I had a person ask me recently about the appropriate key that matches that actual Ressikan Flute on Star Trek. A recording seems to indicate that whistle was possibly in high-A 880Hz. (Yes, The A above High-D - a real screamer).
The so-called "prop: whistle (which sells for several thousand a the Las Vegas Hilton appears to be a conical design and has a very short length.
I have had thoughts that this could be played alternately on a high-E with its proper key.
I wish to make this whistle for someone, but I want to make sure that I have the right key.
Below is a page from an “official” site that states the Ressikan Flute is 10.5 inches long and the Maker is Alan Sims.
This length would put it in the 1/2 wavelength range of f-4 or g-4(?) but the conical bore could lower it to d-4 or e-4(?)depending on the angle of decrease.
It originally appeared in a wonderful episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called The Inner Light (it won some sort of award as I recall). You may remember the episode. The Enterprise comes across a probe of some kind and Picard is knocked unconscious by it. He proceeds to “dream” that he is someone else living on another planet. He lives the entire lifetime in his mind. He learns to play the whistle/flute while he is unconscious.
Hmmm on second thought…I’m doing a poor job of explaining this. See here:
In Star Trek TNG - 5x25 - The Inner Light, the whistle was an Eb.
In Star Trek TNG - 6x19 - Lessons, the whistle was a D.
In track #8 “Orchestral Suite from The Inner Light” on The Star Trek 30th Anniversary Special CD, the whistle was also a D.
I think this proves that the $2000 prop used in the two TV episodes wasn’t a playable instrument… although careful observation does reveal that Patrick Stewart was fingering the notes correctly when the camera was on him.
It does stand to reason that perhaps the prop is a playable instrument that was just overdubbed during the editing process… but that’s probably just wishful thinking from a whistle playing “trekkie” who doesn’t want it to be just a prop.
“[Rain Dogs] …the ones you see wanderin’ around after a rain. Ones that can’t find their way back home. See the rain washes off the scent off all the mail boxes and the lamposts, fire hydrants…”
Tom Waits
[ This Message was edited by: raindog1970 on 2002-03-14 03:55 ]
On 2002-03-14 00:18, raindog1970 wrote:
… although careful observation does reveal that Patrick Stewart was fingering the notes correctly when the camera was on him…
On 2002-03-14 12:24, Jazz wrote:
K raindog, did you really sit in front of the tv to see if he was fingering correctly? That’s a guy thing.
Well, actually I sat in front of my computer watching DivX rips of the two episodes where Picard plays the Ressikan flute… hopefully Paramount won’t see this post and send their lawyers to hunt me down!
I actually learned the tune by playing along with Patrick Stewart, that’s why I know he was fingering correctly.
“Ummm.. Yep it does whistle, But its not really in tune, It was just a prop, and never meant to play an important role. Most of the sounds you hear on Star Trek are added in Post Production.”
That surprised me because, if I were an actor pretending to play an instrument, I think I would feel a lot more comfortable with a prop that didn’t actually make a sound.
Mysteries surrounding the Ressican Flute has been under discussion for a long time, and many of the questions have now been answered except (to my knowledge) one: who was playing the whistle that was actually heard, and what kind of whistle was it?
Are you out there, Graphics, Guy? Do you have the inside info?
I’ve heard one story that Patrick Stewart did learn to play the whistle while they were filming this episode. The story is that he played it all over the set and drove people crazy with the thing. Must be a real whistle.
