Editing Tin whistle (section)

== History ==
The tin whistle in its modern form is from a wider family of [[fipple flute]]s which have been seen in many forms and cultures throughout the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historicalfolktoys.com/catcont/5301.html|title=Historical Folk Toys – Catalog Continuation Page: Penny Whistle in D|website=Historicalfolktoys.com|access-date=2017-09-18}}</ref> In Europe, such instruments have a long and distinguished history and take various forms, of which the most widely known are the [[Recorder (musical instrument)|recorder]], tin whistle, [[Flabiol]], [[Txistu]] and [[Pipe and tabor|tabor pipe]].

=== Predecessors ===

Almost all early cultures had a type of fipple flute, and it is most likely the first pitched flute-type instrument in existence.<ref>The tin whistle tutor Edition: 3 – 1991 By Michael Raven</ref> Examples found to date include a [[Divje Babe Flute|possible Neanderthal fipple flute]] from [[Slovenia]], which according to some scientists may date from 81,000 to 53,000 BC;<ref name="ReferenceA">The Clarke Tin Whistle By Bill Ochs</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle By Grey Larsen</ref><ref>The Neanderthal Flute, Crosscurrents #183 1997 Greenwich Publishing Canada</ref> a German flute from 35,000 years ago; and a flute, known as the Malham Pipe, made from sheep's bone in [[West Yorkshire]] dating to the [[Iron Age]].<ref>The Malham Iron-Age Pipe, by A. Raistrick, Professor Spaul and Eric Todd © 1952</ref> (A revised dating of the Malham Pipe now places it within the early medieval period.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sermon|first1=Richard|last2=Todd|first2=John F.J.|date=2018-01-02|title=The Malham Pipe: A Reassessment of Its Context, Dating and Significance|journal=Northern History|language=en|volume=55|issue=1|pages=5–43|doi=10.1080/0078172X.2018.1426178|s2cid=165674780|issn=0078-172X}}</ref>) Written sources that describe a fipple-type flute include the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] tibia and [[Greece|Greek]] aulos. In the early Middle Ages, peoples of northern Europe were playing the instrument as seen in 3rd-century [[United Kingdom|British]] bone flutes,<ref>English Medieval Bone Flutes c. 450 – c.1550 AD. By Helen Leaf</ref> and Irish [[Brehon Law]] describes a flute-like instrument. By the 12th century, Italian flutes came in a variety of sizes,<ref>''[[Cambridge Companions to Music|The Cambridge Companion to the Recorder]]'' [[John M Thomson|John Mansfield, Thomson]] et al, 1995 Cambridge</ref><ref>Performance practice: a dictionary-guide for musicians By Roland John Jackson</ref> and fragments of 12th-century Norman bone whistles have been found in [[Ireland]], as well as an intact 14&nbsp;cm Tusculum clay whistle from the 14th century in [[Scotland]]. In the 17th century, whistles were called flageolets, a term to describe a whistle with a French-made fipple headpiece (common to the modern penny whistle); and such instruments are linked to the development of the English flageolet, French flageolet and recorders of the [[renaissance]] and [[baroque]] period.<ref>''Whistler's Pocket Companion'' By Dona Gilliam, Mizzy McCaskill</ref> The term flageolet is still preferred by some modern tin whistlers, who feel that this better describes the instrument, as the term characterises a wide variety of fipple flutes, including penny whistles.<ref name="ReferenceC">Mel Bays Complete Irish Tin Whistle Book By Mizzy McCaskill, Dona Gilliam</ref><ref>The tin whistle tutor the best – 1991 By Michael Raven</ref>

=== 19th century ===
The modern penny whistle is indigenous to [[Great Britain]] and [[Ireland]],<ref name="ReferenceC"/> in particular to England,<ref name="ReferenceC"/> when factory-made "tin whistles" were produced by Robert Clarke from 1840 to 1889 in [[Manchester]], and later New Moston, England. Down to 1900, they were also marketed as "Clarke London Flageolets" or "Clarke Flageolets".<ref name="Dannatt">Dannatt</ref> The whistle's [[Fingering (music)|fingering]] system is similar to that of the six-hole, "[[Irish flute|simple system Irish flutes]]" ("simple" in comparison to [[Boehm system]] flutes). The six-hole, diatonic system is also used on [[baroque music|baroque]] flutes, and was of course well-known before Robert Clarke began producing his tin whistles. Clarke's first whistle, the Meg, was pitched in high A, and was later made in other keys suitable for Victorian parlour music. The company showed the whistles in [[The Great Exhibition]] of 1851.<ref name="DannattCollection">{{cite web
 |author      = Dannatt, Norman
 |title       = Antique Clarke whistle collection
 |url         = http://www.chiffandfipple.com/normanscollection.htm
 |access-date  = 10 July 2006
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060511084259/http://www.chiffandfipple.com/normanscollection.htm
 |archive-date = 11 May 2006
}}</ref> The Clarke tin whistle is voiced somewhat on an organ-pipe with a flattened tube forming the lip of the fipple mouthpiece,<ref>The Oxford companion to musical instruments By Anthony Baines</ref> and is usually made from rolled tin sheet or brass. They were mass-produced and widespread due to their relative affordability.

