generation bb

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The apostol
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generation bb

Post by The apostol »

Hi,

I bought a Generation bb whistle. I like it a lot, nice and mellow sound! Only question is, is it common that the oxxooo note (maybe a or g#) is quite weak? The air doesnt flow from that note properly.. Maybe I got a bad one? Otherwise its very good..

Thanks!
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Mr.Gumby
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Re: generation bb

Post by Mr.Gumby »

Cross-fingered notes will always be somewhat hazy, on any whistle. It's their nature.
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pancelticpiper
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Re: generation bb

Post by pancelticpiper »

That's the debate, I suppose, about crossfingerings.

It goes back to the Baroque, perhaps further. The Baroque flute had loads of crossfingered notes and these had a different timbre than the open-hole notes.

Good composers used this to advantage: there's a Bach flute piece that starts on a long F natural in the 2nd octave, which has a lovely unique veiled timbre. This piece is ruined when played on Boehm flute, where all the notes sound more or less the same. (Unless the Boehm flutist is aware, and colours that note.)

Personally I prefer the timbre of crossfingered C natural over flutes and whistles that have a dedicated hole for that note.

Actually I have a Burke Low Whistle that has a thumb-hole for C natural, and the timbre, volume, and pitch of the C natural done with that hole and done with crossfingering are similar, the crossfingered one just being a tiny bit darker.
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The apostol
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Re: generation bb

Post by The apostol »

Thanks guys! How can I know if my gen is bad..? Sounds stupid, but what kind of flaws are we talking? Mine sounds nice and in tune to me at least..
highland-piper
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Re: generation bb

Post by highland-piper »

The apostol wrote:Hi,

I bought a Generation bb whistle. I like it a lot, nice and mellow sound! Only question is, is it common that the oxxooo note (maybe a or g#) is quite weak? The air doesnt flow from that note properly.. Maybe I got a bad one? Otherwise its very good..

Thanks!
You might try different fingerings. On a lot of my whistles oxoooo sounds better than oxxoooo
But I have one where oxxxoo is necessary to get it in tune.
Adrian W.
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Re: generation bb

Post by Adrian W. »

The apostol wrote:Thanks guys! How can I know if my gen is bad..? Sounds stupid, but what kind of flaws are we talking? Mine sounds nice and in tune to me at least..
I'm no expert, but I have been playing with Flutini this past week.... tuning tool, but you can play a tune, and rather than focusing on one note and a needle, it looks at all the notes it hears and averages them, showing you how in tune you are in real conditions. http://www.novasession.org/Flutini/
In Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
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Sedi
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Re: generation bb

Post by Sedi »

Just tested my Generation Bb -- and indeed the cross-fingered C nat is a bit weak and airy sounding. So I think it is normal for that whistle. A reason might be that compared with other whistles the top most hole is rather small compared to the two holes below it. You could try half-holing the C nat which should improve the sound of the note.
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Re: generation bb

Post by fatmac »

Cross fingering C nat on a Bb whistle(?)...... :poke:
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Sedi
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Re: generation bb

Post by Sedi »

ooops -- should have noticed that :lol:
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