Tuning a Feadog?

[brewerpaul]

My electronic tuner tells me I'm about 40-45 cents sharp, so if someone can tell me how to get that to a more tolerable temperment before I start playing with others I'd appreciate it.

Thx - stv

Try playing with others anyway: it may not be as bad as your tuner tells you. Also, as you play with others you'll automatically blow the whistle differently and adjust the pitch to fit. Try playing against your tuner blowing hard, and then softly: the difference in pitch can be pretty dramatic.

[Chatterton]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I was being a little over the top when I suggested I was 45 cents sharp. It's actually more like 30.

And let's not forget that I've been whistling for less than a week, now. I'm not about to inflict my damage on anyone for a while yet.

[pancelticpiper]

"It may not be as bad as the tuner tells you." This seems to imply that electronic tuners do not accurately read pitch. They do. If it says that you are 40 cents sharp, well, the fact is that you're 40 cents sharp. Now maybe someone doesn't have a good ear so that 40 cents sharp sounds OK to them, but it sure won't sound OK to me or to most people with decent ears.

[Jason Paul]

Ah, but what if everyone else is also 45 cents sharp?

Jason

[sbhikes]

A guy I play with puts a little piece of thick paper at the end of his whistle, affixed with a rubber band. It extends about a quarter of an inch. He says that helps it get in tune on hot days when it seem to play a bit sharp. Might try that first since it's not like invasive surgery or anything.

[TheSpoonMan]

A guy I play with puts a little piece of thick paper at the end of his whistle, affixed with a rubber band. It extends about a quarter of an inch. He says that helps it get in tune on hot days when it seem to play a bit sharp. Might try that first since it's not like invasive surgery or anything.

Yes, tho that'd flatten the bell note more than the others- throw the internal tuning, which is worse to throw than the external.

I think 30-40 cents sharp is totally normal for a Feadog with the head all the way in (ie the way it comes when you get it)... that's how mine have been at least. *shrug* I think it's good foresight on the maker's part myself- eventually you're gonna have to play with someone who's sharp.

[MTGuru]

A guy I play with puts a little piece of thick paper at the end of his whistle, affixed with a rubber band. It extends about a quarter of an inch. He says that helps it get in tune on hot days when it seem to play a bit sharp. Might try that first since it's not like invasive surgery or anything.

A little glob of blu tack putty inside the end of the bore has the same effect, and is also non-invasive. But as Spoon says, that tunes the bell note only. Unless the bell note is sharp in the first place, it will throw the whole whistle off. Better to move the head to tune for warm weather.

This may be heresy, but I think whistles sometimes sound good in session when tuned very slightly sharp, around 10 cents. Maybe this is similar to the phenomenon of octave stretching in piano tuning, with the overtones of the other instruments not exactly linear. It's easier to back off slightly to pull a note into pitch than to have to overblow, which can really ruin the tone.

[TheSpoonMan]

A little glob of blu tack putty inside the end of the bore has the same effect, and is also non-invasive. But as Spoon says, that tunes the bell note only. Unless the bell note is sharp in the first place, it will throw the whole whistle off. Better to move the head to tune for warm weather.

But that does make those tweaks great for walton's. Same idea s the Mellow Dog, i think?

This may be heresy, but I think whistles sometimes sound good in session when tuned very slightly sharp, around 10 cents. Maybe this is similar to the phenomenon of octave stretching in piano tuning, with the overtones of the other instruments not exactly linear. It's easier to back off slightly to pull a note into pitch than to have to overblow, which can really ruin the tone.

Yeah, I can see that. Better sharp than flat, especially if you're chirping above everyone else anyway.

[MTGuru]

But that does make those tweaks great for walton's. Same idea s the Mellow Dog, i think?

Yes, the Waltons tubes are short. Both my brass D and my LBW have globs of putty in 'em. And Jerry's tweak extends the tube.