The eunuch flute, onion flute, or mirliton (; , ''flûte à l'oignon'' or ''mirliton''; ) is a

membranophone A membranophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a acoustic membrane, vibrating stretched membrane. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument ...

that was in use during the 16th and 17th centuries. It produces a sound akin to a

comb and paper Comb and paper is a rudimentary musical instrument which consists of a comb with a piece of paper pressed to it. To play it, one has to press their lips to the paper pressed to the comb and sing or vocalize into it. The voice makes the paper vibr ...

and is still manufactured as a

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

. The sound of the eunuch flute resembles that of a

kazoo The kazoo is a musical instrument that adds a ''buzzing'' timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (itself a membranophone), one of a class of instruments that modify the player's v ...

. Unlike the kazoo, it is held transversally (basically a ''transverse kazoo'') against the mouth while the user vocalizes into the aperture. The eunuch flute consists of a

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

en tube widening out slightly to form a bell. The far end of the tube is closed by means of a very fine membrane similar to an

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

skin stretched across the aperture like the

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. It is often distinguished from parchment, either by being made from calfskin (rather than the skin of other animals), or simply by being of a higher quality. Vellu ...

of a

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

. The mouthpiece, a simple round hole, is pierced a couple of inches below the membrane. By singing into this hole, the performer sets up vibrations in the membrane (technically, a mirliton), which intensifies the sound and changes its

timbre In music, timbre (), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes sounds according to their source, such as choir voices and musical instrument ...

to a bleating quality. A movable cap fits over the membrane to protect it.

Marin Mersennus Marin Mersenne, Minims (religious order), OM (also known as Marinus Mersennus or ''le Père'' Mersenne; ; 8 September 1588 – 1 September 1648) was a French polymath whose works touched a wide variety of fields. He is perhaps best known today ...

states that the

vibration Vibration () is a mechanical phenomenon whereby oscillations occur about an equilibrium point. Vibration may be deterministic if the oscillations can be characterised precisely (e.g. the periodic motion of a pendulum), or random if the os ...

s of the membrane improve the sound of the voice and by reflecting it, give it an added charm. The Irish writer

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

wrote a series of fifty-nine small poems in French called mirlitonnades after the instrument. The Creole composer

Edmond Dédé Edmond Dédé (November 20, 1827 – January 5, 1901) was an American musician and composer. A Free Negro, free-born Louisiana Creole people, Creole, he moved to Europe in 1855. He worked in Bordeaux for more than forty years, first as assistant ...

wrote ''Méphisto Masqué'' for grand orchestra and a fanfare of mirlitone instruments.

Notes

References

* Attribution: * Early musical instruments Singing membranophones Toy instruments and noisemakers {{Flute-stub

See also

Notes

References