Is it possible?Im Thinking of making an alloy attatchment that will turn my brass Gen D into a fife.Any tips would be welcome.Thanks in advance.
Mike
I have seen one such, though it was a long time ago at a reenactment and I can’t tell you the make of the instrument. It was before I became a whistler, so I didn’t recognize the name of the maker anyway. I can tell you that the fellow who owned it really seemed to think he had something. 
It was made of black anodized aluminum, and had interchangeable whistle fipple and fife embouchere attachments for the “upper” end. The parts fit together with an arrangement rather like the Copeland tuning slide. I don’t know for certain, but expect that there was an O-ring seal which kept the pieces firmly together.
I wish I could tell you more about it, but that’s all I’ve got.
what’s the difference between a fife and a keyless flute?
or a fife and a keyless piccolo?
The short answer is “not a heckuva lot.”
Fifes are commonly, but not always, keyless, 6-hole, members of the flute family, pitched in Bb, C, and sometimes D. I think Ralph Sweet is making a “Folk Fife” pitched in D, but he’s the only one I know of. Bb and C are by far the most common pitches. It is possible to find 10-hole and 11-hole fifes, and some fife-and-drum corps do use them.
The piccolo evolved from the fife, so I’m told, by way of making the latter instrument chromatic. Once this was successful, it replaced the fife in most musical settings because the fife really only plays well with another fife and a drum – such is my opinion at any rate. YMMV.
The keyless flute is similar to the fife, but longer, larger in diameter, and therefore much lower-pitched.
Mike
Yes it is possible to make a whistle/fife combination,but the fife embouchure hole will be closer to the toneholes. A fife player partly covers the embouchure with their lips and this flattens the fundamental pitch by about 100 to 150 cents. The distance from the fife embouchure hole to the bore end must be shortened to compensate.
Blowing across the embouchure of a whistle with the usual windway plugged is a good way to practice whistling quietly.
Thanks Neil,thanks Thomas,
I,m planning on using alloy tubing I found that fits perfectly on the Gen much like the plastic fipple so O-rings wont be necessary.The tube has a wall thickness of a little less than 1mm.Is this acceptable for the embouchure?What size should this hole be and should it be round or slightly oval in shape.The end of the adaptor will be plugged with wood dowel.Is the the distance from the embouchure to the plug critical for correct voicing?Thanks guys,your help with my project is much appreciated.
Peace, Mike
On 2002-03-28 02:22, mike.r wrote:
Thanks Neil,thanks Thomas,
You’re welcome, Mike.
The tube has a wall thickness of a little less than 1mm.Is this acceptable for the embouchure?
I can’t tell you anything authoritative, but every member of the flute family that I have seen has an appreciable wall thickness in the embouchere. If it doesn’t exist naturally in the material of the instrument, as in a wooden flute or fife, then it’s built-up, as in a boehm-pattern metal flute. There must be a reason for that.
What size should this hole be and should it be round or slightly oval in shape.
Both patterns exist in fifes. The Cooperman Corps Fife has an oval embouchere, rather like a flute. Their Stony Creek Model, a more traditional design, has a round embouchere. I find the round embouchere easier to play, but flautists, I’m told, prefer the oval one because it’s similar to the flute they are accustomed to. I can’t give you a size at the moment because I don’t have an instrument handy to measure. I’ll see what I can do for you this evening when I get home. I’m not sure that the diameter of the embouchere of my wooden fifes would be directly transferrable to your project, however. Caveat Lector, if I forget to mention it later.
The end of the adaptor will be plugged with wood dowel.Is the the distance from the embouchure to the plug critical for correct voicing?
Absolutely. In a fife, this is done with a cork which is of sufficient diameter that it will hold its position in the bore, but can still be moved to accomplish a sort of tuning. You may want to use a wooden plug at the end for asthetic reasons, but I strongly suggest that you use a cork to actually stop the upper end of the bore and that you not fix it permanently in place. Obviously, that means any wooden plug you use as a decoration should also be removable.
In my experience, the best spot for the cork is with the edge of it just a millimeter or two away from the edge of the embouchere. This seems to give the best playing characteristics. Within broad limits, moving the cork towards the emboucher sharps the tone and makes the instrument easier to play. Moving it away flats the tone and makes it harder to play. Note that you can also sharp the tone by rolling the embouchere away from your lips slightly as you play, and flat it by rolling it towards your lips. Experienced players do this on the fly to improve notes for which fingering is just an approximation, and the better to blend with other players.
The circular emboucheres on both my Cooperman Stony Creek Model and my Model F from Leo Brennan are 1 cm in diameter – offered for what it’s worth. I don’t know what the interaction is between embouchere shape and size, and the dimensions of the remainder of the instrument.
Thanks Neil,
I,ll take your advice and use cork.I,ll let you know in a few days how it turns out. Peace,Mike
Neil:
Any chance your coming up east any time soon? There are a lot of great fife and drum events coming up this spring and summer in the Hudson Valley and in Connecticut. I could hook you up.
Jim
Jim, that’s a very kind offer but unfortunately I’m headed in exactly the opposite direction. We’re headed west in a month and a half or so to attend a family wedding and do some National Parking.
Thanks for thinking of me. Perhaps it will work out another time.
Mike
The thickness of an embouchure of a fife should be at least 1/4 inch in thickness for reasonable stability. Playing an embouchure thinner than this is possible but increases in difficulty as it thins out. Flaring the tubing outward to deepen the embouchure is an option to adding a plate for increased thickness.
