Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hi.
Anyone with experience or knowledge about the difference between small and standard bore on low whistles. I am considering a low E and Colin Goldie offers both altenatives.
Ketil

In general large bores favors the lower octave. I have no idea how the small bore's low D sounds power wise, but I'm sure it is fine if a respected maker lets it out his door.

One thing I do wonder about is pitch. I have 2 whistles an Oak and a Trad. The Oak is narrow and tuning is flexible, the Dixon Trad is rigid and reliable. I an sure it is a difference in makers, but I wonder if that makes a difference.

You can disregard most of this because I know little about the whistle, I just play it to relax.

Ask for a sound file ask the maker for what they think. It probably will produce more fruit than here.

I few years ago I bought a Goldie narrow bore G from Colin. Unfortunately I haven't played a regular bore G so I couldn't give you a comparison.

My impressions about the narrow bore G were that the lower notes sounded fine but they were a little touchy on the breath pressure to get the notes to play. The finger spread on a narrow bore whistle is a little wider than it's larger bore counterpart.

At the same time I bought a Goldie regular bore F that I liked more than the narrow bore G. The hole spacing was similar but the notes were easier to voice and I didn't have as much trouble with clogging.

Not much to go on. I think you would have to try a regular and narrow bore side by side to really know which one you prefer. Also, Goldie's vary a bit from instrument to instrument because of the different variations that Collin makes. They all play and sound a bit different.

I have a regular bore Eb and a narrow bore E and much prefer the way the narrow bore E plays.

The narrow bore refers to the bore being optimal for the key of F (same diameter as regular bore F), and is narrower compared to that of regular bore D.

It seems to be a big coincidence that the key of F seems to have the best whistles in terms of sound and playability amongst different makers - e.g. Goldie, MK, Alba...

There is a drive in the market to have a strong bell note in the low D, as a result the bore size of low Ds are a little on the wide side. If this (already wide) bore is used for key of E, the result will be quite a stiff second octave. (I have one from one of those E Eb D sets.)

Thank you for the replys. Seems that not too many has experience with the difference from the response. I have decided to go with a standard bore, medium low E because I want it to play as similiar to my low D as possible. Makes the switch between them easier, I think. Colin Goldie also said he makes much fewer narrow bore whistles than standard and I guess there's a reason for that. Anyway, it's a Goldie whistle so I know it will be a killer whistle.