Whistle

A party whistle.

A metal pea whistle.

A whistle or call is a simple aerophone, an instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a large multi-piped church organ.

The whistle often serves as a call for attention and a means of communication, and is used by such diverse people as army commanders, policemen, children, lifeguards, hunters commanding their dogs, or referees in sports games.

During the 19th century the term "whistle" was used primarily to refer to toy whistles, and professional whistles were instead refered to as calls. Many whistles that are used for hunting are still refered to as calls, or game calls.

History

Whistles were used since prehistoric times throughout the world.

The whistle has its roots dating back to ancient China. Chinese night watchmen used to blow into the tops of acorns in order to alert the towns of invading Mongolians. In ancient Egypt two blades of the papyrus plant along the Nile river were held together in between the palms. By blowing into the palms the papyrus leaves would make a loud vibrant sound.

Since the mid 19th century to WWII, whistles were an integral part of daily urban culture.

Whistle-types

Mouth operated whistles are construction wise divided to two types, known as A and B;

• Type A includes all whistles made of one major piece; a tubular - pipe cylindrical shape, round eliptical ocarina like or flat rectangular shape chamber and a whistle- window for air outlet, this type may have stop holes or may include some internal mechanism to change sound. Example of this type are: game calls, cylindrical general service whistles, and round pea whistles.
• Type B includes whistles constructed of more than one major part, such as a sound chamber and another part leading air to it. Examples include the Bosun's whistle and water warblers.

Many types exist, from small police and sports whistles (also called pea whistles), to much larger train whistles, which are steam whistles specifically designed for use on locomotives and ships. Although whistles have a musical characteristic (for example train whistles sound a minor-seventh musical chord) whistles are not usually considered "musical" in the sense of being able to play a chosen melody, but mainly the small whistles can also be used as a – very shrill and loud – noise and rhythm instrument. However, musical whistles exist, including any of several 2-octave musical instruments known as tin whistles (sometimes known as pennywhistles or low whistles), as well as the calliope (an array of separately actuable steam whistles), organ pipes and the recorder. Pea whistles are used in jazz and Latin music as a percussion instrument, and children often use them as a toy music instrument.

The whistle works by causing the smooth flow of air to be split by a narrow blade, sometimes called a fipple, creating a turbulent vortex which causes the air to vibrate. By attaching a resonant chamber to the basic whistle, it may be tuned to a particular note and made louder. The length of the chamber typically defines the resonance frequency. A whistle may also contain a small light ball, usually called the pea, which rattles around inside, creating a chaotic vibrato effect that intensifies the sound. Japanese bird whistles use several small balls and are half filled with water in order to reproduce the sound of a bird song.

A steam whistle works the same way, but using steam as a source of pressure: such whistles can produce extremely high sound intensities.

Sometimes, unintentional whistles can be set up. A common one is the opened sunroof of a car: air passing over the top of the vehicle can, at certain speeds, strike the back edge of the sunroof, creating a very low frequency whistle which is resonated by the closed interior of the car. Since the sound frequency is infrasonic, around 4 Hz, the effect is very uncomfortable for occupants, who feel the vibration rather than hear it. Such low frequencies can induce nausea, headache, disorientation and dizziness. The effect can be prevented by opening a side window a few inches. Subsonic whistles have also been developed for use as weapons, or to deliberately create a sense of uneasiness in an enemy.

Various Fields & Usages

Professional whistles

Professional whistles are those types that are used in public services such as the police or railway conductors.

Few types of whistles were in use in different countries and periods. The term General Service Whistle (GSW) usually refers to the common British "Bobby whistle", a cylindrical two-note whistle that was in use from the 1870s in Great Britain and later all over the world.

There are in general seven basic professional type whistles.

• Round pea whistles
• Beaufort whistles (Conical shaped whistle) some times in metal sheeth and called cased beaufort
• General Service Whistle
• Double end whistle or composite whistle that is made of two whsitle joined top to top, all constructed as Type A
• Bosun's calls
• Escargot-type (or referee) whistles
• Multi pipe or chamber whistles, mostly made of two or more joint pipes with and inline mouthpiece.

