Home made key for a Low D whistle?

[keithsandra]

I thought I’d try an inexpensive Low D whistle to see how I get on with it. Patience with the notorious right hand finger stretch is not one of my virtues however so its become quickly obvious a key on the low D note is necessary.

But is the whistle’s tone worth it? I covered the Low D hole with Sellotape to find out, and the answer is an emphatic Yes. The Low D tone is satisfyingly deep and sonorous enough to try making a key for the Low D tone hole.

So, subject to your advice and comments, I plan to shave a long bamboo spring to sit on top of the whistle. It will be fixed firmly on an epoxy fulcrum glued near the ‘e’ key, with a stainless steel pin. The other, ‘pad’ end of this spring will hover about 5mm over the Low D tonehole, subject to experimentation.

The hovering, pad end, will have a marine wood epoxy streamlined head wrapped around it. I’ll push this still soft expoxy into the tonehole to mold the head to the tonehole, checking the epoxy doesn’t bulge into the bore. If it does, I’ll trim it.

When the expoxy hardens it can be sawed, chiselled or sandpapered into a squat, firm fitting cone into the tone hole.

Then I’ll glue a piece of soft, hard backed plastic foam onto the key to make the tone hole airtight when the bamboo spring is pressed down by my unstretched right hand third finger! The spring will take the ‘bung’ back up when I’ve finished with it.

That’s the plan. Any comments and ideas?

Best wishes,

[Peter Duggan]

Clip-on low whistle key.

[fatmac]

That clip on key looks good, but, when I first got my cheap one piece TD low D flute, I could not reach the end hole either, but with a little practice I can now.
Maybe you just need a little bit more stretching to achieve the same.

[Tor]

.. or buy an Onyx, which works for very small hands.

[brewerpaul]

This may be a silly question,but have you tried fingering that hole with your pinky?Easy once you get used to it.

[keithsandra]

Get yourself a Low F mate.

Yes! Or a low g! ☺

[keithsandra]

Clip-on low whistle key.

Thanks Peter, sounds just the job. But my tablet wont download your link. Have you got a web http address I can try?

[keithsandra]

This may be a silly question,but have you tried fingering that hole with your pinky?Easy once you get used to it.

I did tinker halfheartedly with this idea but if you're saying it's really worth a go I'll have a serious attempt at it.

[keithsandra]

That clip on key looks good, but, when I first got my cheap one piece TD low D flute, I could not reach the end hole either, but with a little practice I can now.
Maybe you just need a little bit more stretching to achieve the same.

Thanks. You're right, after the first day's sporadic, spraining attempts I did get some results that show it might be worth persisting despite the aches.

[Tommy]

This may be a silly question,but have you tried fingering that hole with your pinky?Easy once you get used to it.

I did tinker halfheartedly with this idea but if you're saying it's really worth a go I'll have a serious attempt at it.

Paul is correct. Using the small pinky is great once you get use to it.

[Tommy]

Clip-on low whistle key.

Thanks Peter, sounds just the job. But my tablet wont download your link. Have you got a web http address I can try?

Web address
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJTURmAlG8I

[keithsandra]

Thanks all - I followed Peter Duggan's tip and ordered a low whistle key clip direct from the maker in New Zealand. They're promising two or three days delivery to Canada ... The diagram shows a much more elegant solution to the problem than my proposed gadget. In the meantime I'll try my pinkie and see how that goes.

Thanks again.

Best wishes,

K.

[keithsandra]

Seems like your sorted now but another option is keyed Susato

Yes, good idea, but a Low D Susato is nearly US$100 including postage
compared to the US$35 with postage for a James Becker I just want as an experiment.

[bogman]

I would forget gimmicks like clip on keys. The pinky is easy. If you think of Uilleann pipes, D in all fingers down, E is raising the pinky and ring finger. The low whistle can be played exactly the same way and this method completely eliminates any stretch.