As in, B natural. As in, I’m a piper… Looking for a B whistle to play along with other pipers in B. But since I don’t have a B set, a whistle will do. For now…
Was looking at maybe a Burke, either in brass, possibly aluminum. Not interested in the composite whistles to be honest.
Cheers,
-E
Syn
Susato … cheap, good.
I had a brass Burke, and have to say, it was a very nice whistle. I should have kept it.
I believe aluminum Burkes sound better than brass. And the new model has a nice husky tone.
I play a Burke B natural in brass. It’s the only commercially made B natural I have owned for the last five years. It gets a lot of use. It’s a very good whistle, no complaints. But then again I own/play a couple dozen Burkes. And, just my opinion but, the brass and aluminum Burke whistles play equally well and sound quite similar from ten feet away. If you like a light weight whistle go aluminum. If you prefer something more stout, go with the brass.
I owned/played a Susato Kildare B natural before that. Good stuff.
Then again some players have converted Generation Bb whistles to play in B natural. It’s not difficult work either. A search through the forums (both pipes and whistle) should lead you to an outline of the procedure. Here’s what I have found from previous posts on the same question as your own.
And for a little more detail there is this:
Hope that helps.
Feadoggie
Yeah i saw the Generation Bb conversion plans a while ago and even had some success with it. I even tried it on a C whistle making a C# whistle out of a Feadóg with some success. But the amount of tape needed to correct the scale impeeded the tonal performance of the whistle… So i now want something a little more professional grade.
As for Susatos, they’re cheaper but i don’t care much for them. My opinion though, and i’m not trying to put them down.
I don’t have a B, but my Goldie Overton A is terrific, so I’d imagine Colin’s B is likewise.
One thing you may to keep in mind if you don’t run into another B natural is that the Susato B doesn’t exhibit most of the characteristics that “distinguish” the Susato high D S-bore whistle. The B natural Kildare is actually very well behaved, IMO, and not nearly as in-your-face as the high D can be. The extra length of the B natural tube helps to sort that out. So if all else fails…
The Burkes are really nice whistles.
Feadoggie
Susatos I found to be: Reminiscent in tone to that of a recorder… (blah) Their tone-hole spacing on the bottom hand to be a little more uncomfortable then say a Generation or Feadog, (I have small hands for a guy) and the biggest was the way they played. Not as responsive in finding notes, (such as in going from E’ to B’) and the biggest was the way crans would respond with those whistles. They never seem to come out as crisp as they would on whistles such as the Burkes in brass or aluminum, or your basic Generation or Feadog - just a few examples from my own personal experience. Being a piper, and a lover of cranning, that was a bit of a drawback to me, for lack of better words… And for what it’s worth, I have a Susato in A and low G, and they’ve been sitting in my whistle case in my closet not being played much in the 4 or 5 years I believe I’ve owned them. I’ve tried the Soprano D’s and I didn’t care much for them either. I’m not knocking them or picking on them, They just don’t suit me as a whistle for Irish trad, but again, my opinion.
At this rate it would probably be a Burke. I’m still weighing out the differences and trade-offs. Aluminum vs. Brass. Aluminum being light and easy to hold, but the brass being sturdier, thus being more structurally sound. Ah, but then there’s tone. But as someone had pointed out, they said they couldn’t tell the difference between either one @ 10 feet away. However I own a Burke C in brass, and found it to be a bit mellower in tone, vs. the aluminum C I once had before it.
I don’t think I wouldn’t mind a Sindt, if he still makes B whistles. But if I remember right his C naturals seemed to be built more for the half-holing technique, something I don’t do normally on the whistle, and any cross fingering always seems to yield a slightly sharp C natural. Even as played: OXX XOX… Or does he just do that for his Soprano whistles?
-E
Right, if you don’t like the sound of the Susato, that out. The B Susato does have the characteristic Susato sound.
Yeah, I play Burke C’s in aluminum and brass and I can understand what you are describing. I do like my brass Burke B whistle. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a B whistle.
Sindt has made a B natural whistle in the past. I should hope he still makes one. I really like his whistles. I only play his high D at the moment (I need to order a couple more keys!) so I can’t say how he tunes his whistles in other keys. I find the C nat on the Sindt D to be tuned well enough to play dance tunes. I’d think a Sindt could be another good option for you if the tuning isn’t out of the question for you.
Feadoggie
Gary Humphrey B whistle is my fav
Favorite B whistle is my Humphrey. I look forward to Gary re-opening this coming summer (2012)
Gary makes some of the finest whistles on the planet.
James
Never tried the Humphrey… What are they like? Any audio files I might be able to listen to? Course, this won’t give me much on how they play since I don’t have one in my hands to try, but I’m curious none the less.
I play two Bs, a Burke brass and a Water Weasel (only one I’ve ever seen).
Both are great.
Doc
Just made a B body for my C whistle: A standard C whistle head with B body.
Worked out very nice, a sweet sound with very good second octave behaviour, thanks to the relative narrower bore (higher length to bore ratio). Listen to a sound sample, just something which came into my head:
http://soundcloud.com/hans-bracker/b-whistle-sample
There is something really beautiful about playing a B whistle, I can’t describe.
My theory is that what we know as modern B was once in olden times C, and what we know as Db/C# was in olden times D, because the general pitch has been raised.
C whistle with extra B body will make a good combo set.