Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
instrumento de viento de bisel
English translation:
ductless notched wind instrument / aerophone
Added to glossary by
Matt Valentine
Apr 16, 2015 23:16
9 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Spanish term
instrumento de viento de bisel
Spanish to English
Art/Literary
Music
Musical instruments
Hi,
I'm translating a descriptions of musical instruments for an exhibition. The text is in Spanish and is to be translated into British English. The expression features in a description of a "quena", which is an Andean flute. It is provided below to give you full context:
"La quena (en quechua: qina) es un instrumento de viento de bisel, usado de modo tradicional por los habitantes de los Andes centrales."
What would be the most idiomatic way of expressing the above-requested phrase please? Thanks in advance.
I'm translating a descriptions of musical instruments for an exhibition. The text is in Spanish and is to be translated into British English. The expression features in a description of a "quena", which is an Andean flute. It is provided below to give you full context:
"La quena (en quechua: qina) es un instrumento de viento de bisel, usado de modo tradicional por los habitantes de los Andes centrales."
What would be the most idiomatic way of expressing the above-requested phrase please? Thanks in advance.
Proposed translations
(English)
4 | ductless notched wind instrument / aerophone | Charles Davis |
4 +2 | bevelled wind instrument | Natalia Ulla |
Proposed translations
46 mins
Selected
ductless notched wind instrument / aerophone
"Bevelled" is of course the literal translation, but I've never heard of a bevelled wind instrument and I can't find any genuine English references to this term.
This is tricky, because as far as I can see your text is actually incorrect. The Spanish Wikipedia article on the quena says "La quena (en quechua: qina) es un instrumento de viento de bisel".
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quena
And this seems to be where the reference in your text comes from. But I don't think it's true.
An "aerófono de bisel" (aerophone is a technical term for a wind instrument) is a fipple flute or fipple aerophone. Here's an article on the subject, which clearly illustrates the nature of the "bisel" type of mouthpiece:
https://organologia-grupo2.wikispaces.com/Aerófonos de bisel
It's a family that includes the recorder, the flute, the tin whistle and the ocarina, among others. Here's an explanation of the fipple, and you'll see it's the same thing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fipple
This type of instrument is also known as a duct flute.
But a quena (or kena) is not a fipple flute. It has a mouthpiece consisting simply of an oblique cut and a notch. It's a ductless flute.
"2. Vertical tubular flute with ductless notched mouthpiece. Single-tubed (open distal end), ductless (with a notch for a mouthpiece; the player focuses the air stream directly upon the sound-producing edge in the shape of a notch), vertically or diagonally held, end-blown, with finger holes. Some examples are the Bolivian and Peruvian kena (quena) [...]"
Dale A. Olsen, World Flutelore: Folktales, Myths, and Other Stories of Magical Flute Power, 5
https://books.google.es/books?id=3bUPBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5&lpg=PA5...
So the correct translation of "de bisel" would be duct or fipple, but this would be untrue as a description of a quena, so I would advise you to put "ductless", with or without "notched".
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Note added at 50 mins (2015-04-17 00:07:26 GMT)
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By the way, the recorder (flauta dulce in Spanish) is called a flauta de bisel in European Portuguese. The recorder is the classic fipple flute and is radically different from a quena, as I've said.
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Note added at 1 hr (2015-04-17 00:18:16 GMT)
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I have found one English reference to a "bevelled flute" in a respectable English source, but it's about a prehistoric flute from Geißenklösterle and I think it's a literal translation of "abgeschrägte" in German (as in the source Natalia has cited).
https://books.google.es/books?id=dHbqAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA49&lpg=PA...
"Bevelled" is not used in any English manual on wind instruments.
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Note added at 1 hr (2015-04-17 01:07:02 GMT)
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A further reference to show what "bisel" means in Spanish in this context:
"Se dice que un instrumento musical vibra por bisel, cuando su sonido es generado por la vibración del aire expelido o insuflado al chocar éste contra un borde rígido afilado o pieza denominada bisel."
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisel_(música)
This is tricky, because as far as I can see your text is actually incorrect. The Spanish Wikipedia article on the quena says "La quena (en quechua: qina) es un instrumento de viento de bisel".
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quena
And this seems to be where the reference in your text comes from. But I don't think it's true.
An "aerófono de bisel" (aerophone is a technical term for a wind instrument) is a fipple flute or fipple aerophone. Here's an article on the subject, which clearly illustrates the nature of the "bisel" type of mouthpiece:
https://organologia-grupo2.wikispaces.com/Aerófonos de bisel
It's a family that includes the recorder, the flute, the tin whistle and the ocarina, among others. Here's an explanation of the fipple, and you'll see it's the same thing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fipple
This type of instrument is also known as a duct flute.
