low d recommendation with criteria

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luisdent
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Tell us something.: I want all the flutez information so I can become better at playing and finding fancy flutez. I'm also looking for a low d whistle and would like to peruse the forum for information on them.

Re: low d recommendation with criteria

Post by luisdent »

The sound at 0:47 in the first video is generally what I don't like. It sounds to me like air just going through the tube. The second video I like a lot. The air I hear sounds more like it is associated with each note and not just extra air blowing through the tube.

Of course, none of that is meant as a technical criticism. That is just how it sounds to me. I've heard some pretty thick raspy flutes that have been great, because it sounds like the rasp is associated with the tone and not just a side effect of blowing through the tube. Not sure if that makes any sense. Any it could be the playing style as well, no? Not sure.

The thing I dislike the most with any whistle/flute is a tone or sound that is harsh or piercing. I very much dislike the upper octave on my feadog, and I have watched other more seasoned players play my flute model and it sounds the same to me. It requires a lot more air force to jump to the last few notes, which makes them very piercing and the whole flute has a sort of rough sound to it. I still like it, but listening to the chris wall sweetbrass makes me think that his whistle basically fixes everything i don't like about the feadog. So i plan on getting one of those. And then the low d is my dream sound. Although I also do like the low f or g. My biggest reason for not wanting an f or g right now is that I have a really beautiful tongue drum in D and one in b minor. So the g would work, but the d is more ideal and the f not so much...
luisdent
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Tell us something.: I want all the flutez information so I can become better at playing and finding fancy flutez. I'm also looking for a low d whistle and would like to peruse the forum for information on them.

Re: low d recommendation with criteria

Post by luisdent »

ugh. so Chris Wall appears to be shipping orders a year back just now. and Phil from kerrywhistles doesn't have a valid email on his site. so the two potential whistles seem impossible to get. at lest anytime soon. :-/
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Sedi
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Re: low d recommendation with criteria

Post by Sedi »

I think it's philhardy@live.com
https://www.kerrywhistles.com/news
But you could just order through the shop.
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pancelticpiper
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Re: low d recommendation with criteria

Post by pancelticpiper »

luisdent wrote:
The sound at 0:47 in the first video (kaval) is generally what I don't like.

The second video (Native American flute) I like a lot.
Ah, very clear.

The obvious observation would be that if you want to play an instrument that sounds like a Native American flute, no instrument on earth is going to be better for that purpose than a Native American flute.

No Irish Low Whistle is going to sound like that. Yes there's a range of tone-colours one finds in Irish Low Whistles, but even the outliers at the extremes of the possible continuum of tone-colours sound like Irish Low Whistles more than they sound like any other type of instrument.

From the Low Whistles I've played the closest to that NAF tone will be Reyburns, particularly his maple-head ones. Yet, even an outlier like a Reyburn sounds more like an Irish Low Whistle than it does a Native American flute.
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RoberTunes
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Re: low d recommendation with criteria

Post by RoberTunes »

luisdent wrote: The second video I like a lot. The air I hear sounds more like it is associated with each note and not just extra air blowing through the tube. I've heard some pretty thick raspy flutes that have been great, because it sounds like the rasp is associated with the tone and not just a side effect of blowing through the tube. Not sure if that makes any sense.
The Tommy Wildcat video has an instrument with a great tone!

I've been a sporadic player and rookie shopper of Native American flutes for 30+ years and have owned about 7 of them, 4 being the common design and 3 were from South America of different designs. Very appealing tone when made well and the playing is figured out. Made of bamboo, cedar, maple and _______ (mystery wood), my observations for buying might relate to those of trying to find a satisfying Irish-style whistle with the desired level of windiness that is, as you way, an appealing and enriching part of the tone.

Listen to a variety of players in different situations (band, solo, studio, livingroom reviews, etc.). The perceived windiness and tone can be affected by type of microphone and where the microphone is placed. Studio and stage audio processing, including such things as compression, EQ, mixing, effects, can give a deceiving impression of what the instrument sounds like live and without audio processing.

Buy only from instrument makers who have reputations for consistency, quality and where enough reviews can be matched to validate that what you think you'll get, is what you'll get. In the days of COVID19, we're not going to have store owners inviting us in to test out wind instruments so unrestrictedly. Expect that most store employees know ZILCH about how to make them or play them properly. As an example, and a warning to buyers, there are many high quality and reliable makers of Native American flutes online, with many models and videos of them being played, with good description of the instrument features and playability. As with any other kind of musical instrument, the low-end price range tends to find itself most commonly in stores, available for some predictable level of impulse buying.

What you DO NOT want to do is walk into a gift store, import store or musical instrument store knowing nothing about the Native American flutes and thinking they all play well and are priced reasonably. The instrument can be made properly as a musical instrument, or it can be made on the cheap and in a hurry to fill gift stores, sell for less than $50 (or even up to $200), and play sub-standard. I've seen the markup travesties and played some of the con job Native American flutes in gift stores (in mountain towns, tourist towns and "import" types of stores that are commonly relying on clothing sales to run their business), and also seen NAF flutes at similar price play very well.

With the supply of YouTube and music shop whistle reviews out there now, there's no reason you should ever get stuck with an instrument that's too far off of what you expected. When it comes to how the windiness merges with the tone, I think it's very important to hear the whistle played through it's full range from bottom note to highest, by someone who's adjusted to playing that instrument model, as to my ears this issue with windiness and tonal character can have different results depending where on the available range of notes you are, in addition to which "key" of instrument you are using (such as with sopranos vs altos vs low range keys). Beware; there are also some online "store" videos of people playing the instruments who have not adjusted to the instrument and are blowing too hard or too soft and as a result the tone and windiness are "off" of what should be happening.
Good luck!
luisdent
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Tell us something.: I want all the flutez information so I can become better at playing and finding fancy flutez. I'm also looking for a low d whistle and would like to peruse the forum for information on them.

Re: low d recommendation with criteria

Post by luisdent »

I do love native american flutes, but I don't specifically desire that sound. Although I'd love one nonetheless...

Here are a few of my favorite flute sounds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5URpEgVBjc
3:32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lftV5-1Oh0A
1:19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjBc_pEMLp8
0:16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFtGV_lxs_U
1:44

I realize these are all produced in a studio. And I understand that changes the sound, sometimes considerably. However, I still feel like I get the impression of the "type" of each flute. And I like those.

The pete kater is more native american style. The secret garden sounds more irish whistle or similar. The gabriel yared sounds like a concert flute to me, but i'm not sure. obviously the keiko is a shakuhachi, so i can cross that off the list ;) but i love that sound.

But what they all have in common is smooth, not overly raspy or rough. But they do have breath and wind "noise" with the playing. I guess I'm just super picky about the type of breath and air noise coming from a flute or whistle :)

I want it to be natural sounding, but smooth and clear. Not overly PFFFFFFF. in the sound. I started looking at the low D, because it tends to help make things smoother and less piercing simply from the lower octave. And the key is nice. And the irish whistle aspect sounds nice. I haven't really heard any flutes otherwise with a similar sound that don't require transverse technique which I have zero of.
luisdent
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Tell us something.: I want all the flutez information so I can become better at playing and finding fancy flutez. I'm also looking for a low d whistle and would like to peruse the forum for information on them.

Re: low d recommendation with criteria

Post by luisdent »

i think I've decided to go with a chieftain v5 low d. it is affordable, has one of the best tones as far as i can tell. not too loud. hits pretty much every check box. it's one of the few that sounds great to me in every video i find. processed or not.

I'm also considering a killarney high d to upgrade my feadog. but first the low d. :-)
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