Development of the Fipple
in very ancient Chinese flutes and is still used by the natives in Bolivia, in Uganda and the Soudan, and elsewhere. I have in my possession a flute of this kind with a very small V-notch. It is comparatively modern, and has five finger-holes in front and a thumb-hole and a double-hole at the back for the little finger for either a left or right-handed player.
Fig. 2.
The V-Notch.
Next came the idea of partly filling up or plugging the open upper end of the tube and cutting an opening with a sharp edge a little lower down, as in the ordinary whistle. The breath is thus directed in a thin stream against this lower edge. The date of this innovation cannot be ascertained, but it is certainly of very early origin, and was known to the Greeks. It is also met with in ancient Hindu sculptures. Bruce mentions an Abyssinian flute, called "kwetz," with this fipple mouthpiece as being quite common in that country and much used in war: "Its tone is not loud, but is accompanied by a kind of jar, like a broken oboe, not owing to any accidental defect, but to construction and design, as it would not be esteemed without it." Certainly there is no accounting for tastes!
The number of finger-holes was at first two, three, or four: they were afterwards increased to six and a thumb-hole at the back. Some specimens found at Pompeii, and now in the museum at Naples, have no less than fifteen holes. They are straight tubes of ivory, and were originally fitted with tight bands of
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