I am thinking to send my next low D on tour, in order for it to be more widely known.
If you are interested in trying out a Bracker low D please send me a PM including your email address and what country you are living in. All further communication will then be by email. You need to be able to receive email regularly, so you can be contacted by me, and receive instructions as to whom you are going to send the whistle next.
Each participant in this tour may try out the whistle for a week, then send it on. You bear the costs of sending it on, or returning it to me if I request it. You receive the whistle on loan for a week. Feedback about the whistle on this thread would be appreciated!
I think I’d like to send on tour what I call my low D standard whistle, which has slightly offset holes 3 and 6 for easier fingering, plus a thumb hole for better C nat. The whistle will be tuned in “just” pure intonation, not equal temperament (ET). Does that sound reasonable, or do I need to include an extra body with inline finger holes and no thumb hole (I imagine many players have no experience with a thumb hole)? There are so many variations of customising a whistle that i will have to settle for some “standard” for this tour.
hi Hans - I wouldn’t tour one with a thumb hole - it is quite difficult to get used to. Much as I love your whistles (and I do), it took me ages to get used to two things - one is that the Cnat-D change is in fact a seven-finger change, and is a bit hard to get right at first; the other is remembering to take my thumb off for the Csharp. Most whistlers will find it easier to go with a normal 6-hole one.
On the other hand I’d say to ‘most whistlers’, that Hans may be on to something with the thumb hole: unlike the oxx ooo Cnat, which is a wee bit whispery and weak on many whistles, the o xoo ooo Cnat is as pure and strong as the notes above and below it. This might be something to persevere with, especially for slow airs.
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I disagree… Sorry… I have a C-nat thumbhole on my Copley flute. While it took a little getting used to, it makes for a MUCH better C-nat! If you don’t want to use it, it’s a simple matter to put a bit of electrical tape over it. My advice would be to send it out WITH the thumbhole to allow those of us who would like it to check it out and advise others to do the “tape mod”. I haven’t used a thumbhole on a low-D whistle, but would sure like to have the ability to try one!
I usually do a five finger change from C nat to D:
I keep R3 on for stabilising when playing C nat,
and keep L1 on when playing D,
so I just put down L2, L3, R1, R2 and left thumb.
I appreciate the difficulties using the left thumb if one has never used it before. In time with practise it becomes quite mobile.
So far five people have contacted me with an interest in taking part in the tour.
All are from the USA. So the first Bracker whistle tour will start in the USA, hopefully very soon. I’ll be in touch by email to tour participants.
Drop me a PM if you are interested to be included in the tour.