Pyzhatka ( Russian: Пыжатка) —

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

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musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

, a wooden

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, traditional for the

Kursk Oblast Kursk Oblast ( rus, Курская область, r=Kurskaya oblast, p=ˈkurskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...

. Pyzhatka is made of a wooden tube, 15–25 mm in diameter and 40–70 cm long, one side of which is closed with a

wad Wad is an old mining term for any black manganese oxide or hydroxide mineral-rich rock in the oxidized zone of various ore deposits. Typically closely associated with various iron oxides. Specific mineral varieties include pyrolusite, lithiophorit ...

(''Pyzh'' in Russian). The wad has an oblique incision on it, which leads the air on a sharp edge of a square opening, forming a whistle like that of a

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. Unlike in the majority whistle flutes, though, the whistle of pyzhatka is then wound with a

wax Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give low ...

thread Thread may refer to: Objects * Thread (yarn), a kind of thin yarn used for sewing ** Thread (unit of measurement), a cotton yarn measure * Screw thread, a helical ridge on a cylindrical fastener Arts and entertainment * ''Thread'' (film), 2016 ...

, which gives the instrument a peculiar hissing sound. The flute has 6 finger holes (3 for the right, and 3 for the left hand), which covers one full

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

. To make the sound better, the pyzhatka flute is usually moistened before play, as it seals the holes and makes the notes clearer.Pyzhatka at spacenation.info
with pictures (Russian) Other local alternative names for pyzhatka include ''pazhatka'', ''puzhatka'', ''pikla'', ''travyanka''.

References

{{Whistles Fipple flutes Whistles Russian musical instruments