NEWS RELEASE March 1997 --
OLDEST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PLAYS NOTES OF DO, RE, MI SCALE.
An ancient bone flute segment, estimated at about 43,000 up to 82,000
years old, was found recently at a Neanderthal campsite by Dr. Ivan
Turk, a paleontologist at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences in
Ljubljana. It's the first flute ever to be associated with Neanderthals
and its age makes it the oldest known musical instrument. The find is
also important for its implications regarding the evolution of musical
scales.
Canadian musicologist Bob Fink, after correspondence and support from
with Prof. Bonnie Blackwell, part of the team of archaeologists and
earth scientists dealing with the find, and after research and many
experiments, has concluded that the 4 notes on the bone flute will play
notes "consistent with the diatonic scale, commonly known as the do, re,
mi scale."
Said Fink, "The likeliest match to the scale is of 4 notes in the minor
scale, a flat 3rd (Mi), Fa, Sol, and flat La. The Mi in this case would
be closer to a 'neutral' 3rd, often called a 'blue note.' Played outside
of any scale, the notes sound like do, re, mi, fa. A second alternative
match is also within the limits of the tolerances we selected. The
limits are based on what an average ear might notice as being in or out
of tune."
A look at the mathematical odds, by Fink and a colleague, Mike Finley,
whether this could occur by chance, ended up being only one in hundreds.
"It's very unlikely the holes could be spaced like that by chance," Fink
said. Fink built a mock-up flute using the spacings of holes from the
bone flute, and found the results to be virtually the same as the sound
of the opening 4 notes of the Irish tune, "Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the
pipes are calling..."
Fink added, "This is the most powerful practical evidence ever in
support of believing there is a natural or acoustical foundation to the
evolution of the diatonic scale." It is also in line with University of
California's (Berkeley) Prof. Anne D. Kilmer's deciphering of the
world's oldest known song from clay tablets, 4,000 years old, indicating
the use of both harmony and of the diatonic scale. It is also supported
by recent psychological studies by Trehub (U. of Toronto), Schellenberg
(U. of Windsor), and Kagan (Harvard) of infants. These studies (Vol. 7
#5 Sept '96 of "Psychological Science") showed musically untutored
infants preferred natural (acoustic) intervals over dissonant intervals.
An article on the flute research is being prepared for publication
likely soon in Bel Canto magazine: http://belcanto.com
The entire research paper will be found soon (Mid March-April) under
the website: http://www.webster.sk.ca/greenwich/fl-compl.htm
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Bel Canto magazine (UK) Hannah Lambert, editor;
Prof. Bonnie Blackwell, Geology Dept. Queens College CUNY, Flushing,
NY, USA;
Birmingham Zoo (Alabama);
Mike Finley, Saskatoon;
Numerous flute-makers and companies (on the net);
Treasures of the Earth Co.;
Prof. Ernie Walker, archaeologist, and colleagues, Univ. of Sask,
Saskatoon.
SUMMARY of research attached below:
Illus: 43-82,000 year old Cave Bear femur bone segment ("fl2hdpic.gif"
or "fl2hdpic.htm")
(NOTE TO MEDIA: If "fl2hdpic" graphic of bone flute fails to come
through, then email your fax number or snail-mail address and graphic
will be sent that way.)
SUMMARY of RESEARCH PAPER:
Holes 2, 3 & 4 on the bone (as shown, from left to right) stand in a
significant relationship to each other: The distance between holes 2 and
3 is virtually twice that between holes 3 and 4. The line-up of the
holes indicate that it is a flute.
This means we are looking at a whole-tone and a half-tone somewhere
within a scale. Such a combination of whole-tone and half-tone is the
heart and soul of what makes up 7-note diatonic scales. Without making
even one more measurement beyond this, we can already conclude: These
three notes on the Neanderthal bone flute are inescapeably diatonic and
will sound like a near-perfect fit within ANY kind of standard diatonic
scale, modern or antique. We simply cannot conceive of it being
otherwise, unless we deny it is a flute at all. In essence, the whole
story is simply that.
Sometimes the simplicity of a situation, as outlined just above, is so
simple that we are unnecessarily suspicious of the obvious -- that it's
just "too easy" to accept it at first glance, and we tend to
over-complicate things to avoid appearing hasty. Therefore, many
experiments and other approaches were tried, but the simplicity of the
issue remains intact.
The remaining hole (left-most first hole on the picture) is the only
clue we have to answer the remaining questions, which is really the bulk
of the paper's subject. To those questions, as one can read, we have
come up with a fit to the Mi, Fa, Sol, La part of a minor scale, which
includes a flatted La and a "neutral" third for Mi, widely used in many
cultures, sometimes called a "blue" note (match no. 2 in the paper).
