Low C

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highland-piper
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Low C

Post by highland-piper »

Who makes low c whistles? I know Carbony has one.
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Sedi
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Re: Low C

Post by Sedi »

Goldie, Alba, Shearwater (John Bushby) are some of the names that come to mind but any (low whistle) maker who makes whistles by hand should be able to make a low C on request.
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ecadre
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Re: Low C

Post by ecadre »

Howard make a "low" C too.

Not a recomendation, I've never played or even seen one.
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Chino
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Re: Low C

Post by Chino »

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pancelticpiper
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Re: Low C

Post by pancelticpiper »

Susato made/makes a Low C that's very good, the best Susato I've played.

I think the best Low C I've played overall is my Goldie, which is excellent. It's surprisingly ergonomic and easy to play.

Here's what mine sounds like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-fQhvleWq8&t=56s

(I've owned Low Cs by Susato, Goldie, Reviol, and Alba.)

Fascinating that MK has entered the Low C market- I've love to try one.
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
highland-piper
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Re: Low C

Post by highland-piper »

I ended up buying a Kakapo low C. They're made in New Zeland and sold on Etsy. It was $50 delivered for the tunable model. For the price it's really nice. The fingering chart interestingly includes F# xxoxxx and G# xoxxxo (that would be G# and A# in D whistle nomenclature). They're more airy, but could work as passing tones.
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Re: Low C

Post by pancelticpiper »

It's been my experience that crossfingered notes work better on Low Whistles than on high ones.

For sure most Low Whistles do a nice in-tune flat 7th

oxx xox

and a passably in-tune flat 6th

xox xxx

in the low octave, but other good low-octave crossfingered notes usually aren't available.

In the 2nd octave you have a lot of possibilities, because putting fingers down can raise the pitch of some notes, for example on my Low D whistle a flat 6th

xxo oxx (putting fingers down raises A to Bb)

or the more normal

xox ooo (putting a finger down lowers B to Bb)

Depends from whistle to whistle which is more in tune.

Flat 3rd usually means half-holing.
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
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Re: Low C

Post by Sedi »

I think the reason why cross-fingering works better on low whistles is not that they are low whistles but because they have a thicker wall. A deeper chimney for the sound holes has the effect that a finger below an open hole has a bigger influence in lowering the note. Those cross-fingerings should work just as well on a high D with a thicker tube. Diameter of the holes also has an influence of course. For instance I have one high D (a Qwistle v.2) on which oxoooo produces a perfectly in tune C natural. Probably because of the combination of a thick wall with a rather small top hole.
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Re: Low C

Post by highland-piper »

Sedi wrote:I think the reason why cross-fingering works better on low whistles is not that they are low whistles but because they have a thicker wall. A deeper chimney for the sound holes has the effect that a finger below an open hole has a bigger influence in lowering the note. Those cross-fingerings should work just as well on a high D with a thicker tube. Diameter of the holes also has an influence of course. For instance I have one high D (a Qwistle v.2) on which oxoooo produces a perfectly in tune C natural. Probably because of the combination of a thick wall with a rather small top hole.
IDK. This particular whistle has pretty thin PVC walls. I have a Carbony low D which has massive walls -- probably 1/8" thick. The C natural needs oxxxooo. But it's conical and this one is straight. My guess would be there are a lot of factors that probably just need experimenting with.
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Re: Low C

Post by Sedi »

Yep, I am sure you are right. Hole size plays a role, too (like I wrote). I also have a relatively thin walled F flute (but with a large bore) on which cross-fingerings work like a charm. But in general it works better on thicker walled whistles. At least on the ones I tried. The Carbony has a tapered bore as you mentioned, which behaves quite differently. So what seems to influence it (just from experience, no computer modelling, calculations made) -- thick wall plus cylindrical bore and hole size and bore diameter. Definitely more than one factor.
What might be an influence (just speculating here) on whistles (flutes) with a large bore is that they start developing some characteristics of a vessel flute (the breath pressure will for instance have a bigger influence on pitch) -- and on a vessel flute, only the surface of holes covered and uncovered is important but not where they are located. I think that might be a reason why a closed hole beneath an open one has a larger influence on the sound. But I am no expert on the physics involved. It's just speculation from playing a large numer of different whistles, flutes and wind instruments. I sure wish I had a better understanding of the physics involved.
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