Strange feature on my new whistle

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brewerpaul
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Re: Strange feature on my new whistle

Post by brewerpaul »

Maybe you're only sensitive to a very specific frequency. Try moving the tuning slide and see if it changes things. Probably not but might as well check out everything.
Perhaps Killarney would exchange yours for another whistle on the off chance that something is funky with that particular whistle.
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Ketil
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Re: Strange feature on my new whistle

Post by Ketil »

Thanks for the input you all, and actually nice to know it's not only in my head.. I am playing it regurarly and have discovered that when I separate the notes A and G clearly (using my tongue or stop the airflow) then the sound is not there, but when I play A to G with constant airpressure it is. I have tried to clean the whistle and also adjusting the head.
Maybe I use just a bit to much pressure and just need to find the sweet spot, or mmaybe I am a bit sensistive for one particular frequency. Maybe I'll contact Killarney and ask if they are willing to trade it back. I really like the whistle and want to keep it!
puipui
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Tell us something.: I am playing whistles since 3 years ago but still at a beginner level. I especially like the tone produced by whistles of key of Bb.

Re: Strange feature on my new whistle

Post by puipui »

Thank you for your feedback. I am glad that you have now better prospects for taming your Killarney whistle.

I was checking each waveform of your recording as I could not convince myself that your whistle is producing two sounds simultaneously as the tuner software says.
When you are blowing A and G stably, the wavelength is constant. They are about 1/885 second and 1/784 second, respectively.
At the transition phase, the wavelength of each single wave fluctuates up and down between above two values. As the tuner software is just measuring peak-to-peak distance of waveform, it seems the software have concluded that there are two sounds sounding simultaneously.

The following is what I thought about your initial description of the problem.

As the definition of “musical sound” includes constant wavelength, accurate frequency and comfortable to our auditory system, the transient sound produced from your whistle as measured above is not a “musical sound”.

Brains of most people do not care much about such unfamiliar sound and try to categorize that part of sound either A or G. However, brains of some people categorize that part of sound as “noise” because such brains apply the criteria of “musical sound” very strictly. So the sound is perceived as a strange noise which could not be expected to come from the whistle.

I think that the cause of such unstable transient is slowness of your ring finger as Tunborough and s1m0n suggested.
I wonder that if you train your ring fingers extensively, it may not be necessary to part from your current Killarney whistle.
Ketil
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Re: Strange feature on my new whistle

Post by Ketil »

I have played the whistle and trying not to focus on the problem and today I was not bothered by the sound /frequence. Maybe my fingers, breathcontrol or ears have grown more accustomed to the whistle. I recorded this video of a couple tunes and I really love the sound of the Killarney.

https://youtu.be/kGFsRT850PM

Ketil
sonofahoran
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Re: Strange feature on my new whistle

Post by sonofahoran »

Ketil wrote:I have played the whistle and trying not to focus on the problem and today I was not bothered by the sound /frequence. Maybe my fingers, breathcontrol or ears have grown more accustomed to the whistle. I recorded this video of a couple tunes and I really love the sound of the Killarney.

https://youtu.be/kGFsRT850PM

Ketil
I listened to your recording and it sounded great. In comparison, I listened to another version on You-tube, which was played a bit faster, and I liked your version better.

I also have a Killarney, and am fond of it. I am also the person who had a problem with the Killarney slipping out of my grip. I put some tape on the barrel and the problem is not as bad. I am going to Ireland in about 10 days and will be visiting Killarney. I hope to drop by the shop where my whistle was made.
Living the dream in Texas.
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