Has anybody reviews about the Alba LowC, LowBb or LowA whistles?
Regards!
I have played the Alba low C. The fingering was no more difficult for me than a low D. It had a nice deep sound.
I have a Low Bb Alba, and while I love the sound and feel of the thing, I must say that for one like me (smallish guy, medium sized hands) it’s a huge whistle. I can just about handle it with a fully streched piper’s grip, but it’s really demanding to cover the lower holes well when playing for longer periods of time. This is no fault of the whistle, though, that’s physiology for you. The whistle is superbly crafted. Two things I’d like to see as accessories: Some kind of thumb hook for the right hand (or possible both) and the option to get cork instead of rubber O-rings. I had mine fitted with cork (like the one you find on clarinet head joints), and it worked out beautifully. It makes for an even better fit of the head and makes tuning a breeze.
Once again, the whistle sounds great - mellow, round and with a full body of harmonics. Not very loud though - but it carries well. It generally needs a lot of air, especially in the second octave, but since it’s playable by me (I’m still a rookie), if you’re a little experienced, you won’t have any problems playing it.
M.
Any one has more opinions about Bass Alba whistles?
Hi guys!
My friend owns a Bb Alba Low and I played it quite regularly when we had sessions here. General expression is that it is a pleasant whistle - with deep beautiful “whispering” tone which is quite unusual in that sense that all we are used to the sound of D-Lows and D-flutes but not lower. The whistle is handy enough even to play quick tunes but needs some getting used to. You’ll need some time to stretch your fingers and to remember their position on the holes.
Of some disadvantages: there were some tuning issues and my friend had to cut a couple of holes to finely tune the whistle.
As I’ve said above - the whistle’s tone is “whispering” - it mainly means that it has a lot of chiff in it. It makes the whistle’s sound quite quiet and somewhat blurred. I myself would prefer a mellower and denser sound. For this I’d make the windway of this Bb narrower getting thus more backpressure and decreasing air supply. So these are the main points.
General impression of Alba whistles (I own a high D Alba Q1) is that they have one step left to the crowd of truly high-end whistle makers as they’ve improved their quality significantly these years (according to numerous reviews and friend’s impressions). There are some minor issues and instabilities - if they manage to overcome them their instruments will become really professional.
Thank you for your feedback Viking of Kiev 