Here it is: The Review of the Jubilee Instruments Chromatic Low Whistle!
Above all, words of gratitude and encouragement are due to Mr. Daniel Bingamon of Jubilee Instruments, who (as far as I know) is the only person experimenting with whistles in quite this way. Without people like him, there are no discoveries or innovations. He has also been generous in loaning a chromatic whistle without charge.
So that you can read my review understanding my biases and limitations, please note the following about me:
I am a professional musician, and professor of same, with doctorate and stuff, but not in Whistle Studies! I am a pianist and really an average amateur on the whistle. I have owned one low whistle before, an Asarkar, and was disappointed in it. I have ten Susatos ranging from alto B-flat up to sopranino G. I tend to play a fairly standard assortment of jigs, reels, airs, and anything else with melodic appeal. I daydream about being asked to sit in on a session with The Chieftans.
OK: The Chromatic Whistle. My first impression of the instrument was its newness. The pleasant smell of fresh finish emanated from the homemade wooden box as it was opened. The instrument is metal (what kind I don’t know because it is coated with a dark green finish) with brass hardware–a visually attractive combination. The mouthpiece is (I think) black Delrin, a kind of plastic, and the windway goes from wide to narrow (from mouth-end to instrument-end) at a fairly sharp angle. The mouthpiece can be replaced with a transverse flute headjoint, which was included in the box. Also in there is a high D brass whistle. So as not to steal all the thunder, I will let someone else review that item. The instrument in general has a work-in-progress look to it, which is to be expected.
The main item of interest is, of course, the keys. Do they work? Yes, they do. For me (having no flute or clarinet experience) the process of learning them was at first bewildering, but really they are not so complex. However, there are two factors that may need to be addressed: the six “regular” whistle holes are all open (unkeyed), and it was my impression that a key would be provided for the lowest hole to reduce reach, but there was no such key. The other factor is that the piper’s grip is really not possible on this instrument, at least for my hands, because of the placement of the keys.
A possible improvement would be to move the keys so that the piper’s grip is facilitated, and also to refine the keys so that they are physically smoother and require less of a disorienting finger jump to find them. They jut out quite far from the instrument, such that one must move to a very different “plane” to find them. In sum, I am able to play in keys other than D, but only by fumbling a bit. A fair portion of the blame is, no doubt, mine.
The most searching test of a chromatic D whistle is its ability to play the A-flat scale, the most distant key from D. It would seem that not every issue of intonation has been resolved in the far-flung wilderness of A-flat. Again, these are the issues one faces when crossing new frontiers.
A few concluding thoughts:
Most of us whistlers are not looking to play highly chromatic music. Trad is by nature diatonic. Perhaps fewer keys, carefully chosen, might work. Maybe less is more. For example, just three non-diatonic notes–G#, C natural, and F natural, would open up many other possible tonalities. The scales of A, G, D (of course), and C would all be home turf, along with their relative minors and some modes, too.
The issue of reach is crucial. I have big hands (strong, too) but I can’t play a low whistle on my fingertips: gotta have that piper’s grip. An interesting possibility would be to make a low diatonic whistle with keys solely for the purpose of reducing the reach.
Recently a Chiffer posted a question about intonation. I believe the questions was, which cheap whistles are best in tune? This shows the concern even the more casual players have for really solid intonation.
Finally, I think it is profoundly wonderful, in this age of grasping global capitalism, to encounter a gentleman who is working with his own two hands to bring the joy of music into the world. I hope all the Chiffers will join me in wishing Mr. Bingamon many happy hours of discovery in the workshop.