Chiff and Fipple Forums

I need a whistle in the key of B for a recording session, anybody know where I might find one?

Thanks,
-Neil

I can recommend iMpempe from yer man in South Africa, Ian Turnbull. I have whistles from Bb - E by him and i love them all!

Chop the top and bottom off a Generation Bflat and you're flying.

Depending on the sound you're looking for and the kind of post-production equipment, a Susato Kildare might be what you're looking for. They are excellent whistles to play and are very well-tuned. The one problem I've had with them is that they're difficult to mic well. They sound much more plastic-y when recording a standard stereo field, so you'll want to mic it individually and mess with the EQ in post to get it to sound like it does to your ears.

http://www.susato.com/konakart/SelectCa ... #-L-Series might fu

@Mr.Gumby: I bet that'll be really helpful to him.

I have one of those Susatos in B and it is a pretty nice whistle, IMO possibly the best of the Susatos that I have tried is the B nat. Mellower than the D but still enough volume to hold its own. If you have the money there is Burke as well, I had a friend back in Dublin who had a Burke B and it was a very nice whistle as well. If you have even more money there is Abell but you may not have time as I think he's got a waiting list. You may be able to find a Chieftain in that key too as well as an Overton and/or Goldie but these may not be available off-the-shelf either a new Goldie certainly won't be. There are plenty of options, what price range are you looking at? Do you have a preferred material? Tunable or not? Do you need it ASAP or would you be willing to wait?

@Mr.Gumby: I bet that'll be really helpful to him.

And why wouldn't it be? Instructions how to do it have been posted here in the past.

Saw Ronan Browne do it just before a gig recently too. Not a bother. It's the cheapest and easiest accessible way.

i too have had a susato B; thought it was quite nice. but the best i've played in B is a Tommy Dion out of olive wood. lovely.

Tommy Dion made for me a lovely B recently.

Reach out to him. He's a good guy to deal with.

ecohawk

Thanks for all the responses folks! @Avery: looking in the $100 range, its for one recording session so didn't want to get too crazy. Timing is flexible. I'm not the one playing it, just the music director who would like to hear it on the tune so @Gumby, I don't have any to slice up. The musician we were thinking of going with advises tunable and to try to find one that's not too breathy.

So, let me put another option out there - does anyone who currently has a good B whistle have a good home studio they might be able to record a few lines in?

Thanks again,
-Neil

I have an A recorder (prewar German one), which can play pretty near anything you'd want to play on a B whistle.

I don't have good recording gear but I'm near Edinburgh if that's any good to you.

Sounds like the Susato would fit the bill under $100 and not too breathy. Some other options maybe Daniel Bingamon and Syn which will both be more than the Susato. Of the two I personally prefer the Syns but that is just my own prference; to be honest I'm not sure if they are still under $100 but when I bought a Syn set years ago it wasn't much more than $100 for a bunch of different keys.

Mr.Gumby wrote:

MadmanWithaWhistle wrote:@Mr.Gumby: I bet that'll be really helpful to him.

And why wouldn't it be? Instructions how to do it have been posted here in the past.

Right, here's a "how-to" from an older thread.

Feadoggie wrote:Then again some players have converted Generation Bb whistles to play in B natural. It's not difficult work either. A search through the forums (both pipes and whistle) should lead you to an outline of the procedure. Here's what I have found from previous posts on the same question as your own.

pancelticpiper on Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:36 am wrote:I made my own from a B flat Generation. It plays great.
Take the head off a Generation B flat, and chop the top of the tube until the upper-hand notes are in tune to the B scale:
xoo ooo is G sharp
xxo ooo is F sharp
Then chop the bottom until it plays an in-tune B.
Then carve out the lowest tone hole until it plays an in-tune C sharp.
Then carve out the next-lowest hole until it plays an in-tune D sharp.
And Bob's Your Uncle!
And for a little more detail there is this:

billh on Wed Apr 19, 2006 2:53 pm wrote: An inexpensive alternative worth trying:

As it happens, you can take a Bflat Generation and remove metal from both the top and bottom so that the top note is sharpened a semitone and the bottom note (all holes closed) is also sharpened a semitone. By some weird quirk of Generation's tuning, the resulting notes in the middle are well within range as well, and the resulting scale is an acceptable B scale. At least, it works for me.

Total length of the doctored Generation (metal part, without fipple):
316 mm

Distance from the top end of the whistle to the top hole:
132 mm

(Of course you know you can tune Generations by removing the fipple, if yours is stuck, try soaking it in hot water for a few minutes, it should let go).

Bill

Hope that helps.

keymacn wrote:So, let me put another option out there - does anyone who currently has a good B whistle have a good home studio they might be able to record a few lines in?

What do you have in mind? Details would be interesting to hear as a bit of motivation. Timeline? What's the music?

I've got a couple B whistles (they are not available as rentals or for sale). Whistles in B and E are often called for in song accompaniment. I've got a studio (kind of apart at the moment - new computer). Tell us more.

Feadoggie

@Feadoggie - shoot me an email and I'll send you the tune and details

Cheers,
-Neil
keymacn at yahoo.com

For raising a Generation a semitone (Bb to B, C to C#) I have done it as follows, with very good results

1) chop the tube at the top until the upper hand plays in tune at the new target pitch
2) chop the bottom until the bellnote and octave of the bellnote (the notes that would be Bottom D and Middle D on a D whistle) are in tune to the new target pitch
3) you will now find that the notes emitting from Hole 6 and Hole 5 (the notes that would be E and F# on a D whistle)are too flat, and have to be carved out

all of this can be clearly seen in this photo, of Generations in A, Bb, B, C, C#, D, etc. All play very well in tune and have been used in numerous session gigs.

(The B is nickel with a "9" sticker)

That's interesting. I think I'll try it on my Gen Eb, since I've wanting a good E whistle.