stiofan wrote:
I'm with you on the "stiff 2nd octave" issue, Richard. But I've yet to come across a low D (or other key of low whistles) that doesn't have that (IMO) shortcoming.
For sure all things are relative. I don't know that I've played a Low D that has a 2nd octave as easy as several of my high whistles, but to me Low Whistles play differently all over their gamut, from high whistles.
Low Ds I've owned that had the easiest 2nd octaves were MKs and a Lofgren. To me, in the overall scheme of things, their 2nd octaves
seemed as easy as my good high whistles.
The Goldie I ended up with has a very slightly stiffer 2nd octave, but I'll accept that tradeoff to get the various benefits of the Goldie.
About a whistle having "flexibility of tone" I suppose it depends on how one defines "tone".
If one takes "tone" to mean "timbre" (that is, the character of the sound independent from volume and pitch) I would like to hear somebody hold a long note on a Low D whistle and, while maintaining the same pitch and volume, change the timbre.
I (and any decent fluteplayer) can do it on flute. I do it by changing the angle the airstream hitting the cutting edge of the blow hole, while compensating for the changes in volume and pitch this also creates. On whistles the angle the airstream hits the blade is fixed.