Police whistles

Examples of police whistles

In England since the Metropolitan Police Services inception in 1829, officers have been issued with the "Metropolitan" whistle. Prior to this, police used hand rattles, with whistles only being used as musical instruments or toys. Both rattles and whistles were used to call for back-up in areas where neighbourhood beats overlapped, and following their success in London, the whistle was adopted by most counties in England.

J Stevens & Son & J Dixon & sons made police whistles from around the 1840s, T Yates made Beaufort whistles for the Liverpool Police in the 1870s. The 1880s and 1890s saw police whistles made by W Dowler & Sons, J Hudson & Co, J Barrall, R A Walton,H A Ward, A De Courcy & Co manufactured the same about 1900.

Police whistles fell largely into disuse in some countries in 1969, when early hand-held radios were brought into service. With the rise of the motor car, the whistle was no longer usefully audible in urban areas. The whistle is still used by some police forces today, and engraved ceremonial versions are sometimes presented to police officers upon occasions such as their retirement.

Army

Armies have used whistles ever since Roman times, when round type bronze whistles were used. The later ones of western armies since mid 19th century have carried regiment names, numbers, dates, broad arrows and government inspection marks.

Although the majority of whistles in use were GSWs, Beaufort type and cased Beaufort whistles were also common for many years. WWI GSWs are sometimes refered to as "Over the Top" whistles.

19th century armies used the Fife or army pipe, a two- or three-holed whistle that could play march music along with a drummer or horn reed type whistles at time with a valve to call for attack.

Navy

The Bosun's call, also known as Boatswain's call or Bosun whistle, is a traditional instrument believed to exist since Roman and Ancient Greek time for keeping the rowing strokes in pace. In the days of sail boats, orders aboard ship were piped on the Bosun's Call, whose high-pitched whistle could be heard against the strongest wind. The whistle is still used for the world's navies and training cadets, though usually more for ceremonial purposes, as when receiving a high commander.

• The Bosun pipers at ships have a code language consisting of series of long and short notes of various pitches assigning the ships crew to breakfasts, dinners, to hoist sails, gather on board or other special missions.

• The bosun call can be manipulated to play any melody using the hand and fingers. Some old sailors are real virtuosos players using the whistle as a musical instrument.

• A 17th century Spanish Bosun whistle made of gold was recovered offshore by a Florida based treasure hunting company, and was sold at an auction for $60,000.

• Bosun calls are traditionally made of Silver, Brass and copper .

• A Gold Bosun whistle from Henry VIII's time is displayed at the Chichester Museum in England.

• Today Bosun calls are sold as at gift and souvenir shops in great harbour cities around the world. Those that were in genuine use on ships usually carry the ship's name, and early ones have silver hallmarks of their maker and date.

• Silver hallmarked bosun whistles of the 18th and 19th centuries mostly of British makers are rare collector's items.

• The Bosun call is a (Type B whistle)is constructed from few parts usually refered to as Mouthpiece Gun keel Shackle buoy & Hole.

Industrial whistles

Industrial whistles are used for signalling and timekeeping both on railroad and ships, and in factories. Most of these whistles were steam powered and not standardized. Individual locomotives could be identified by their whistles. At noontime in industrial areas up into the 1950s whistles of every pitch could be heard, as each factory had a boiler and a whistle, if not full steam power.

Safety

Whistles are often used as warning devices or as safety devices serving to attract attention to the user. Some cyclists use a whistle as a substitute for a bell or horn. It should be noted, however, that many jurisdictions require that the warning device be permanently attached to the bicycle.

Rescue or survival whistles are often packed in survival kits and attached to personal flotation devices to allow a victim to signal for help. The whistle is audible at much greater distances than the human voice, and is less likely to cause exhaustion if used repeatedly. Survival whistles differ from pea whistles in that they are usually flat, so that water cannot collect inside if the user is immersed, for example after falling overboard from a boat.

Whistles can also produce sounds at pitches inaudible to the human ear such as dog whistles which can be heard by dogs at a range beyond that of human sensory perception, or at least conscious perception.

