Tony Dixon makes an ABS plastic high D piccolo, quite cheap, it was the first of the flute family that I was able to get to grips with, same fingering as a whistle, it might work for you too.

Regarding pocketable instruments, harmonicas are good for that, one of the reasons I started with them.

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Trying to do justice to my various musical instruments.

Just out of curiosity: which Ten Penny Bit are you learning, there are several tunes flying under that name and several easily avoid the high B.

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My brain hurts

It can only change the attack and not the sustained note unless you're underblowing, so I'd say hearing what you want to hear. If you compare a cleanly-attacked B to correctly-pitched ones slid or slurred from A, the body of the note will be the same.

There are some high notes on some whistles that may never come clean from a tongued attack and only respond to slurring, but a standard B on a 'normal' whistle is not one of them.

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And we in dreams behold the Hebrides.

Why I teach... and where
Master of nine?

The version at the "Online Academy of Irish Music." I decided to pick one, and learn it cold, and then see about others. Learning to deal with the harsh hi end seems like a good idea, except to my wife.

I'm personally torn on this. I come from the world of jazz where taking extensive liberties with the melody is very much expected. And I'm not in a community of people making traditional irish music. The few sessions I've attended have not offered a pathway in for beginners. I'm pretty much on my own, with the internet. So I could just play it however I like.

As mentioned, going to the local Comhaltas week of workshops and performances on July 14th. My guess is everybody there will be sick of the "tenpenny bit" and disdain playing it

LOL! I sat down with a Tony Dixon six hole polymer flute last night and did manage to make a few weak and sickly sounding notes. My daughter raised her eyebrows and then laughed again.

I'm sure if I really set myself to it I could do something with a flute. But isn't it true that some instruments just "feel" better to some people than others? Like the trumpet--wonderful instrument, but a couple toots and I realized that was not something I wanted to spend time getting used to. The left hand position on a flute is just awful for me though.

You might try having a good,experienced whistle player try your whistles so you can hear what they sound like from a listener's point of view. They will probably sound better than they do with your ears only inches from the sound.

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Got wood?
http://www.Busmanwhistles.com
Let me custom make one for you!

On many(most?) whistles the higher the note, the more piercing it is. This is of course true of many other instruments as well. A fife or piccolo will sound more piercing than a flute. A fiddle more so than a cello...

When I play for older people I often use Low whistle and flute, but rarely high D whistles...


As for the MK whistles I've had, the 2nd Octave 6th note (B on a low D and F# on an A whistle) has always been slightly louder and less sweet than the notes below it.

If you want to try a low whistle with an unusually sweet high B, then the two that come to mind are the Chieftain Songbird ( a very mellow/sweet sounding whistle) and Iain Lambe's. None of them are very easy to come by though. And it seems that often the ones with the sweetest high notes have weaker low notes. Certainly true of the Lambe low Ds I've tried.

I've only now recently experienced such a problem with the high end...I've played most of the "top" makers and most of the "standard" models, Gen. Feadog, Walton's, etc..( curently very happy with my set of Sindts) I've always been able to control the high end with breath or shading...A flute playing friend, one who I've played tunes with for years, pulled a Nickel vintage Copeland out of his case, never ever knew he had these (2 apparently)...The whistle sounded incredible....I've owned Copeland's in High and Low D and sold them both off (I do have a little remorse for selling the Low D however )...I gave his Copeland a try and loved the sound...thought about trading something for it and have it on loan as it just sounded that nice...the next day, after the loudish session, I gave it a go and the notes are beautiful, the response is great and I was loving this Copeland ( Number 11/Philadelphia with 4 leaf clover)...then comes the High A and B ...all notes below, from low D to second octave G are perfectly in tune with each other and my tuner....the high A and B are soooo sharp that the needle automatically goes hard right and would go even further....in this case, it is the whistle and not me! Copeland has been known too produce a "wonky" whistle every now and then...I sent both of mine back to Michael for re-voicing right after I received them after my initial purchase...Not saying your whistles have a design flaw though....I'm wondering if anyone has had such an experience with a Copeland High D? Sorry for the thread drift I was going to start a new thread but thought my post would be appropriate here. I really wanted this whistle as the in tune notes are some of the sweetest, smoothest sounding notes that I've ever produced and the response to ornamentents was very impressive...the low D crann in particular was the nicest that I'e ever played...so much so that I offererd to trade Eb/D/C/A/Bb Sindts for it if it was the whistle that I thought it was...alas, it is not and today my flute playing friend will be a little sad as he must have been dreaming about my Sindt set since Friday night's session....I doubt that there is a fix for this whistle though but if anyone has a thought, I'd love to hear how it could be "fixed"....It's prolly why Michael had them lying around his shop when my friend showed up to pick up a flute that was not there..he was offered two Nickel whistles instead, one High D and one C# oddly enough...now he is "stuck" with two "unplayable" whistles...he did warn me about the High A and B notes on Friday night....I didn't mind them being louder as that is quite common and thought I could control that part but there is no hope of those notes coming in tune I'm afraid Sorry about the longish post and thread drift...If anyone has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them...should I just start another thread?

Yes, my Copeland high D has a slightly sharp upper second octave. Especially high B...