Chiff and Fipple Forums

AuLoS303 wrote: I found a site that showed me how to get a C natural by half holing T1, and it seemed to work-I need to check with a tuner.

As was discussed on another thread I and many other pipers and whistle players use a simultaneous combination of crossfingering and venting to create a distinctive and expressive C natural in the low octave.

About checking the pitch of a vented C natural with a tuner, of course you can make the pitch anywhere between B and C# according to how much of the hole is covered.

Feadog are not the easiest to half-hole. Smallish holes.

awildman wrote:Feadog are not the easiest to half-hole. Smallish holes.

Not too bad actually. And I can do glissandi on it. Actually easier than my soprano recorder which is in a similar range

When you can do the two-octave (G-to-G) glissando from Henk Badings Sonata for Alto Recorder and Harpsichord you've nailed ascending glissandi at least. If I were a beginner, I'd be more interested in learning to finger the notes right and play the right ones in the right places. And you'll rarely if ever need more than a single-hole slide for trad on whistle...

AuLoS303 wrote:T 123, B123 for whistle
T123,B1234 for recorder, plus TH for thumb hole. Interesting. I wonder if an octave hole at the back has been tried on tin whistle.

I'm more used to T(humb)-123-456-7, which covers (almost) everything. T1 and T2 can be confusing when you get to whistles like the sopilka or other keyless instruments like the rackett which have two thumb holes. But then again, the sopilka has eight finger holes, and the rackett has, in addition to two thumb holes and seven or eight finger holes, two more holes for the middle joints of the index fingers!

Brewerpaul wrote:Some makers including myself make an extra long D whistle with one extra hole to provide a low C note, C# if you half hole. In trad music though, those notes are not used very often at all.

I've always liked this feature!

I was a recorder player before I came to play and make whistles, so I tried a thumb hole to make octaves easier. It was no help at all. I've made a couple of custom order whistles with an extra hole on the back to allow an F natural without half holing, but I personally don't think it's worth it. Learning to half hole is extremely useful for many notes.

Sure, though the extra holes are a nice option. Particularly the low C/C# hole. Beats having to crook your pinky around the bottom of the whistle to get that note.

An octave hole is completely unnecessary on whistle.

Theo Boehm originally put an octave key on his flutes, but as soon as he began licensing the production of his flutes to other makers the octave key was abandoned as having a negligible effect on performance and being an unnecessary complication of mechanism.

About extra holes for chromatic notes, many folk flutes, bagpipes, and fifes have done that.

It's become rather standard in the fifing world to make fifes with holes for D#/Eb, F natural, G#, and Bb. A fifer loaned me a fife and I was surprised how quickly my fingers, used to Irish whistle for 40 years, adapted to the new fingerings.

Many makers of Scottish Smallpipes have added a hole for C natural (the equivalent of F natural in Irish woodwinds).

Talking of fifes, specifically in comparison to regular flutes, are they hard to play? Ive seen quite a few videos showing the popular Yamaha fife and it seems that many struggle to get a note out of it.

You should ask the folks in the Flute Forum.

There are fifes, and there are fifes. It has been half a century or more since I regularly played a recorder so I do not find the key or hole layout of the Yamaha fife very congenial. I do however, have a French 'fivre, ancienne' I bought on fleabay for $40 which is a lovely, small holed delight pitched at A=440. The embouchure is extremely forgiving and I can easily compass two octaves. The fingerings are the same as a simple system flute.

Bob

an seanduine wrote: The embouchure is extremely forgiving and I can easily compass two octaves.

Which two octaves?

Fifes are nearly always playing in the 2nd and 3rd octaves.

I can produce the 1st and 2nd octave just fine, but I struggle with the 3rd, which means I can't be much of a fifer. (I'm speaking of the fife and fife music as is done in the fifing tradition. Of course somebody can choose to not do that, and use the fife like an octave-flute, a piccolo.)

In any case it would be easy enough to make a whistle with the same hole layout as a chromatic fife.

Here's a fife fingering chart. Keep in mind you're playing an octave higher than written, and the music comes out two octaves higher than written (on a D fife).



Like this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YERlt05hKU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNCgNmVK6mc

I just ordered an aluminum Angus fife in D - I'll post how it plays once it arrives.

Spielorjh wrote:I just ordered an aluminum Angus fife in D - I'll post how it plays once it arrives.

I was just searching for any info about fifes, & this thread came up.

Did you get around to posting a report anywhere?

I think different sizes create different tones.

AuLoS303 wrote: Thanks. I found a site that showed me how to get a C natural by half holing T1, and it seemed to work-I need to check with a tuner.

Don't get hung up on what the tuner says. Play the whistle, not the tuner. If the Cnat sounds good to you in the context of a tune, then it's plenty good. You'll notice that watching the tuner you can blow notes sharp or flat. As you play more and more, your brain will automatically blow notes into "good enough" pitch while you play.
Experiment with half holing other notes. With this useful skill you can play Bnat, G#,Fnat,Eb/D# etc.