Demonstrating a shepherd's whistle

In this episode, I demonstrate a "shepherd's whistle." The source of inspiration was a children's book about making simple instruments. If I remember correctly, the instructions called for a piece of bamboo. Luckily, I live in a place where bamboo is prevalent--South Florida. The whistle, or whistle flute, includes six finger holes and a thumb hole--similar to a recorder. Also, this particular instrument features an air duct assembly as part of the mouthpiece. The air duct assembly includes a square hole cut into the side of the flute. The far edge of the hole (the edge closer to the foot end of the flute) is filed and sanded into a wedge shape. There is also a plug with one side flattened in such a way as to create a wind channel with the inside of the mouthpiece. When you blow into the mouthpiece, the air stream is directed toward the far edge of the square hole. Upon hitting the edge, the air stream produces a sound. Air duct assemblies are common to penny whistles, tin whistles, toy and police whistles and flutes similar to recorders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.