i’ve seen lots of whistles with a Cnat hole, and plenty of D+ whistles with a RH pinky hole, but what about… both? so a regular high D whistle with 7 holes on the front and one on the back. simple right?
Wouldn’t the thumbhole be kind of redundant then?
Colin Goldie sells an 8 holed “Modal” whistle, which has an extra lower hole for one note lower (C, on a D whistle), and then a right hand thumbhole for F natural, I believe.
What to make of this one ???
I’m sure I read somewhere on the internet that during the First World War the government issued extra notes for each scale as a means of confusing the enemy. No longer could enemy anthems be played on captured instruments.
Best wishes.
Steve
Here’s another 8 hole whistle; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbELt-nvjio
Two thumb holes.
I don’t remember ever seeing this video before in my life, but somehow I have a comment on it. Weird.
How is the comfort on the lower F hole? It seems it would be in a bit of an awkward position, as the finger usually sits higher. It is below the R2 hole and above the R3 hole, correct? Is it exactly in the middle of the two?
I have an modal Goldie, the extra holes are a low C and an F natural. The F hole on this whistle is just slightly below the R2 hole and seems to be in the natural thumb position.
You mean below the 5th hole on the whistle, right? This is natural thumb position? I have never seen anyone with their thumb there before, unless I am misunderstanding. I think that sounds to be very uncomfortable of a position.
Not saying that nobody does it, though.
I have only seen people place their thumb above that hole, not below.
Yes, the 5th hole down. It’s very slightly below where my thumb is on a standard whistle but is perfectly comfortable.
I wonder what he means by “modal”? Every ordinary whistle is modal, capable of playing in the Major mode, minor mode, Dorian mode, Lydian mode, and pretty much in any mode whatever.
Anyhow I’ve always thought that it would be nice if whistles were regularly made with a little-finger hole for Low C, and a thumbhole for F natural.
no, the bottom hole, below the regular D is a low C, the thumb hole is for an alternate of the regular Cnat you get from cross fingering or 1/2 holing C.
Couldn’t you overblow the low C to get middle C? Then you could cut and tap middle D.
Yes, you could. I suppose there would be a difference in tone between a c-natural overblown with the low C hole, a c natural played with it’s own thumbhole, and a c natrual cross-fingered. I am not sure if having three options for playing C natural is really necessary, though . Seems like overkill. The only purpose I see in a c-natural thumbhole is to get a clear sounding c-natural during certain occasions where you want that note to come out clear like the other notes. Anything else you can already do through other means.
3 ways of playing one note within the same octave seems a bit extreme, though, unless c-natural is your favourite note.
I felt it was very uncomfortable when I made it and commented so to the customer. He assured me that it was fine for him and indeed, he doesn’t seem to have any problems in the video.
I can’t remember if the hole was exactly in the middle of R2/3, but that would depend to some extent on the hole size.
I’ve never had another request for one of these.
Some photos of a Modal D/C.
For me the Fnat hole seems to be just where I rest my thumb naturally on a regular D.
[Thread revival. Mod]
I designed an awesome 8 hole whistle that can play in any key. The low note is an F. Hole #1 is the thumb hole for the left hand. The tuning is completely non-traditional. It is tuned, 3 half steps, 3 whole steps, and 3 half step. The major 3rd, flat 5th, and augmented 5th (A,B, & C#)are cross fingered. It is well suited for bebop scales, has a 2 octave range, and the holes are positioned for maximum comfort. All the fingerings are easy Half holes are not required. I made the prototype out of 1 inch pvc, but plan to make some bamboo ones. I got tired of the limitations imposed by 6 holes. Here’s a pic:
