Holey Pipes--Flute, Piccolo, Recorder, Fife, Pan Flute

Earlier this month, a classical radio station mentioned a program having recorders. "Recorder" had mystified me for a long time. I wondered why the term, when it didn't record. I also wondered about other single-pipe instruments that musicians blew into, such as flutes, piccolos, and fifes. As for pan flutes, each instrument has multiple, different-length pipes connected raft-like and is named for the mythological god Pan.

Orchestral/band flutes and piccolos resemble each other, the flute being a little over two feet long and the piccolo half the length. The fingering is on levers that cover holes. They're played so the pipes face sideways.

Recorders and fifes have holes for fingering. The fife is played sideways, air blown into the blowhole. The recorder gets played vertically, blown into as though it were a whistle. Recorders' lengths depend much on pitch, as shown in the recorder image at "Folk Flutes: Ocarinas, Recorders, Tin Whistles, and Native American Flutes". As for the fife, "Fife musical instrument" mentions length—"The modern fife, pitched to the A♭ above middle C, is about 15.5 inches (39 cm) long".

My image is of some sort of pipe instrument, but I don't know what. It measures 20 1/2" long, 1 1/4" diameter, has a blowhole and six finger holes. The bore is 3/4" diameter, ~2 3/8" deep from one end, ~18" the other end. It isn't a finger-lever band flute or piccolo, and not a vertical-played recorder. Though process of elimination would mean it would be a fife, one other possibility remains—a less formal flute as advertised:

Flutes seem to be the alpha instrument in my discussion about flutes, piccolos, recorders, fifes, and pan flutes.

"Handmade Bamboo Flute" shows a bamboo pipe with a blowhole (square) and 6 finger holes. However, the length, listed as "Approximately 12" long", makes it too short for my pipe to be that kind of flute.

"Make a Professional Sounding Flute for $1" shows another casual use of the word "flute", Coincidentally, it's inexpensively made. The note-tuning methodology, however, might be more difficult to manage.

Sites that Cite Multiple Pipe Instruments, Despite Website Titles

A music teacher at "Is a fife a flute, a piccolo, or something else?" provides a very succinct reply to cover three of the pipe instruments I wondered about: "First off, they are all flutes. The fife and the piccolo are the higher range of the flute family."

Christopher Smith, musician and teacher of music describes and contrasts the same three instruments in more detail:

“Flute” is the term (in English) for a transverse instrument (held sideways) that you blow across. Modern band and orchestra flutes are usually metal and have keys with a separate head joint, but that is a subset of the “flute” category. ... A piccolo (which is short for the Italian “flauto piccolo” or “small flute”) is pitched an octave higher than an orchestra flute, though it has almost exactly the same fingerings (it only goes down to D and when you get into the highest octave, the fingerings can vary from instrument to instrument). This is the instrument that is closest in sound to a fife, not because of its size but because the fife has a smaller bore ...

At "What is the difference between a fife and a flute?" a fife maker provides a helpful overview reply about flutes and fifes:

All fifes are flutes, and most flutes are not fifes. In particular the fife has 6 or seven holes, plays the diatonic major scale, with other half notes cross-fingered or ‘half-holed, played by fingers directly on holes. Fifes are held to the right and blown transversely.

"What Is a Fife?" shows a pic with three dissimilar fife examples. Comparison and contrast of the fife to recorder, flute, and piccolo:

The fife is a small woodwind instrument known especially for its high pitch and loud, piercing volume. It closely resembles a recorder in that it is typically made of wood and utilizes open finger holes instead of levers like the piccolo or flute. It is still reminiscent of the piccolo, however, in that it is held perpendicular to the mouth with the hands to the side, and the mouth does not touch the instrument but instead blows a stream of air through the mouthpiece.

The site also includes historical and usage information.

A subtopic for "What is the difference between 'a flute' and 'a pipe'?" addresses "What are the different types of flutes?" with pictures of musicians from different parts of the world playing recorders, whistles, vertical and traverse flutes, and a pan flute.

"What is a Fife? And how is it in comparison to the Flute/Whistle?" provides a glimpse of a fife description and contrast to similar instruments.

