The shvi ( hy, շվի, "whistle", pronounced ''sh-vee'') is an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
fipple flute
The term fipple specifies a variety of end-blown flute that includes the flageolet, recorder, and tin whistle. The Hornbostel–Sachs system for classifying musical instruments places this group under the heading "Flutes with duct or duct flute ...
with a labium mouth piece.
Commonly made of wood (
apricot,
boxwood
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
, or
ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
) or
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
and up to in length, it typically has a range of an octave and a-half.
The ''tav shvi'' is made from apricot wood, it is up to long, and is tuned 1/4 lower producing a more lyrical and intimate sound.
The shvi is up to 12 inches in length and is made of reed, bark of willows, or walnut wood. It has 8 holes on the front, 7 of which are used while playing, and one thumbhole. One octave is obtained by blowing normally into the shvi and a second octave is attained by blowing with slightly more force (i.e.,
overblowing
Overblowing is the manipulation of supplied air through a wind instrument that causes the sounded pitch to jump to a higher one without a fingering change or the operation of a slide. Overblowing may involve a change in the air pressure, in the ...
). The lower octave has a timbre similar to a
recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
whereas the higher octave sounds similar to a piccolo or flute. 8-hole traditional flute. The shvi is played with the mouth. Typically, most Armenian
duduk or
zurna
The zurna ( Armenian: զուռնա zuṙna; Old Armenian: սուռնայ suṙnay; Albanian: surle/surla; Persian: karna/Kornay/surnay; Macedonian: зурла/сурла zurla/surla; Bulgarian: ''зурна/зурла''; Serbian: зурла/zu ...
players learn the shvi before moving on to either instrument.
See also
*
Salamuri
The salamuri ( ka, სალამური) is a Georgian, recorder-like instrument. One player can sometimes play two salamuris at once by using either hand.
The salamuri is a widespread wind musical instrument found in all regions of Georgia ...
*
Dilli kaval
*
Kaval (Blul)
*
Duduk
*
Sring
Notes
References
*Ararat Petrossian - "Melody of Sunik", Aya Sofia Records, 1995.
*Nor Dar - "Opus of the Lizard", Libra Music, 1997.
*Tamar Eskenian
*Various Artists - "Kalaschjan - Rural and Urban Traditional Music from Armenia", Weltmusic, 1992.
*''Soviet Music and Society Under Lenin and Stalin'' By Neil Edmunds
External links
Shvi informationat Tripod.com
at Geocities.com
Armenian musical instruments
Internal fipple flutes
{{armenia-stub