I am currently playing The Secret Garden for a local community theater. The reed one book calls for several whistles (among other toys ). I am having real problems with the octaves being too close on my Generation whistles (Bb and F). If I tune the low register to the piano, the upper register is nearly a quarter tone flat. Alternatively, I can tune the upper register, and the low register will be 1/4 tone sharp. Is there an easy tweak (or even a difficult one) that I can use to spread the octaves?
I don’t think it is the person behind the whistle, (although I can’t rule that out as a very real possibility) but I am not experiancing any of that craziness on my Whistle Smith Low D, my Oak D, or on my soprano and alto recorders.
The 2nd octave of any cylindrical whistle like a Gen is slightly flat to the 1st octave, in the nature of the acoustics. If you’re playing in a large venue like a theater, chances are you’re blowing pretty hard in the lower register for more volume. So you’re blowing the lower register sharp, which just exacerbates the problem.
The normal technique is to underblow the 1st octave - a quarter tone flat in your case. Basically, you have a choice between playing loud or playing in tune. If volume is the deciding factor, you simply need a louder whistle, like a Susato or Burke. Or a conical bore whistle like a Sweetone or Copeland - but those are going to be hard to come by in Bb and F.
Thanks for the reply. I was afraid somnething like that might be the situation. I guess I will simply play the low register stuff more softly. RATS! I like the edginess of the tone when it is played louder.
). I am having real problems with the octaves being too close on my Generation whistles (Bb and F). If I tune the low register to the piano, the upper register is nearly a quarter tone flat. Alternatively, I can tune the upper register, and the low register will be 1/4 tone sharp. Is there an easy tweak (or even a difficult one) that I can use to spread the octaves?