Hiya,
New player again here. I can play D-D’ quite comfortably but beyond that, E’ to B’ and the like come out squeaky or at worst downright nasty. I understand that it’s about blowing a little harder, but is that the only thing? Is it that I’m simply not putting enough air down it, or is there another breathing technique used?
Many thanks,
Faustus
It should just be a matter of focusing the breath a little more tightly. If that’s not working for you, some thoughts:
Are you sure you’re not trying to play the third octave? I ask because I knew someone who blew so hard, he was actually playing the second octave when he thought he was playing the first. When you start at the very bottom note, blow very gently…try using as little breath as will sound the note. If that note is lower than what you’ve been starting with, no wonder you’re having problems…not all whistles will go into a third octave, and those that do generally require special fingerings.
If that’s not the problem, check to make sure the holes are properly sealed. Whistles are often less forgiving at the top end of their range.
If that’s not the problem, practice playing the high notes slowly, one at a time, working to see how much breath it takes to support the note without getting “off sounds.”
If, after checking all that and practicing carefully, you’re still getting squeeks, there may be a problem with the whistle.
Redwolf
What whistle? Some I find impossible to play without odd noises.
It’s a “Waltons Irish Black Tinwhistle” in the key of D.
I took the liberty of recording myself playing a simple scale. I hope that you can direct me as to where I am going wrong.
I’ll defer to the more experienced, but FWIW that sounds a lot like a pretty defective Walton’s Mellow D I had. I was able to tweak it with the “guitar pick tweak” and make it sound quite nice, but at first it was basically unplayable.
I found a kid to give my Walton Irish Black Tinwhistle (but feels like aluminum) to…
My fave whistle is the Clarke Original.
This is how I tweak my Clarke whistles (if or when they need it).
I look down the blowhole and sight along the wood. The center of the metal of the little dimple in the blade should be centered in your sight. If not, take something thin enough to slip in the airway and raise it if needed or use some tool to press down on it until it is adjusted.
It should now play even though it may take a bit of air and sound breathy. Adjust up or down slightly if needed to play both octaves cleanly.
To decrease the breathiness, use some lightweight hammer and tap the metal over the airway downward toward the wood. The end of the airway’s exit (the area closest to the blade) should be closer to the wood and have a flatter arch. Adjust these two things back and forth and you will end up with a whistle you will love.
A round toothpick (or similar object, or poster putty, beeswax) can be put in the sides of the windway to focus the air more towards the “dimple” will also reduce air requirements
A little cinnamon oil on the end of the wood helps with the taste of a new whistle.
It’s pretty hard to completely destroy it as the metal can take quite a bit of abuse before breaking and the whistle dying. I have never killed one completely, but I did have to mess quite a bit with one C whistle until I got it “just right”.
Wow, fancypiper, if I’m reading your post correctly I have a seriously messed up whistle. Here is a picture of what I see when I look from the bottom up…
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Or, just in case my diagrams don’t rock your world. here’s a picture from my webcam. If anyone needs any other angle/picture of the whistle, I’m happy to oblidge; I’d really appreciate help getting it fixed.
Hmm… That doesn’t look like a Clarke Original design…
Blow into this end (I call the hole your breath goes into the blow hole):
Sight down the end that you blow your breath into and you should see wood with a metal arch over it.
Further along, on the opposite side of the slit, the metal “dimple” on the “blade” should be seen.
I haven’t broken the glue holding the wood in place, so I have never needed the nails.
Is that clearer?
Sorry, I didn’t make myself clear. I’m not using a Clarke, I’m using the Waltons one.
(But from the sound of things I’ll be buying a new one pretty soon 
) Here’s what it looks like:
Like I previously said,
Ah, okay. Get a new whistle. Point taken
Is Clarke your reccomendation? Do they deliver to the mainland UK?
Oh, right, they ARE the UK. Mea culpa - I’m so used to everything being American dominated that’s on the internet.
What do you think of the “Meg” design? It’s damn cheap, which is rather tempting… or would you reccomend the Original?
