hi there
first, sorry for my bad english. Anyway i’ll try to do my best.
It’s Andre, from Rome (the Great Beauty, you know?), i play the whistle since my childhood, when my mom, coming back from London, gave me a nice Generation in Bb.
We are talking about -uhm- 35 years.
Actually i have some tin whistles plus an AWFUL LowD Merlin (someone interested???)
Despite his low price, my Clarke Celtic (a sweetone painted in green) is one of my favourite and plays really well.
Another good whistle i own, is an aluminium Impempe made by ian Turnbull (south africa) but despite his mellow tone and intonation is hard to play in the highest notes. ANyway is a real masterpiece and i’m in love with him.
Then i own also a very old (about 100 years old) Clarke in C, rusty and worn but still playable.
As every italian students, i learned the recorder at school but i prefer the whistle for many (and personal) reasons.
i have some questions for the folks, i hope in some replies.
I own also a very nice blackwood irish flute. Despite the unknown maker plays well and is in tune but the flute is really hard to play for me.
My question is: there is a way to convert the flute in a LowD? Someone has tried to make a mouthpiece? Any reply is welcome
Welcome Andre.
About coverting a flute to a low whistle…
What I’ve read is that its really doable.
Have you seen Guido Gonzato’s whistles?
I hade a high d that was lovely.
His low d’s aren’t too expensive. http://www.ggwhistles.com/
He also has very good instructions on making your own whistles.
Or, you could sell/trade your black wood flute for a top of the line low whistle.
Hello, mate
thanks for your reply. Yes i know Guido’s work, and i’m really tempted to purchase one of his whistles.
Concerning my flute, is a very nice piece and, although i’m not able to play it well, is intonated and really beautiful to see. Plus, his conical bore is very handly and has medium sized holes that i found perfect for my fingers. So, i don’t want to give away my flute but i’m looking for someone that can build a wooden mouthpiece.
Any suggestion is really welcome.
A.
The two sound samples on that page sound like G sharp minor, but why not e-mail the flutemaker himself and ask? Also, if you order something from him beware that many of his instruments are in tune with itself but not necessarily at concert pitch.. he usually says so in the specifications but it’s best to ask for a concert pitch version explicitly if that is what you want.
Yep, they do, though the actual tuning is a bit flat. The stated length of 15 1/2 inches could be consistent with a flute with a bell note of G#. The scale isn’t specified, but the sound samples suggest the Natural Minor (Aeolian mode).
Of course, those samples could easily be played on an F# Major tuned instrument using E Minor fingering (tonic XXX XXO). So why one would want a less versatile minor tuned instrument to play a standard Western scale is not entirely clear to me.
So posture is the problem? The upside is that you don’t need the piper’s grip when holding the flute along the abscissa… anyway, fipple mouthpieces for flutes do exist; you could contact a maker of (wooden) low whistles (and ideally of flutes as well) if they could custom-make you one for your flute. Or try to make one yourself, of course. Other than that, even if you find one 2nd-hand it’s unlikely that it will fit the parameters of your (unIDed) flute I suppose.
Can I ask, why is that a problem? If you can hold a Low D whistle, you can hold a flute. And the flute doesn’t have to be horizontal. Even if you have a shoulder problem, if necessary you can tilt the flute down 30-45 degrees, and tilt your head accordingly. It’s not the ideal position, but you can move it up gradually as you become more comfortable.
If your embouchure is not a problem - and your rejection of a cheater suggests that it’s not - then my impression is that you might want to convert your flute for the wrong reasons. Especially if the flute is unkeyed. If you want access to keyed fingerings with a fipple conversion, that’s one thing. Otherwise, for the high cost of a custom-fitted fipple head joint, you can get a very nice Low D whistle that is designed to be played vertically. Instead of a converted flute that won’t sound like the original flute, nor play like a well-voiced whistle.
I too have a physical problem which prevents me from playing flute. I played flute for around 35 years, then hand cramping put an end to it. (And shoulder and neck pain, but I’d put up with that for years. It was the hand cramping that finally put the kibosh on the flute.)
So I switched to Low Whistle.
I have a very nice Kenakena/Quenacho in Low D that I’ve used as a basis for a couple self-made PVC vertical Irish Flute things, which would be the best answer for me, I think. Trouble is, the bore seems to be wrong, because I get bad octaves.
For Boehm flute, people make very nice-playing vertical headjoints for people with this exact issue. (It’s a rather common problem, it seems.)
Perhaps somebody would make an Irish version someday.
First, thanks for your friendly partecipation.
Second, sorry for my poor english that cause some issues in communication.
@MTGuru
the problem are my wrists, both badly damaged due an accident. I cannot articulate well and when i succeed to turn the left one the fingers are almost paralyzed. I had improved the strenght with training and some gym-tools, but no: doesn’t work.
Ah, thank you for your explanation. I’m so sorry to hear that. Life gives us limitations, doesn’t it? But yes, a vertical arrangement might allow you to make some use of the flute, even if it’s not ideal. Good luck in your quest!
I saw this listing recently and think what you are asking can be done. I’m not a craftsman, not play the flute, but the description here seems to fit. Take a look and best wishes.
Ah yes, the Giorgi flute. What a cool idea. Incidentally, another Italian flutemaker in this thread. I understand why the 11 open holes never caught on, but the straight-on embouchure hole would appear to be both ergonomically and acoustically superior.
@PCP: Geoffrey Ellis may be able to make you a hybrid quenacho / Irish flute-type instrument. I know he makes a wood quena, and a Pratten. It would certainly be a thing to have!
@Italian Rover: Welcome to the Chiffboards! And about your English: Tu ti communici molto meglio nell’inglese con noi che noi probabilmente ci communicherebbero con te nell’italiano. E perdona cualche errore mio con la tua lingua!
Thanks all: your tips are really useful.
Stanton your italian is not bad, with your skill you should be a perfect italian politician
Well now i should find a flute maker able to build a Giorgi head or a good-heart person willing to build a whistle head for my flute :-/
Yes indeed Giorgi was doing a very similar thing over 100 years ago!
I’ve seen flutes with headjoints like that, and ones with a very short horizontal bore-section fitted transversely on the end of a vertical headjoint, and the S-shapes ones like I posted the picture of.
Then there are the guys who make Shakuhachi headjoints for Boehm flutes, and Quena/Kena headjoints for Boehm flutes.
Many ways to do a similar thing! Get a transverse flute to go vertical.
I don’t play Shakuhachi, but I do play Kena, so putting a Kenakena/Quenacho style head on a Low D Whistle body would be perfect for me.
The huge advantage of some flute-ish head is that it gives you full control over dynamics, so that you can get booming low notes and sweet high notes.
Life gives us limitations, doesn’t it? But yes, a vertical arrangement might allow you to make some use of the flute, even if it’s not ideal. Good luck in your quest!
