How the svirel makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the svirel belongs to the flutes (edge-blown): an air jet is split on a sharp edge, setting the air column vibrating – flutes, recorders, whistles and panpipes.
More broadly it is one of the aerophones (wind instruments), where sound comes from vibrating air.
Press play above and watch the spectrum: the evenly spaced peaks are harmonics, and their relative strength is what gives the instrument its character.
From Wikipedia
Svirel (Russian: свирель) is a Slavic woodwind instrument of the end-blown flute type traditionally used in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It is a parallel-bore flute. The six-hole versions are similar to the tin whistle; the ten-hole versions are fully chromatic.
The traditional Russian svirel has not been extensively studied. Specialists have long tried to relate the present day pipe instruments to their old Russian names. Most often, the chroniclers used three names for this type of instrument: svirel, sopel (sopilka) and tsevnitsa. The Ukrainian term for the instrument is sopilka and in Belarusian the term is dudka.
Other flutes
Frequently asked questions
What does a svirel sound like?
As one of the flutes, its sound comes from the way an air jet is split on a sharp edge, setting the air column vibrating.
What type of instrument is the svirel?
It is classified as flutes (edge-blown) (Hornbostel–Sachs 421.222.12).
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q4410796 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Svirel – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Andreykor – CC BY-SA 4.0