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EUNUCH FLUTE

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 891 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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EUNUCH (Gr. Evvoi3Xos)

EUNUCH See also:
FLUTE
FLUTE , or OMoN FLUTE (Fr. fliite eunuque, fluste a l'See also:

ONION (Fr. oignon, Lat. unio, liberally unity, oneness, applied to a large pearl and to a species of onion)

onion, mirliton; Ger. Zwiebelfldte), a See also:

wind See also:

INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument in use during the 16th and 17th centuries, producing See also:

MUSIC

music akin to the See also:

COMB (a word common in various forms to Teut. languages, cf. Ger. Kamm, the Indo-Europ. origin of which is seen in yoµros, a peg or pin, and Sanskrit, gambhas, a tooth)

comb-music of the nursery, and still manufactured as a See also:

toy (mirliton). The onion flute consists of a wooden See also:

TUBE (Lat. tuba)

tube widening out slightly to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form a See also:

bell. The upper end of the tube is closed by means of a very See also:

FINE

fine membrane similar to an onion skin stretched across the See also:

APERTURE (from Lat. aperire, to open)

aperture like the vellum of a See also:

DRUM (early forms drome or dromme, a word common to many Teut. languages, cf. Dan. tromme, Ger. Trommel: the word is ultimately the same as " trumpet," and is probably onomatopoeic in origin; it appears late in Eng. about the middle of the 16th century)

drum. The See also:

MOUTHPIECE (Fr. embouchure; Ger. Mundstuck; Ital. bocchino)

mouthpiece, a See also:

SIMPLE

simple See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round hole, is pierced a couple of inches below the membrane; into this hole the performer sings, his See also:

VOICE (Fr. voix, from Lat. vox)

voice setting up vibrations in the membrane, which thus intensifies the See also:

sound and changes its timbre to a bleating quality. A movable cap fits over the membrane to protect it. See also:

MERSENNE, MARIN

Mersenne has given a See also:

DRAWING

drawing of the eunuch flute together with a description; he states that the vibrations of the membrane improve the sound of the voice, and by reflecting it, give it an added See also:

CHARM (through the Fr. from the Lat. carmen, a song)

charm. There were concerts of these flutes in four or five parts in See also:

France, adds Mersenne, and they ha.d the See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage over other kinds of reproducing more nearly the sound of the voice.

End of Article: EUNUCH FLUTE

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