Hi All,

It has taken me nearly two years to understand back pressure as the term relates to whistles. I used to think “ why would anyone want back pressure, it just makes the whistle harder to blow and you will just run out of air

I have realised that it’s actually the opposite - back pressure means the air is not passing through the whistle as quickly so the breath lasts longer. By way of example I have recently received a new Oz Vambrace D (yes they are as wonderful as the YouTube reviews suggest) which has back pressure. My Killarney, which I have had for some time and was often my preferred weapon of choice, has little or no pressure and for me is easier to play. However the air through the Killarney has no resistance and so I run out of breath quicker.

Am I on the correct track or have I completely misunderstood the terminology?

Cheers

That's my understanding too.

I had never heard of "backpressure" on whistles until I joined C&F, though I had been playing whistles for 30 years. (Over 40, now.)

Being a Highland piper, all whistles have such low resistance/backpressure that I had never noticed a difference from whistle to whistle.

But! What I do very much notice is the volume of air that passes through a whistle as it's played, due to it dictating how long your musical phrases can be. So I observe backpressure from its effect rather than as a separate entity.

I call it "efficiency", that is, the volume and duration of sound coming out as a proportion of how much volume of air is put in.

Speaking only to Low D whistles, I have found that oftentimes the whistles that have the best voicing (powerful low notes and sweet easy high notes) are air-hogs. The whistles that have the best efficiency have less-powerful low notes and less-sweet high notes. (This is an impression of playing 20 or so leading makes; for sure there are many other makes I've not tried.)

_________________
Richard Cook
1978 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

My main whistle is a Vambrace. Back pressure is definitely a defining characteristic. And I love it. To me, it seems the back pressure allows/facilitates a more consistent air stream across the range of the whistle. The volume, tone, intonation and timbre are consistent throughout the range.

It's not the loudest whistle I have. But, it is more than loud enough. And it is so sweet. Not harsh at all... Anywhere in its range.

I also like, have and play Susato, O'Brien and Parks. Each with varying degrees of back pressure, but some. I have, and don't play much, many "traditional" traditional whistles... Generation, Feadog, Waltons, Dixon and a Freeman Generation. Most collect a lot of dust because they just don't perform as well, to my tastes, as the Oz, Susatos, Parks and O'Brien. There are two notable exceptions. A Pre-80's Gen Bb and a Feadog Nickel C that my wife picked up in Scotland for me. I do play those two. That Gen is hard to beat.

Anyway... Put me down as liking the back pressure... A lot.

2¢

Be well.

_________________
Jim

the truth is not lost. do not search for it.
accept it.

I just went to the Park's website and they said they are not accepting new orders. Too bad they look like a great whistle for a baseball price about $70

I just got a Bb from Parks last week. Try contacting them via email.

_________________
Jim

the truth is not lost. do not search for it.
accept it.

When I review whistles, this is pretty much what I mean by the term.

Some whistles have little to no back pressure--Shaws and original Clarkes for instance. The air can whoosh through the windway just as fast as you can blow it.

Others are more limited in the amount of air you can push through them, and you can feel the resistance.

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│& ¼║: ♪♪♫♪ ♫♪♫♪ :║

I'm not a whistle maker. I thought backpressure was to facilitate balance between octaves and especially for ability to reach the 2nd octave's highest notes. Everyone has varying breath control and capacity so I don't think the makers are focused on breath unless for a specific custom situation.