As a new whistle player I am probably encountering the same issues others have with one in particuler right now being a real challenge. I currently have a Freeman Mellow Dog and an Obrien maple Rover, both of which I love. I am also going through Ryan Dun’s whistle lessons on Youtube and am working on lesson two. I also have Bill Och’s book.
My challenge has been to hit the lowest note, the D, XXXXXX, in a solid fashion that sounds pure. I know that my fingers are completely covering the holes. Hitting the low D while descending from other higher notes is easier but still problematic. But when I have to start on that note and go up it’s even harder to hit a good note. By the way, currently the Freeman is easier to hit the low D on than the Obrien.
The two sources of instruction I have listed do not address this issue per-se.
That’s usually the hardest note for a new player to master, particularly at speed. It’s a matter of breath control and finger placement. Mostly it comes with time and practice and time and practice and … Just make sure that you work at it and don’t get into sloppy habits waiting for it to cure itself. Force each bottom note to be as pure as you can get it.
I know it’s different for each player and whistle. But I can usually get the strongest low bell note if I open up a cavity in my mouth, (It looks like oboe players do this if you want to picture it that way). I don’t know if it slows down the air a little or what, but that works for me. Sort of the opposite of smaller emboucher, higher velocity stream of air for the high notes.
Then the trick for me is to play as many notes as I can with that emboucher so I can hit that low note at speed from almost any other note on the whistle.
MT my biggest issue is overblowing. I really have to back off to get a clear note. The Freeman is much easier to get the D than the Obrien. y-nought I think I"m doing what you are suggesting without knowing I am. I feel like I have to open my throat and almost “breath” softly and not “blow”. If that’s the case I’m going in the right direction and working on it. I just hear whistle players on the net and it doesn’t sound like they play that softly on the low notes as opposed to the higher notes.
You’d be surprised, Steve. If you look at waveform-type displays of whistle recordings, it’s easy to see that the difference of volume (loudness) between the lowest and highest notes can easily be 30 dB or more. In theory, that’s 6x as loud. And that correlates to some degree with the breath pressure/velocity. The ear is pretty good at evening out the perceived volume. But when you hear good whistle players. they are always “finessing” that bottom bell note with good breath control.
I’m still a relative beginner, and have a question on a related note. To get a clear sounding low D, I often find myself opening up the seal my mouth makes around the whistle, blowing a little air out of the sides of my mouth. Is this considered a bad habit and should be avoided?
I did receive a Mellow Dog yesterday, and it is by far the best sounding (to me) whistle I have. The low D is very easy, takes no “cheating”, and sounds much better in the upper register too. Maybe I have picked up some measure of good technique after trying to make harder whistles (Acorn, Oak, even a Dixon Trad) sound good.
Yes and no. It’s certainly one of the tricks for controlling air volume and pressure. You can also vent through the nose. But I think of it more in terms of controlling the highest notes such as high a and b, which are tricky on some whistles. For the bottom D, you should go for a good steady note without breaking the seal. And of course, whenever you lose air, you’re reducing your flexibility to find good breathing points in the tune.
See if you can get an experienced player to check out your whistle. If he/she can get a good solid lowest note, you’ll just have to work on this notoriously tricky note more. If they have problems with it, you may want to contact the maker and get it tweaked to play more solidly.
Your problems are common to most “Ducted-Flue” woodwinds. Pitch slurring caused by small changes in breath pressure are more apparent on the lowest notes.
Suggestion: Put a piece of scotch tape on the bore end hole to partially cover it. This will flatten the lowest note, create more backpressure for that note and allow you to blow a little harder (to raise the pitch to scale).
If this corrects the problem…Use some Blu-Tack putty or beeswax to reduce the diameter of the bore end hole. Adjustments are easily made and this “Tweak” is reversable.
I myself am a new whistle player, but am an experienced musician and music educator. I have found that as some earlier posters have said, opening the oral cavity can REALLY help the low notes, much like yawning when you don’t want someone to see. In addition, I’ve found that considering the placement of your tongue will also adjust the speed of the air you are putting into the whistle. As your tongue rises while you’re exhaling the air should move faster as your tongue creates an area of high pressure between your tongue and the roof of your mouth. As you lower your tongue the pressure drops, the air speed slows and the low notes speak more easily. Think of it like the difference between saying “TUH” or “TOOOOO” and “TEEEEEEE”. Think of where your tongue is when you say these syllables and try using them when playing your whistle. As a new whistle player, this along with some tweaking of my whistles has helped a great deal. Not to mention advice from the fine people on this forum.
As a whistle maker I am pretty sure the each whistle is slightly different, even the mass produced ones. It is a very miniscule difference in the construction of the window and blade and plug that can change a whistle from having a strong low note, to having almost none at all. Having other whistle players try it out is a good thing. leaking air from your mouth to soften your pressure doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. I do sometimes use the nose release method when playing high whistles… especially in concerts after playing a lower whistle. It sounds difficult, but it reeally isn’t, but this isn’t really used to regulate your blowing pressure, but rather to realease the excess air you have breathed in, but can’t blow out fast enough through the whistle. there are a few excersizes that I list on my web site tutorial that will help you build the muscle memory to hit those harder notes dead on and with confidence. http://www.ethnicwind.com/tutorial.html see the section on breath control.(the confidence part is a big part of it… if you think you aren’t gonna hit that note right it turns into a self fulfilling prophecy). Keep practicing it will come, but practice right… practice doesn’t always make perfect, but it does make permanent.
Amen. There’s a Zen-like thought process where if you know you will hit the note, then you will and if you know you will miss the note then you’ll do that, too. My teacher tells me to “aim for the note.”
