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| Woodwind instrument | |
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| Other names | Tav shvi |
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The shvi (Armenian: շվի, "whistle", pronounced sh-vee) is an Armenian fipple flute with a labium mouth piece.[2] Commonly made of wood (apricot, boxwood, or ebony) or bamboo and up to 18 inches (460 mm) in length, it typically has a range of an octave and a-half.[3] The tav shvi is made from apricot wood, it is up to 18 inches (460 mm) long, and is tuned 1/4 lower producing a more lyrical and intimate sound.
The shvi is up to 12 inches in length and is made of reed, bark of willows, or walnut wood. It has 8 holes on the front, 7 of which are used while playing, and one thumbhole. One octave is obtained by blowing normally into the shvi and a second octave is attained by blowing with slightly more force (i.e., overblowing). The lower octave has a timbre similar to a recorder whereas the higher octave sounds similar to a piccolo or flute. 8-hole traditional flute. The shvi is played with the mouth. Typically, most Armenian duduk or zurna players learn the shvi before moving on to either instrument.
- ^ "Volkan Gücer - Üflemeli Çalgılar". Volkangucer.com. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
- ^ McCollum, Jonathan (2014). "Shvi." New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Second Edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199743391.
- ^ "Description of Armenian shvi, photo, audio preview". Armenianinstruments.am. Retrieved 2014-03-04.