To be honest, listening to your scale, it sounds like you’re just not giving it enough breath…it’s trying to break back down. Waltons tend to be a bit shrill in the second octave (I have a little black too), and maybe you’re being a bit tentative. Try the notes one at a time, blowing more gently and more firmly until you get a solid, sustained note.
I know when I first started playing, I was very shy of the second octave, because it just sounded SO loud and shrill to my ears, so I tended to underblow it. To my ear, that really sounds like what you’re doing too.
If you really want a Clarke’s, it’s an English brand, so you should be able to buy one locally. Lord knows they’re all over the music shops here. I’m not keen on them myself, but lots of people love them. Still, if I were you, I’d fiddle around with breath a bit first, and see if you can’t make that Waltons work for you…after all, you have it right there handy.
Redwolf
Actually, let me be a little clearer on that. Start by fingering “E.” Blow gently into it to sound the bottom E. Now gradually intensify the breath until it pops up to the second octave. Keep intensifying the breath until it no longer feels like it’s going to drop back down on you. When the note feels solid, try to sustain it. Get a feel for what that feels like. Then do the same thing on F#. Work your way up the scale SLOWLY that way. You should gradually get a feel for how much breath pressure you need to keep it in the second octave without it breaking down or up.
Just listening to your recording, it doesn’t sound to me like there’s a problem with the whistle, unless you’ve tried this kind of practice with the second octave and can’t get it to stay up there no matter how you try.
Redwolf
I’m going on holiday tommorow evening and will take the Waltons with me, Redwolf, so will have a good blast with it then 
Hopefully its just me, and as you suggest I’ll keep trying on the upper notes. If I can’t manage it by the time I get back, I’ll go into the market. What would be your suggestion for a beginner instrument?
Uh, the internet is world wide, IIRC… and the Clarke isn’t Irish, BTW 
The Clarke Tinwhistle Company
What do you think of the “Meg” design? It’s damn cheap, which is rather tempting… or would you reccomend the Original?
I much prefer my Clarke Original over all the whistles I have, followed by the Generation, then my Michael Burke.
Personally, the Meg as well as the Sweetone are too “pure” or sine wave sounding for my taste. Their sound isn’t complex enough for me.
The Megs I have tried aren’t tuned very well.
Check out the chiff & fipple whistle guides
Well, a lot of people do like the Clarke originals. I’m not keen on the overall sound, but they seem pretty solid. Another instrument that gets a lot of raves for beginners is the Clarke Sweetone…it’s similar to the Clarke original, but instead of having the wooden block, it has a plastic head similar to what you have on your Waltons (only better designed, I do have to say). My personal starter instrument was a Generation (also an English brand, and widely available), and I still prefer that basic sound. I have heard complaints of inconsistencies in the Generations…I haven’t encountered them myself, but have heard it from enough people to believe it. Still, a good Gen is all the whistle you may ever need, and the price is right, so it’s worth a try.
If I were you, I’d try to find a shop that will let you try the whistles before you buy…that’s always best, if possible. At this stage in the game, so long as a whistle is in tune with itself (i.e., no notes stand out as sharp or flat within the scale), sounds pleasant to your ear, and will go up into the second octave without making you feel like you’re collapsing your lungs or about to blow the birds out of the trees, it should be just fine, regardless of the brand.
Redwolf
If you get a Sweetone, get one from Jerry Freeman. He tweaks them. He also sells Tweaked Generations. Kinda takes the guess work out of it.
Another option would be to get a Syn from Erle Bartlett in Aussie land. $38 bucks US for what I hear is a darn good tooter. I have one on the way myself.
These options are a bit more expensive than the Meg or standard Sweetone, but I never hear any complaints about them either!!! 
Given a choice between the two (and assuming you don’t want to have to special order a whistle at this stage of the game, even if the price isn’t bad), I’d choose a Sweetone over a Meg. The Megs were designed, first and foremost, to be cheap. Some of them are pretty good; some are not so good. There’s a lot more consistency in the Sweetones, and they only cost a little more. Sometimes you’ll see them under different names…I used to have a blue Sweetone that was sold under the name “Woodstock.” Interestingly, if you can’t find them in a music shop, you can often find them in upscale toy stores!
Redwolf