A fife is the mezzosoprano member of the flute family. Any transverse flute with a bell tone ranging from A to C is pretty much a fife. ... The modern fife has, in addition to the six finger-holes, 4, 5 or 6 keys. ... A fife is basically a piccolo without keys. ... The primary difference between any MODERN thing called a fife and any modern thing called a whistle is that the whistle is end blown and the fife is a side blown "traverse" instrument.

Flute

"The birth of the flute" provides overview history of the flute.

The term "flute" was originally applied both to pipe instruments held sideways and pipe instruments held vertically. Thus, the vertically held recorder was also called a "flute." Indeed, up until around the middle of the eighteenth century (the era of Baroque music), the word "flute" was commonly used to describe the recorder. To distinguish the transverse flute from the recorder, it was referred to in Italian as the flauto traverso, in German as the Querflöte, and in French as the flûte traversière-all of which mean "sideways held flute.

"Why is the flute played sideways?" explains:

Most of the woodwind instruments are played vertically. The player blows a stream of air down toward the floor. But the modern flute is played horizontally. ... Playing the transverse flute (sideways) allows the player to blow air across a hole in the lip plate, rather than into a mouthpiece or reeds.

If the flute were played straight, it would need to make sound like a recorder, ... The transverse flute has a wider dynamic range, meaning it can play much softer and much louder than a recorder.

Piccolo

"A tiny instrument with a tremendous history: the piccolo" provides basic history and description.

This high-pitched petite woodwind packs a huge punch. Historically, the piccolo had no keys, but over the years, it has transformed into an instrument similar in fingering and form to the flute.

"'Stars and Stripes Forever' with five piccolos" shows the gutsiness for five piccolo soloists when they move to front and center.

Fife

"Fife" displays a simple pic with labels for parts. The short description: "The Fife is a small flute, usually made of wood. It has a narrow bore, or wind channel, which gives a shriller sound than flutes used in orchestras." The embedded link to Beauty and the Beast YouTube video is a nice touch.

"Fife musical instrument" includes additional info and reiterates the bore and pitch—"small transverse (side-blown) flute with six finger holes and a narrow cylindrical bore that produces a high pitch and shrill tone."

"Historical Fifes" and "The traditional fife" provide historical info and show example pictures. Oldflutes.com emphasizes military association more than musiquemorneaux.com, and also shows "keyed" as well as holes-only fifes.

Recorder

"Why is a recorder called a recorder?" explains the instrument's name:

The word "recorder" comes from the Latin "recordari," which combines "re" (again) and "cor" (heart). The meaning was to record something by going over it in the mind, in the sense of learning "by heart.

"The Recorder is easy to play" shows a nice diagram that identifies parts and fingering positions.

"An Introduction to the Recorder" provides elementary info and an image that shows the association between pitch and size (sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor and bass).

Pan Flutes

This section pertains to the raft-configured instrument that has different-length pipes.

"What is a Pan Flute? - History, Origin & Types" explains:

A pan flute is a musical instrument composed of numerous pipes, lined in a row. ... The pipes are either of different length or are blocked at different points. Either way, when the musician blows across the top of the pipes, each one produces a different note.

"History of the Pan Flute" contains extensive info, although also includes some reasoned speculation.

After primitive man had produced sound by hitting things, he probably accidentally discovered sound production by blowing a pipe, stems of plants (reed or bamboo) or animal bones. The "one pipe pan flute" probably came first.

"Pan" (gods-and-demons.fandom.com) describes the mythology of Pan creating the multiple-pipe musical instrument:

Pan, not knowing which reed Syrinx was transformed into, took seven or nine of them and joined them side by side in decreasing length, thus creating his musical instrument that bore the name of the nymph.

During research about pan pipes, I ran across instructions for making such instruments using easily available items.

"How to Make a Panpipe / Pan Flute" provides pictures and instructions. "How to Make Pan Pipes" describes (accompanied by illustrations) three methods—PVC, straws, and bamboo.

View and select YouTube video links to DIY panpipe projects that use drinking straws.

Additional Resources

Visit the following sites for yet more content and images.

• "The story of Pan - The myth of the pan flute"
• "Pan" (greekgodsandgoddesses.net)
• "What’s the Difference Between a Flute and a Piccolo?"
• "Piccolo vs. Flute: How to Decide Which to Play"
• "Flute And Recorder Similarities And Differences"