As the penny whistle was generally considered a toy,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> it has been suggested that children or street musicians were paid a penny by those who heard them playing the whistle. However, in reality, the instrument was so called because it could be purchased for a penny.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The name "tin-whistle" was also coined as early as 1825<ref name="OED">{{Cite web|title=Home : Oxford English Dictionary|url=https://www.oed.com/|access-date=2023-02-07|website=www.oed.com|language=en}}</ref> but neither the tin whistle nor the penny whistle name seems to have been common until the 20th century.{{efn|The words "tin whistle" and "pennywhistle" in any [[English compound|compound form]] do not generally appear in early-20th-century dictionaries, encyclopedias, or thesauri.}} The instrument became popular in several musical traditions, namely: [[Folk music of England|English]],<ref name="ReferenceB"/> [[Music of Scotland|Scottish]],<ref name="ReferenceA"/> [[Folk music of Ireland|Irish]] and<ref name="ReferenceB"/> [[American folk music|American]] traditional music.<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.yourirish.com/culture/music/tin-whistle|title=Traditional Tin Whistle - Irish Musical Instruments - YourIrish|last=Anraí|first=Róisín|date=2014-08-27|website=Yourirish.com|access-date=2017-09-18|language=en-US}}</ref>

Due to its affordability, the tin whistle was a popular household instrument, as ubiquitous as the harmonica.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In the second half of the 19th century, some flute manufacturers such as Barnett Samuel and Joseph Wallis also sold whistles. These had cylindrical brass tubes. Like many old whistles, they had [[lead]] fipple plugs, and since lead is [[lead poisoning|poisonous]], caution should be exercised before playing an old whistle.

==== Low whistle ====

While whistles have most often been produced in higher pitches, the "low" whistle has historically been produced. The Museum of Fine Arts, [[Boston]], in the United States, has in its collection an example of a 19th-century low whistle from the [[Galpin collection]].<ref name="TinWhistlePage">{{cite web | title=Tin Whistle Page – History of The Irish Penny Whistle | url=https://www.celticmusicinstruments.com/tin-whistle-page/|website=Celticmusicinstruments.com | date=3 October 2015|access-date=8 June 2016 }}</ref>

=== Modern tin whistle ===
[[Image:Tinwhistles.jpg|right|thumb|Contemporary tin whistles in several keys]]
{{listen
 | filename     = AllPlasticTinWhistle.ogg
 | title        = All Plastic Tin Whistle
 | description  = Sample of music played on all plastic tin whistle in the key of D.
 | format       = [[Ogg]]
 | filename2    = MetalTinWhistleWoodenStop.ogg
 | title2       = Metal Tin Whistle with Wooden Stop
 | description2 = Sample of music played on key of D metal tin whistle with wooden stop.
 | format2      = [[Ogg]]
 | filename3    = MetalTinWhistlePlastic Fipple.ogg
 | title3       = Metal Tin Whistle with Plastic Fipple
 | description3 = Sample of music played on key of D metal tin whistle with plastic fipple.
 | format3      = [[Ogg]]
}}

The most common whistles today are made of [[brass]] or [[electroplating|nickel-plated]] brass, with a [[plastic]] mouthpiece, which contains the [[fipple]]. Generation, Feadóg, Oak, Acorn, Soodlum's (now Walton's), and other brands fall in this category.

The Generation Whistle was introduced in 1966, and featured a brass tube with a lead fipple. Founded by businessman and engineer Alfred Brown in Oswestry, Shropshire, their most popular whistle, the Generation Flageolet, was introduced in 1968.<ref name="Generation Whistles">{{cite web | title=Generation Whistles | url=https://bigwhistle.co.uk/generation-whistles/|website=Big Whistle |access-date=28 November 2022}}</ref> The design was updated somewhat over the years, most notably the substitution of a plastic fipple for the lead fipple.

Although most whistles have a cylindrical bore, other designs exist, for example a conical sheet metal whistle with a wooden stop in the wide end to form the fipple, the Clarke's brand being the most prevalent. Other less common variants are the all-metal whistle, the [[Polyvinyl chloride|PVC]] whistle, the Flanna square holed whistle, and the wooden whistle.

Gaining popularity as a folk instrument in the early 19th-century Celtic music revivals, penny whistles now play an integral part in several folk traditions. Whistles are a prevalent starting instrument in [[Folk music of England|English traditional music]], [[Music of Scotland|Scottish traditional music]] and [[Folk music of Ireland|Irish traditional music]], since they are usually inexpensive; relatively easy to play, free of tricky [[embouchure]] such as found with the [[transverse flute]]; and use fingerings are nearly identical to those on traditional six-holed flutes, such as the [[Irish flute]] and the [[Baroque flute]]. The tin whistle is a good starting instrument to learn the [[uilleann pipes]], which has similar finger technique, range of notes and repertoire. The tin whistle is the most popular instrument in Irish traditional music today.<ref name="VallelyCompanion">Vallely et al., p. 397</ref>

In recent years, a number of instrument builders have started lines of "high-end" hand-made whistles, which can cost dozens of times more than cheap whistles, but nevertheless are cheaper than most other instruments. These companies are typically either a single individual or a very small group of craftsmen who work closely together. The instruments are distinguished from the inexpensive whistles in that each whistle is individually manufactured and "voiced" by a skilled person rather than made in a factory.