Or almost a low G. It’s somewhere between G and A flat.
I was at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival this weekend, and I wandered into one of those shops that sells third-world crafted Renaissance kitsch. And there amid the counters and wall displays of imported psuedo-celtic crap, was a stand with about 40 bamboo whistles. About half were fipple-less, and all but one of the whole display were decorated in pattens that looked like they were done by an Aztec on acid.
I picked up the lone plain one and looked it over. It was about the length of a low A or G, and it didn’t even look like it would play – the fipple was glued in crooked and the holes just didn’t look right. The price tag said $10 but it was marked down to $7. I thought what the hell, I just spent more money than that buying cokes for my kids, so I popped the $7, figuring I could irritate people with it for the rest of the afternoon and then pitch it in a barrel on the way out.
No way did I pitch the thing, however. The sound was glorious – a rich woody tone with just a hint of chiff (no doubt due to the jaggedly cut blade). And it turned out, to my utter astonishment, to be pretty much in tune with itself – as good as any other whistle I own and better than some. With a bell note somewhere between G and A flat, it’s not in tune with anything else, but I don’t play with anyone else anyway. It has a great sound for slow pieces, but it’s also responsive enough to play the few easy jigs I know. (I can’t play any faster than treble jig speed, anyway.)
It’s only drawback is it takes a lot – and I mean a lot – of air, and sustained notes are tough on a winded old man. Playing a sustained note is like blowing down a vaccum cleaner tube. That and it’s probably going to crack this winter when the humidity in the house drops to about 5. But I’ve already got more than $7 worth of fun out of it, so anything from here on out is pure gravy – a neat little surprise. It’s easier to finger than my Susato low A, and louder than my Dixon low A. I think I’ll use it to learn to play “Lonesome Boatman,” but I may have to quit smoking first.
I also saw something else interesting in another shop – a hard-wood (purple heart)whistle body (about the size of a low D) but with a saxophone head mounted on the end instead of a fipple. The fingering is the same as a whistle, but the sound – the best way I can think to describe it is that it’s what Mel Torme would sound like if he were a whistle. Very interesting little instrument, and I could feel the WHOA starting to throb when my wife gently led me away to safety. Oh well, there’s always next year.