Low Ds v High Ds

[crookedtune]

Interesting. I should give it a try.

I'm quite often the only flute/whistle player, as we tend to be fiddle- and box-heavy. It might be an interesting change of pace. If not, no one will be shy about letting me know!

[riverman]

I didn't read every entry here, so forgive me if I'm being repetitious.

I don't agree that the way you play a high D keeps it from being shrill, though it can certainly help. I find myself liking my Clarke original D more than the Burke D because of its softness. (Player guilt! I like my cheapie D more than my expensive D)! I have tried for years and the high D is still shrill to me. After a few tunes I want to go lower.
I think the problem is that many makers assume you will want to play in sessions. They want to make session whistles, but many of us will only play alone. I think they should do as Ralph Sweet does, offer two volumes of whistle. Or the Parks whistles with the adjustment ring.
I love a Burke low A because it can still be played with the fingertips and I don't have to wince on any note. Non whistlers who hear me remain silent with the high D but talk about the "beautiful sound" of the low A. In my experience, casual listeners prefer low whistles.
I do not have a low D, so I cannot comment on them (I'm afraid my low A would get LONELY)!

[robert schuler]

If shrill is a problem this is something you can try at home alone. When I used to play a lot of very loud electric guitar I used to wear a pair of hearing protectors, ear muffs we used to call them before they got slicked up. The muffs filtered out a lot of the annoying over tones. I tried this with my High D and its works well on the second octave but I loose the warmth of the lower octave. Give it a try, you might look goofy, but try it anyway...
I love playing my low D but its a whole different animal... Bob.

[greenspiderweb]

There are many variations of the animal called human being, and it follows that there will always be individual preferences, especially in the arts and music that will endure until the end of time. My preference is for the low tones, always, and especially if I am making them.

It may be because my ears started playing music below the staff in 5th grade, when I won the tryout for playing the Sousaphone in the school band. That meant that my parents didn't have to pay for my instrument (a lot of brass to buy, for sure!) because it belonged to the school. That was a big plus for us, and me, and I enjoyed playing it in band, through the 8th grade. The band experience was great, even though the instrument left a lot to be desired for finesse and musical excitement. But it probably influenced me in how I percieved musical instruments in the future, and led to my prefernce for the lower end of the spectrum in tone and timbre preferences.

I have very little use or time for listening to a high D whistle, or even comparable instruments playing in that scale-I just don't prefer to hear anything musical, even by great players, if it is in the upper reaches of the musical scale, with the exception of a female vocal once in a while that reaches those heights along with the mid ranges more common to them. I still probably prefer a female singer that can hit the lower tones with ease, as it pleases me more than the higher reaches, any day.

So, yes, to the Low D whistle, any day, except for when I need to carry a whistle outdoors for convenience, and then the nod will go to a more pocketable instrument, sometimes!!

Because of my financial woes, I am down to one Low D whistle (Susato) that I still really like for my solo-at-home-playing that is my norm and prefernce, and one used Gemeinhardt 2sp Boehm flute, just because it was cheap, and plays great, and gives me access down to low C
when I want it, without any muscular or tenon strain for my fingers in accessing keys, like it sometimes has done for me with the simple system flutes when I had one with keys. I had a keyless Delrin flute recently that was just great for me, but had to let it go to pay the bills.

So, all in, I am a Low D player mostly, and only let the high D in once in a while, when I must, or need to for convenience, or necessity. There's just not enough there to interest me in the higher timbres, unlike the lower ranges that just speak to my soul. Funny that I still have more high whistles (inexpensive Gens, Feadog Pros and a LBW, but only because of the little outlay I needed to acquire them in the first place, which also keeps me from selling them too! But they all have a blob of sticky tack in front of the window to mellow them, and make them more pleasant to play for my ears, in my apartment.

So, Low is it for me, and it is what excites my ears. If it works for you is an individual thing, and if so, just be prepared to learn piper's grip on the Low D's, and most likely in time it will become very natural to you, unlike how it feels in the beginning.

If you prefer the soaring nature of the higher musical realms, then go for it, and be happy. Give me a dirge or sombre air any day, and a little rain or stormy weather to go with it, and I'm a contented (mind I didn't say happy) creature!

[Anyanka]

Good point by Riverman above about playing in sessions vs playing alone: I do find high D on its own, or even as a very dominant instrument (e.g. in Mary Bergin's CDs), too much. I feel it needs the substance of other instruments to carry it, embedded in band ideally. On my own, just for the fun of it, I prefer playing low whistles (A or G) or my flute, and only get out the high D at home for practice.

Re the volume/shrillness issue - I use a Shaw high D as a mellower, quieter alternative to the Syn for those occasions when I play with fewer people, or in a smaller room.

[pancelticpiper]

my prefernce (is) for the lower end of the spectrum in tone and timbre preferences.

I just don't prefer to hear anything musical, even by great players, if it is in the upper reaches...

So I take it you're not a big fan of Fife & Drum music?

I much prefer playing Low D over High D, but I love listening to good High D playing like Mary Bergin's, and even Fife & Drum groups!

Though in Jazz I always prefer Bari or Tenor over Alto (Sax), and prefer a good Baritone vocalist over a Tenor.