Hello all,

I hope this in the right section.
I'm just starting out with whistles and with my work (I'm actor doing a lot of shakespeare) I am looking to progress to tabor and pipe. I picked up the cheap generation in D which has a nice sound but is really shrill and loud on the top notes and i'm finding it difficult to practice with out killing people which means i'm struggling to develop the correct technique for the upper range.
Any advice on where to go next? There aren't many options but they are all fairly costly (especially for a poor starving actor like me!). Susato seem to have the biggest range and for not much more than 1 from some webistes you can get the full set from susato themselves though their postage to the uk sounds a bit dodge.
Any advice or help or even where i can pick up a quieter/lower range whistle that wont melt my cats brain would be great.
Thanks all,
Jackson

Yuri (of this parish) makes wooden tabor pipes down to Low D, which'll of course look more 'authentic' than plastic Susatos or metal Generations. Bear in mind that you'll be playing in the upper octave, so it'd be less screechy than the High D tabor pipe but still in the lower octave of the High D (as it were). Or there are several other sizes on Yuri's site which become progressively cheaper as the pitch increases.

http://www.wood-n-bone.co.nz/musical_instruments.html

Mind you, if you want to be heard, higher pitch can be useful. It's better outside, perhaps - if you've heard eg a Morris musician playing a High D outside, you can see how they can do a job and be clearly audible. I can imagine that a higher pitch could carry in a crowded auditorium too

There's a list of makers here:

pipeandtabor.org

That website's worth a look anyway.

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Tri pheth sy'n anodd nabod....

For budget solutions, it would be hard to beat the Generation tabor pipe offered through The Taborers Society, at the website Geraint gave a pointer to.

There's also the option of making one yourself. Follow Guido Gonzato's plans for a Low-Tech Whistle. Make it out of thin (1/2 inch) CPVC water pipe. Thin pipe makes the upper octave easier. I have a plan for a 3-hole tabor pipe in A that uses 40 cm of pipe, but you can build for other keys by using a longer or shorter pipe. If you're interested in this route, follow Guido's instructions to make the fipple and windway, up to where you measure out the toneholes. Leave the tube a bit too long for the pitch that you want, so it plays flat of where you want it. Come back here and I can suggest where to put the toneholes.

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Vivat diabolus in musica! MTGuru's (old) GG Clips / Blackbird Clips

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Dr. Mierzwiak: Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage.

thanks for the advice so far. anybody have any experience with the susato ones? I'm looking more for affordability at the moment as i'm not sure how successfully i'm transitioning so far. Hence why i'd like a more suitable rehearsal instrument that I can work on technique with as I come from a brass instrument background and the embouchure is obvisouly quite different and I'm stuggling with the overtones!
Thanks again folks, any more advice more than welcome!

The Susato will not solve the issues you have with the Generation.

The Generation is the quiet one. The Susato is the loud one.

I would suggest that you stay the course with the Generation (or make your own - not too hard to do).

Feadoggie

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I've proven who I am so many times, the magnetic strips worn thin.

Wouldn't blue putty sticky tack muting be the quick easy way to solve this problem?

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"Be not deceived by the sweet words of proverbial philosophy. Sugar of lead is a poison."

Genius! Yes, that's a darned good suggestion. Doh!

mycharisma, do a search of the whistle forum on "putty mute" or you can just click here
You'll have to look through those threads a bit but you should find directions for muting any whistle by placing a bit of putty on the blade of the whistle. It may take some experimenting to get it right but once you have that you should be able to control the volume and shrieking. A little dab'll do ya.

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I've proven who I am so many times, the magnetic strips worn thin.

Wow- that sounds pretty exciting! I'll check it out- thanks guys!

I have a 30 year old generation D tabor pipe - not what you're looking for, but the 'old' generation design is cherished by some - and a copy of Dick Bagwel's Pipe and tabor tutor - maybe with the cassette - available to you for for the cost of postage (From BC, Canada), if you move quickly. I'm clearing my house out for a move, so much is in flux. PM me if you care.

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And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')

C.S. Lewis