I was looking at whistles in Dusty Strings (wonderful shop in Seattle) yesterday and ran across a neat little wooden instrument they called a “Moldavian Caval in D”. After playing it a bit, I decided to buy it.
Here it is taken apart, showing the metal inlay work on the ferrules and the cork on the tuning slide:
This caval is basically a 6-hole whistle in the key of D, but with no beak on the fipple:
In the store, they had the caval put together so that the blade opening was on the same side as the finger holes. After experimenting some at home, I discovered that the caval is much easier to play if the blade opening is aligned on the opposite side from the finger holes. The instrument is nicely in tune and well-balanced across the octaves, with a sweet, slightly breathy tone. C-natural is OXXOOO.
I’m very pleased with this distinctive whistle; it’s a nice addition to my small collection.
So to play it you put that whole big end in your mouth? Perhaps it is narrower in diameter than I am thinking. Or do you just put your lips so they are sealed around the opening on the fipple. These might be insanely stupid questions. Sorry if so.
There are also 2-4 tuning holes located on the “foot” of a True Kaval to tune the harmonics. Do you think that the term “Kaval” is a generic Balkan word for flute that includes Recorder, end-blown and cross voicings?
I also thought that the Kaval had differing intervals between notes than the American Piano Forte’ scale(?)
I suspect my “caval” is simply a modern whistle made to look similar to a true kaval. It is definitely a western scale, key of D, with a fipple plug (but no beak). Hopefully, someone else will know more about these instruments. I bought it mainly for the novelty, but it is a nice-sounding whistle.
Also, I’d say it is medium in volume (i.e., somewhere between a Hoover and a Susato ). It actually sounds much better than I expected when I first saw it, and it’s not too loud or shrill in the top of the 2nd octave. I’m quite pleased with it.
If you wanted to put a beak on this interesting little flute, it should be quite easy. You could take a diagonal slice off with a band saw, then use a sanding drum to smooth it out into a bit of a radius. That’s how I do it on my whistles! Mark out the outlines of the beak with pencil first.
I briefly considered cutting a beak into this whistle, but I think I’ll leave it as it is. The flat fipple is remarkably easy to play if you align the blade to be on the opposite side from the finger holes, and the odd configuration just adds to its charm. Besides, I’d need to buy a band saw and a sanding drum, and I’d rather spend the money on whistles.
It looks to be structured similar to that of a Calmont (No beak). If so, octive changes are made by either pulling or pushing the whistle towards or away from you.
There’s a traditional Romanian whistle just as you describe. The fipple window is on the opposite side as the finger holes, and it is a six-hole instrument.
The one I have is a one-piece instrument. Unfortunately, it is rather poorly-made, but nevertheless a souvenir from my trip to Romania (next door to Moldava) in 1995.
From what I’ve been able to find by Googling, it seems that most Moldavian “pipes” (aka caval, fluier, etc.) are open-ended on both ends (i.e., no fipple plug). I guess this whistle of mine is a post-modern-pseudo-fluier…
You thought wrong. The bansuri is not end blown but side blown. That is, it is a transverse flute like your Irish flute. Of course, I am talking of a “true bansuri”.
I have not seen many whistles.
). It actually sounds much better than I expected when I first saw it, and it’s not too loud or shrill in the top of the 2nd octave. I’m quite pleased with it.