But a quena (or kena) is not a fipple flute. It has a mouthpiece consisting simply of an oblique cut and a notch. It's a ductless flute.
"2. Vertical tubular flute with ductless notched mouthpiece. Single-tubed (open distal end), ductless (with a notch for a mouthpiece; the player focuses the air stream directly upon the sound-producing edge in the shape of a notch), vertically or diagonally held, end-blown, with finger holes. Some examples are the Bolivian and Peruvian kena (quena) [...]"
Dale A. Olsen, World Flutelore: Folktales, Myths, and Other Stories of Magical Flute Power, 5
https://books.google.es/books?id=3bUPBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5&lpg=PA5...
So the correct translation of "de bisel" would be duct or fipple, but this would be untrue as a description of a quena, so I would advise you to put "ductless", with or without "notched".
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 50 mins (2015-04-17 00:07:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
By the way, the recorder (flauta dulce in Spanish) is called a flauta de bisel in European Portuguese. The recorder is the classic fipple flute and is radically different from a quena, as I've said.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2015-04-17 00:18:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I have found one English reference to a "bevelled flute" in a respectable English source, but it's about a prehistoric flute from Geißenklösterle and I think it's a literal translation of "abgeschrägte" in German (as in the source Natalia has cited).
https://books.google.es/books?id=dHbqAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA49&lpg=PA...
"Bevelled" is not used in any English manual on wind instruments.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2015-04-17 01:07:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
A further reference to show what "bisel" means in Spanish in this context:
"Se dice que un instrumento musical vibra por bisel, cuando su sonido es generado por la vibración del aire expelido o insuflado al chocar éste contra un borde rígido afilado o pieza denominada bisel."
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisel_(música)
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks, Charles!"
+2
29 mins
bevelled wind instrument
Se refiere a ¨instrumento de viento con boquilla/embocadura de bisel¨)
Instrumentos de madera o maderas. El timbre de estos instrumentos es más suave y melodioso que el de los metales. El sonido se produce soplando sobre un agujero (embocadura de bisel) o haciendo vibrar una caña de lengüeta doble o simple.
Reference:
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Patricia Fierro, M. Sc.
2 mins
|
neutral |
Charles Davis
: I don't believe this term exists in English. You need to provide an example of "bevelled" applied to wind instruments from a reliable musical source.
18 mins
|
Maybe a better translation then would be ¨wind instrument with a bevelled mouthpiece¨ ( http://blog.iesvalledelsaja.es/?p=200) Thanks Charles.
|
|
agree |
Rebecca Reddin
: It is an established term in musical instrument-making. http://www.museumofworldmusic.com/ney.html, http://www.theodora.com/encyclopedia/r/reed_instruments.html... http://www.jlsmithco.com/CORK-PADS,
3 days 14 hrs
|
Thanks Rebecca!
|
Reference comments
20 mins
Reference:
transliterated as: wind instrument bezel / wind instrument of bezel
Runa Marka
www.runamarkausa.com/2013/03/the-quena-quechua-qina-is-wind...
The Quena (Quechua: qina) is a wind instrument bezel, traditional mode used by the inhabitants of the central Andes.
ANFITEATRO NATURAL EN QUEBRADA DE LAS ... - Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/.../3626930544/ -
Jun 14, 2009 - (The quena is a wind instrument of bezel, used by the ancient inhabitants of the Andean highlands to appease the days ...
Quena - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quena
The quena is a South American wind instrument, mostly used by Andean musicians .....
www.runamarkausa.com/2013/03/the-quena-quechua-qina-is-wind...
The Quena (Quechua: qina) is a wind instrument bezel, traditional mode used by the inhabitants of the central Andes.
ANFITEATRO NATURAL EN QUEBRADA DE LAS ... - Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/.../3626930544/ -
Jun 14, 2009 - (The quena is a wind instrument of bezel, used by the ancient inhabitants of the Andean highlands to appease the days ...
Quena - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quena
The quena is a South American wind instrument, mostly used by Andean musicians .....
Peer comments on this reference comment:
neutral |
Charles Davis
: These are probably machine translations. Wind instrument (of) bezel is not an English musical term.
3 mins
|
disagree |
Joel Schaefer
: As a musician, I second that "bezel" is simply wrong in this context.
8 hrs
|
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