low D whistle from India

goldthorpe · Post by **goldthorpe** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 5:44 pm

I have low D whistle,made in India,that I bought on Ebay. (brass) The words Pipola and asarkar are stamped on it. It plays wonderfully well.
That is all I know about it.

Anyone have any more information?

Post by **Dale** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 6:13 pm

I know exactly the whistle you're talking about, in fact, I have one. The good news about that whistle is that it plays really very well for the price. Very well. Furthermore, it's in pretty much in tune internally. The bad news is that it is off absolute pitch (out of tune to other in-tune instruments), and it's not tunable. But, they practically give them away and they sound good.

Dale

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Wed Aug 22, 2001 6:39 am

I've bought brass whistles from India.
My principal problem with them is
that they have a horrible metallic
taste that makes me feel sick. Are you
running into anything like this?

garycrosby · Post by **garycrosby** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 9:55 am

Brass is an alloy of copper, zinc, and (sometimes) lead - all are toxic to humans at high concentrations. The very reason that the mouthpieces of brass instruments (like trumpets, tubas, and such) are coated with gold or silver is to keep the brass from contacting your mouth. There is also some evidence that you can get brass poisoning through your fingertips as they come in contact with the brass. In fact, there is one major manufacturer of brass instruments that no longer sells uncoated brass instruments (they are lacquered or plated with silver or gold). If playing your brass whistle makes you feel sick then it is possible that you are being poisoned by the brass

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: garycrosby on 2001-08-23 12:08 ]</font>