neys and Open Whistles. Try there. The instruments you’re talking about belong in this thread about as much as champagne flutes do.
Moldavian kavals are something quite different and that’s what Hans is making, along with not very many other people. I know of one maker in Hungary, one in Romania, one in Sweden and that’s it.
My questions are directed at Hans a whistle maker about whether he thinks a rim blown diatonic whistle is possible.
is it a kaval who knows?
does hans’ aluminum kaval with a reverse fipple still count as a moldavian kaval who knows.
if he chooses to answer here great if not so be it.
one could argue a thread about Moldavian kavals belongs in this forum about as much as champagne flutes but I am not one for being that picky.
the thread title is kaval whistles not moldavian kaval whistles
Yes, a rim blown diatonic Kaval-whistle is possible, if the tube diameter is suitable. A 18mm to 20 mm bore seems to work well for a Kaval mouthpiece. You could put a kaval mouthpiece onto an existing whistle body. But would you like the resulting sound?
Kavals are traditionally very narrow bore instruments. The reason, I believe, is that a narrow bore produces much more pronounced overtones, and it becomes also easier to switch between registers. That way notes can be produced by overblowing, which are in pure harmonies.
But if you want a diatonic Kaval, and choose a very narrow bore to get these special tonal qualities, you will get the problem that the finger holes are spaced too far apart. For instance on a 3/4" narrow bore low D tube the holes will be even further apart than on a standard 1" low D tube.
The problem is traditionally solved on a Kaval by having no finger holes high up the body as a whistle does, and instead having extra holes for semi tones (on a Bulgarian Kaval), or less holes (on a Moldavian Kaval) with less musical scale possibilities.
BTW I would never call my instrument a Moldavian Kaval. I only transferred the scale pattern, but it really is a narrow bore low whistle with Moldavian Kaval type finger holes and scale.
So a low whistle with a kaval type mouthpiece and that unique hollowy overtone rich, kaba sound is not very feasible, a pipe dream (apologies for that).
your new whistle sounds great Hans, thank you for the response.
No, it may be possible. But you need to design for a much narrower bore. And with that the bottom octave will be much weaker and delicate. The finger stretch should be okay using pipers grip. Think of designing for a low D whistle with a bore of perhaps 18mm.