Another match was also considered viable (no. 1).
To summarize the remaining questions taken up in the paper:
a) Is this remaining hole able to produce yet another diatonic note
consistent with the other 3? Within variations of our permitted
tolerances, and with clear parallels to human musical history, the
answer is yes for any of the matches considered. (See the appendix,
quotes & notes for what are acceptable dimensions needed to claim a
fit.)
b) Where in the scale will the bone's set of 4 notes fit? We have
assumed that the flute plays a larger scale, as it is most unlikely
you'd have a scale of only 4 notes without a keynote, or with the first
note being the keynote. Since a flute's keynote and its octave-up can
already be played without drilling any holes at all, it is safe to
assume that the 4 holes made in the bone segment would likely be for
additional notes (as in match no. 2). Only two notes would then remain
missing to complete the full scale. One would only drill a separate
keynote hole into the marrow if no other exit from the internal hollow
of the bone existed (which is remotely possible in the case of match no.
1, if this hole is at the knobby-end of the femur).
c) Which way do the 4 notes run relative to the blow-in end? Is it from
the left to right (as is assumed in the paper's drawing), or right to
left? (Note: If we had assumed it was the opposite direction from what's
shown in the bone drawing, then we'd get the best of all matches so far
(which would be a match that is the reverse of match no. 2), namely:
Mi(major), Fa, Sol, and La (major) -- all holes measuring within about a
1/16 of a tone tolerance. But this reverse match depends upon whether
bone length in that direction would be sufficient to reach the necessary
distance to the blow-in end.
d) How long was the original flute? 37 centimeters (+1/-5cm) -- is our
present estimate based on empirical measurements of commercial
flute-lengths and interpolating these to the bone segment. There is a
difference between air-column length needed to produce musical notes and
the actual (shorter) flute length needed to sustain this oscillating
air-column. Our empirical results indicate the flute need be about 87%
of the functionally operating air-column of the fundamental keynote.
OTHER FACTORS NEGLIGIBLE
Other factors, such as flute wall thickness, material, hole diameter,
interior diameter, interior obstacles and bumps -- all have been cited
as able to affect pitch only in some cases. But the extent of their
effect on pitch seems to be nil to very small in each case, and often
only noticeable to the most acutely discerning ear.
Also, since there are so many of these factors, then by the normal
operation of chance, they would tend to cancel each other out, rather
than all working in the same direction to alter a note's pitch all
upward or all downward. Experiments with several commercial flutes, by
enlarging holes, blocking them partially, etc., tended to indicate that
these changes were virtually inconsequential to pitch, and well within
our tolerances.
One effect of changing the flute's length (by increasing or decreasing
it near the blow-in end) had only a small effect on pitch. E.g., after
large length reductions -- up to two hole diameters or more -- the
result was the entire scale was raised as a whole, by a tone or by a
half-tone, but without throwing any of its notes appreciably out of tune
with each other. It was still clearly recognizable as the scale -- it
was just in a different key. On the other hand, changes of length at the
open escape end made big differences. So, if you got the escape-end
right, all the other matters above allow very forgiving tolerances.
Further, considering the extent of the capacity of Neanderthals to take
factors other than length and distances between holes into account, and
considering the range of workmanship error that we'd expect from their
tools, I suspect these would have a greater effect on pitch than any of
these other factors, thereby rendering these other factors negligible.
On those grounds, we took length as the deciding measure for pitch, and
I built a flute into which I incorporated the same proportional spacings
as is found between the 4 Neanderthal flute holes.
The resulting sound more than confirmed the analyses we've made.
CONTACT or FEEDBACK: [log in to unmask] or phone (306) 244-0679
or FAX 306-244-0795. See also:
http://www.webster.sk.ca/greenwich/sherlock.htm
AUTHOR'S BACKGROUND
Bob Fink is the author of "The Origin of Music" (3 editions); "Some New
'Old -Musicke' (new musical compositions in classical, baroque styles);
"Lysistrata & the War" (An opera in the style of Mozart). Written to be
performed at Wayne State University in 1968; Numerous articles on
musicology, including in the scholarly journal "Archeologia Musicalis,"
published from West Germany in 3 1anguages; Fink has also given several
concerts of his music including in Detroit and New York. His music has
been broadcast on TV and radio, by the University of Saskatchewan and
some was re-published in a local anthology of composers. His lecture on
music’s origins was sponsored by the Public Library and his writings
have been used in some university courses. He has a degree in musicology
from Wayne State U. (Detroit).
He has written regular columns for several years in the city's daily
newspaper and in other weeklies and journals, on the arts and other
issues.
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