Thumb hole in Burke whistles

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Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by CPA »

Hi everyone,

could someone explain to me the exact function of the thumb hole in Burke whistles, please? Thank you.
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by Mr.Gumby »

The workings of the search function are pretty self explanatory, give that a shot, perhaps? :poke:
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by CPA »

Like a recorder?
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by Sedi »

My guess would be -- a C natural.
I think, I guessed right:
https://www.burkewhistles.com/Thumb-Hol ... _p_14.html
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by CPA »

Thanks, it's very kind of you. I hadn't seen the explanation.
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by CPA »

Sedi wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 5:41 pm My guess would be -- a C natural.
I think, I guessed right:
https://www.burkewhistles.com/Thumb-Hol ... _p_14.html
But ... under these structural conditions ... is it still possible to speak of a whistle, or is it a different instrument?
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by Sedi »

I'd say it's still a whistle. But John Bushby, who makes the Shearwater whistles makes a recorder-whistle - plays like a recorder but sounds like a whistle. I'd call that a hybrid-instrument.
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by Mr.Gumby »

While the six hole whistle is the basic standard, makers over time have made different configurations from adding thumb holes for c and f naturals to pinky holes ( and obviously a longer body )to reach a tone below the scale and fully keyed ones to enable a chromatic scale. They're the outliers but would still be classed as whistles, even while none of them have had more than marginal appeal.
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by Narzog »

The thumb hole gives a perfect flattened 7th. So for a D whistle, this would be your C nat used for playing in G. Same concept for the other keys.

Some whistles have great oxx ooo fingerings, like my MK pro D. Its C nat sounds like all the other notes. On ones like this, a thumb hole isnt needed. One of burkes cons is that they have a bad oxx ooo, and in my opinion an even worse oxx xox. You can underblow oxx ooo into tune but when playing fast its harder to do, but at least less noticeable when playing fast anyway. The thumb hole on the burkes gives a perfect tuned note that sounds like all the other notes.

My Burke A has the thumb hole. I just put a clear piece of tape over it. My thumb is the support of the whistle, so when I start having to move my thumb the whistle moves around too much and it messes me up or I somehow hit my teeth with the whistle. so I'm not a fan of it. that said it could be worth trying the thumbhole version if you were buying a new one, its only like an extra $10. If you were looking at a used one dont worry about the thumb hole because you can tape it anyway if you don't like it.

While recorders have a thumb hole their fingering is more complex I think.
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by Mr.Gumby »

Narzog wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 7:12 pm The thumb hole gives a perfect flattened 7th. So for a D whistle, this would be your C nat used for playing in G. Same concept for the other keys.

Playing in D, C is your 7th. Playing in G, it isn't.
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by Sedi »

I think that Narzog meant, you'd use the C nat for the G scale. Not that it's the 7th of that scale.
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by Mr.Gumby »

Perhaps he shouldn't have brought up the flattened 7th in the same breath as the c in the g scale? It all seemed confused to me, even if I could understand what he was trying to say. :poke:
Last edited by Mr.Gumby on Sun Aug 15, 2021 8:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by Sedi »

Seems to be a quote from the Burke homepage. I never use all those terms - never know what they mean, even though I play guitar and can read chords. Still most of the music theory eludes me. Most of the time I couldn't even tell the key of a certain tune even when learning classical pieces as I only learn by ear.
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by ecadre »

Sedi wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 9:33 am I'd say it's still a whistle. But John Bushby, who makes the Shearwater whistles makes a recorder-whistle - plays like a recorder but sounds like a whistle. I'd call that a hybrid-instrument.
It's a recorder.
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Re: Thumb hole in Burke whistles

Post by Narzog »

Mr.Gumby wrote: Sun Aug 15, 2021 1:35 am
Narzog wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 7:12 pm The thumb hole gives a perfect flattened 7th. So for a D whistle, this would be your C nat used for playing in G. Same concept for the other keys.
Playing in D, C is your 7th. Playing in G, it isn't.
Sedi wrote: Sun Aug 15, 2021 6:12 am I think that Narzog meant, you'd use the C nat for the G scale. Not that it's the 7th of that scale.
Sedi is correct. I can see how my wording could be taken differently from what I meant but my wording also wasnt that bad.

"The thumb hole gives a perfect flattened 7th." Is meant to mean, it gives a flattened 7th on the whistle the thumb hole is on.
"So for a D whistle, this would be your C nat used for playing in G." I feel like this is a decent explanation for anyone who didn't know what the point in the flattened 7th is.
Mr.Gumby wrote: Sun Aug 15, 2021 7:26 am Perhaps he shouldn't have brought up the flattened 7th in the same breath as the c in the g scale? It all seemed confused to me, even if I could understand what he was trying to say. :poke:
Unless I'm mistaken, I separated both statements with a period, so they weren't in the same breath.
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