Transportation

Boats Marine

Ship's whistles must be very loud for safety on the seas. Modern ship's whistles can be electrically or steam driven. RMS Queen Mary was originally equipped with three electric Tyfon whistles in 1932. They could be heard at least ten miles away and were tuned to 55 Hz, a low bass A note that was chosen for maximum passenger comfort despite the high sound pressure level. One of the three whistles was taken back to Kockum Sonics in Malmö, Sweden, where it was refurbished for a new life of service aboard the RMS Queen Mary 2. Modern IMO regulations specify ships' whistle frequencies to be in the range 70-200 Hz for vessels that are over 200 meters in length. Traditionally, the lower the frequency, the larger the ship. The Queen Mary 2, being 345 meters long, was given the lowest possible frequency (70 Hz) for her regulation whistles which means she carries both 70 Hz modern whistles and a single vintage 55 Hz whistle.

Trains

Railroads in particular used elaborate whistle codes for communication both within the train and with other trains. These methods are maintained today with motor-powered air horns. Trucks also use air horns, especially since they often have air brakes and so there is already a source of compressed air on board.

Train whistles generally produce three or four different frequencies at the same time to produce a non-major chord that is distinct, loud, and low in pitch.

Sporting

Whistles are used by referees to officiate sporting matches. The whistle was first used to stop a sports match by William Atack in an 1884 game of rugby in New Zealand. Before that game referees used their voices to control play.

Some sports use different types of whistles, but one used around the world in many sports is the Fox 40, a pealess whistle which creates sound using air pressure only.

The Fox 40 is used in Basketball, Hockey, Ice Hockey, Soccer and numerous other games, as it can be heard easily over the noise of the audience.

Another whistle widely used for sports such as Touch Football, Rugby League and Rugby Union is the Thunderer 58.5 by Acme Whistles. It is a metal whistle containing a cork pea. It is used mainly because of its design that allows the user to create a deep, low-pitch shrill that can be heard from hundreds of meters away.

Toys

Ever since the dawn of history children were given whistles that served there natural instinct to call for attention, archeological finds in many areas in the middle east greece, ancient rome, china and south america show bird shaped clay whistles that were made as toys. we can only assume that whistles made of other materials were made but these did not last. Water Warblers or water whistles from ancient times were found as well, and since the 17th century there are many that survived with collectors and museums.

Penny toy whistles and toys developed in the U.S.A with patents issued as early as 1850s and in france and germany a whole industry developed making children toys and whistles of all kinds.

Since the development of Plastics and industrial manufacturing in the 1930s we can find hundreds of patents ande thousands of toy whistles that apeal to collectors. The 1950s and 60s brough about an endless stream of whistles made in about every western country and in growing quantities from Hong Kong, china, Taiwan, Korea & japan .

Hunting

Hunters used whistles that immitate animal's & bird calls since at least the 17th century . Bird calls & other animal's call are used by proffesional hunters and were use by the upper class extensively for fox hunting and game call which were considered as sports . Duck call, Goose call, Fox call, Owl hooters, Dove calls,are some of the more common ones . There also bird call whistles that are operated by a clock work mechanism as in Cookoo clocks or hand operated based on friction .

Ethnic whistles & Folk art

Most of the old cultures from Africa to South America, from China to North America every ethnic culture had it's traditional whistles drums and noisemakers to use for dance music and rituals. These types are usually made from organic materials or clay and carry characteristics of local arts, designs and musical heritage.

Ornamental - Jewels

Whistles made as jewelery were a popular demand from the 18th todate, silversmiths mostly in france germany and england & U.S.A mostly, though in other countries as well, were making these for the upper classes. later on in the 20th century various whistles some of cheaper made were popular and are still made .

Music

A samba whisle with three tones

The whistle is used in samba percussion groups as a leader help to catch the percussionnist attention. The traditional samba whistle has three tones, but as the number of musicians rises in the percussion section, pealess whistles became more popular due to their high pitch and their loud sound. The Slide Whistle or Swanee whistle, was a common instrument in some types of music and popular as a musical effect on earl radio days and in Films & T.V. music.

Pitch pipes are reed whistles used to help in tunning musical instruments and are common since the 1850s .

Others

From shepherds whistles and "Swiss warblers" to whistles combined with swords which were used by the Mongolians to scare their enemies to Chinese pigeon whistles and to japanese & chinese Kite whistles, from comunication tube whistles to whistling kettles .

