I play recorder, and I always loved how the thumb hole can be used to play notes in the second octave. This requires you to partially cover the the thumb hole, uncovering it different amounts depending on which note is being played and how loud the player wants the note to be. This kind of "venting" (hopefully I'm using this term correctly) allows you to have more control over volume in the second octave.
Then it occurred to me that you might be able to do the same thing on whistle. Whistles don't have thumb holes (usually), but the first hole is often uncovered completely to play the second-octave D. This only works for D, and sometimes E; but why not partially open this hole in order to play Es, Fs, Gs, or even As? Well, I tried it, and sure enough, it seems to work. If I slightly open the top hole on my louder whistles, I can actually play a much softer second-octave G than is normally possible on the instrument.
Does anyone on here use a technique like this, or know of a respected player who does?
Venting the top hole for second octave notes
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Cyberknight
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- Tell us something.: I live in the Boston area and like to play in sessions. I've played whistle for 10+ years and flute for 6 months.
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David Cooper
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- Tell us something.: I'm about to have a go at making wooden flutes based on a quena - I want to experiment with changing the hole sizes and locations to make one that's more comfortable to play. I just received an auger through the post today, and there are blown-down trees in the garden waiting to be repurposed, so I'll try to make a start on my first prototype at the weekend.
Re: Venting the top hole for second octave notes
I always did that on tin whistles because I'm self-taught and started out on the recorder. It's only recently that I learned the tin whistle players don't normally vent the top hole but blow harder instead, but it may vary between different types of whistle. If you listen carefully, you can hear a lower pitched hiss that accompanies the note which is an octave lower if there's no venting, but when you vent the top hole, that hiss rises in pitch and can clash with the note you're playing. The recorder does it too, but hides it a little bit better than my Generation whistles. When I started making flutes (quenas), I had to learn to avoid venting the top hole most of the time (there's one underneath like on a recorder) as the hiss is much more noticeable. I had to work instead on finding the right way to blow to get clean second octave notes, and particularly the ones at the high end which I couldn't get at all with venting. If you are going to use venting on whistles, try to be aware of the pitch of the hiss and adjust the amount of venting to tune it to harmonise with the main note.