The distance between the centerline of the embouchure hole and the plug face is critical to the tuning between the first and second octave. If it is off,the similar notes between octaves will play sharp or flat. Here is a simplified equation for calculating a “ballpark” distance,but fine tuning will be required.
7 X (D/6)
7 times the inner diameter at the embouchure divided by 6.(this will give a distance in decimal inches.)
Embouchure shape is a matter of taste. A circular embouchure will give a quiet reedy tone that was popular during the Renaissance and a large oval embouchure will give a loud breathy tone popular during the Victorian era. The choice is yours. I hope this has been of help.
Thomas Hastay.
[ This Message was edited by: Thomas-Hastay on 2002-03-30 14:37 ]
On 2002-03-30 14:36, Thomas-Hastay wrote:
The distance between the centerline of the embouchure hole and the plug face is critical to the tuning between the first and second octave. If it is off,the similar notes between octaves will play sharp or flat. Here is a simplified equation for calculating a “ballpark” distance,but fine tuning will be required.
7 X (D/6)
7 times the inner diameter at the embouchure divided by 6.(this will give a distance in decimal inches.)
For what it’s worth, I just tried my Model F Bb military fife with a frequency meter comparing all three octaves, and found no significant difference. My cork is set about 2 millimeters from the embouchere.
The bore diameter is 1.2 cm, which with your formula means that the cork should be 1.4 cm from the center of the embouchere hole, or 9 mm from the edge given that the embouchere has a radius very close to 1 cm. To be honest, I’ve never played with anyone who had their cork set that far away.
As I said, offered for what it’s worth. YMMV.
Neil &Thomas,
I cant thank you guys enough for helping me out.My Gen fife is finished and sounds better than I expected considering 1. I have no real idea how it should sound and 2. I have never played a fife before in my entire life until today.My embouchure attachment consists of the sawn off end section of a blue Gen fipple 17 mm wide on top of a 3 cm section of brass tubing and connected to the Gen body with a sleave of alloy tubeing.The embouchure wall is much thinner than Thomas recommended (about 1/8 ")and is oval shaped 10 by 12 mm.I,d agree with Neil on the cork position set within 1 or 2 mm of the hole as its the only position I can achieve a satisfactory sound.It took a long time to shape and slightly chamfer the emboucher so it would actually play and I guess the thin wall makes it a lot less forgiving but the main thing is it plays.The tone is surprisingly full sounding and flute like and not as loud and strident as I expected and the tuning is good.I also have a 12mm section of alloy tubeing at the end of the Gen barrel to stabilize the bell note and to allow extra fine tuning(A little invention of mine)and that about wraps up my project.Is whistle to fife conversion possible?You bet folks! 
Peace,Mike
I’m glad you are happy with the results of your experiment, Mike! Thanks for letting us know how it worked out. I’m glad I was able to help.
Neil,Thomas and other fifers,
I made another adaptor today with a 1/4" high embouchure and this plays much better than the first.Would it be possible to explain what exactly is happening in and around the embouchure so I can have a clearer idea of what I now need to adjust?Is it the inner top edge that is most critical?Any playing tips would also be welcome.My new embouchure by the way is circular blue generation G fipple plastic ,11 mm inner diameter,2mm wall thickness, slightly arched on top and lightly chamfered edges. Peace, Mike
That’s actually a very involved question, Mike. The physics is tres complex. I’ve read a bit in a book on the physics of wind instruments, and the impression I have is that there’s still discussion on what happens when a flute sounds. I’m not an instrument builder, so I can’t give you any advice from that standpoint. I have been a player for quite a while – over 10 years – so I’ll offer you what I can on that basis.
It has been my experience that the edge of the embochure away from your lips, the edge you actually blow at, should not be extremely sharp. Others have observed this with regard to the knife-edge in the window of a whistle. The instrument plays easiest if this edge is instead slightly radiused, or rounded – not a lot, but a little. The same is true of the tone holes, but in your case the wall thickness is so thin that I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you.
The fife is a difficult instrument to play, so, first of all, be patient with yourself and with it. That said, the best way I’ve found to control my lips is as if I were giving someone a slightly exaggerated kiss. In other words, you don’t want to draw your lips tight to form a little opening through which you blow, but to relax them, stick them out a bit, and form the opening well back from their outer edge. Place the curve of your instrument at the curve of your lower lip, and keep practicing until you get it to go. It may take a while until you develop the required muscles in your lips to form the tiny opening required for the best tone.
It is possible to blow too hard, and I certainly did when I was learning. I didn’t realize I was doing it until I picked up my fife to practice one evening when our daughter was little, and my wife kindly informed me that she’d kill me if I woke the baby. Soooo, I started trying to whisper using very little wind and startled myself when I got the best tone out of the instrument I’d ever heard. I was using so little wind to make it sound that it really did feel like I was holding my breath, and that can actually be a problem with fifers – especially if they march and play. You have to learn to spill the “black” air from your lungs so that you’ll have room to take a fresh breath and avoid passing out. The fife requires much less wind than a flute to sound, less even than most pennywhistles I’ve played.
As with so many things, mastery of the fife requires learning how to relax while playing it.
If I think of anything else, I’ll pop back with it.
Best regards,
Neil Dickey
[ This Message was edited by: ndjr on 2002-04-01 17:47 ]