Materials

Mouth - whistles are made of 10 basic materials including ;

• A) Metal silver & gold,
• B) Organic materials ( Bone, horn, ivory, Vegetable ivory animal tooth.
• C) Wood .
• D) Clay.
• E) Stone & Minerals
• F) Polymers, ( Plastic , Bakelite , Celluloid, Vinyl Etc.
• G) Rubber .
• H) Paper , Card board .
• I) Glass.
• J) Water whistles combinning one or more of these materials and some involve the addition of water to work .Water whistles ,or water warblers.

Manufactureres

England, British makers;

• S Auld
• J Barrall
• Bent & Parker
• Black & Co.
• Coney & Co.
• A De Courcy & Co
• J Dixon & Sons
• W Dowler & Sons
• G & J W Hawksley
• J Hudson & Co
• J Linegar
• S Mordan
• J Stevens & Sons
• R A Walton
• H A Ward
• Rudd Bros.
• H & T
• Smith & Wright
• Jensen & Co.
• T Yates

U.S.A.

• Bridgeport Gun & Implement Co. (B.G. I)
• B & R
• Ludwig & Ludwig
• Horstmann Philadelphia
• Overmann Wheel Co.
• Perco Philadelphia
• F L Johnson
• Wilson
• Unioun HDW Co.
• Reach
• Frank Holton & Co.
• Kirchoff
• The Pettibone Brs. Manufacturing Co.
• North Bros. Phila.
• American Whistles Co.
• Iver Johnson Co.
• Mossberg Wrench Co.
• Colsoff Ohio
• Seron MFG. Co.

France

• Baduel
• Manufacture Francaise D'arms Saint Etienne
• Elless ( M Truffart )
• H Nicolas
• Antonin Louis
• Jean Raymond
• Verney-Carron
• Januel
• R Riflo
• A Saint Hubert

Germany

• Calura
• Clejuso (Clements & Jung)
• Duetsche Signal Instumenten Fabrik Markneukirchen
• Firma Crone& Co.(Van Der Crone)
• Hubertus
• J H Zimmermann Liepzig

Japan

• Maruanaka
• Matbutani
• Noble whistles
• Seizo

It should be noted that this is partial list and beside many other makers there are makers known in most of the European countries to many in Asia South America Australia & The Far East.

Patents & Inventors

In 1868 Joseph Hudson of Birmingham, England, made the first whistle ever to be used by a football referee. New Zealand referee William Atack was the world's first to use a whistle to stop a game of sport in 1884. It was used for the first time (allegedly) at a game held at Nottingham Forest, prior to this referees used handkerchiefs to attract players' attention.

By 1884, Joseph Hudson had perfected his whistles and he released the world's most successful whistle to date, the "Acme Thunderer" (the first ever pea whistle). The whistle has been used as an alarm or attention-getting instrument by all manner of industries, sports and revellers. It continues to sell in great quantities throughout the world.

Collecting Whistles & Research

Whistles were very little research or documentation in writing, as for example when one comes to search the makers of whistles made in France Germany or USA or Japan it is surprising to see that no documentation exsist and still we know nothing of a Major company as The B & R who made whistles for many years . Exept for very few early academic articles and patent information(For USA Patents) available today on Google search engine, It seems that many books about Duck calls and game calls were written and few dealing with steam whistles, But only one attemt to deal with Proffesional whistles, Toy whistles and other types. A short time living quarterly "whistle notes" intiated by J. Fitch survived for 4 issues and waqs the first serious attemt which gave a glimpse into a world of whistles. Only one book published in the USA about whistles, James L. Dundas (1995) Collecting Whistles.isbn: 0-88740-859-1 . It was not until 1998 That Simon Topman & M. Gilchrist published with the aid of J Hudson & Co. the major book "Collecting police whistles and Simmilar types" isbn:0-9533237-0-6 in England. to be followed by two mor books dealing with mouth whistles by M Gilchrist (Whistles) and (More whistles).

The Books certainly inspired a growing community of collectors to look for whistles and research the subject. The Ebay web site along with other web markets which started at 1995 gave many collectors new possibilities market which started along with other sites gave rise to collecting all items and whistles as well. The web gave new possibilities for reasearch & old catalogs by7 making all many thing accesible and in a faster way .

External links

• The Botswain's Call handbook The Marine Society & Sea Cadets]

• Clay Whistles
• Whistle Museum