Shvi

Infobox Instrument
color1=#FFD700
color2=#FFEC8B
name=Shvi


names=Shvi
classification=
*Woodwind
*Wind
*Aerophone
range=
related=
*Dilli Kaval

The Shvi ( _hy. Շվի) (pronounced "sh-vee") which means whistle in Armenian, is a woodwind instrument with a libium mouth piece. Commonly made of wood (apricot,buxus,ebony ) or bamboo and up to 12 inches in length, it typically has a range of an octave and a-half. The "Tav Shvi" is made from apricot wood, it is up to 18 inches 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, the bark of willows, or walnut wood. It has 8 holes on the front, 7 of which are used while playing, and 1 thumbhole. One octave is obtained by blowing normally into the shvi and a second octave is attained by blowing with slightly more force. 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. Very similar to Turkish Dilli Kaval but the opening of mouthpiece is wider, and gives louder voice. Made usually in two pieces for fine tuning (Bb, B, C#). Typically, most Armenian duduk or zurna players learn the shvi before moving on to either instrument.

References

*Ararat Petrossian - "Melody of Sunik", Aya Sofia Records, 1995.
*Nor Dar - "Opus of the Lizard", Libra Music, 1997.
*Various Artists - "Kalaschjan - Rural and Urban Traditional Music from Armenia", Weltmusic, 1992.
*Soviet Music and Society Under Lenin and Stalin By Neil Edmunds

ee also

*List of woodwind instruments
*Musical instrument
*Wind instrument
*Duduk Instrument
*Dilli Kaval
*Kaval

External links

* [http://www.duduk.ca/dudukhtml/shvi.html Shvi by Master Arthur Gregoryan]
* [http://www.duduk.com/ Duduk]
* [http://www.worldmusicalinstruments.com/MusicalInstrumentList.asp?CategoryID=166 Shvi Information]
* [http://members.tripod.com/~zangezur/music/shvi.html Shvi Information 2]
* [http://www.geocities.com/tomzara/shvi.htm More Shvi Info]
* [http://www.volkangucer.com/shevi.gif]
* [http://www.volkangucer.com/winds.html]
* [http://www.armenianinstruments.am/instr_shvi.html Karen Hakobyan - who prepares professional armenian music instruments]