Chiff and Fipple Forums

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.

Key_of_D wrote:Was looking at maybe a Burke, either in brass, possibly aluminum.

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.

pancelticpiper on Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:36 am wrote:I made my own from a B flat Generation. It plays great.
Take the head off a Generation B flat, and chop the top of the tube until the upper-hand notes are in tune to the B scale:
xoo ooo is G sharp
xxo ooo is F sharp
Then chop the bottom until it plays an in-tune B.
Then carve out the lowest tone hole until it plays an in-tune C sharp.
Then carve out the next-lowest hole until it plays an in-tune D sharp.
And Bob's Your Uncle!

And for a little more detail there is this:

billh on Wed Apr 19, 2006 2:53 pm wrote:An inexpensive alternative worth trying:

As it happens, you can take a Bflat Generation and remove metal from both the top and bottom so that the top note is sharpened a semitone and the bottom note (all holes closed) is also sharpened a semitone. By some weird quirk of Generation's tuning, the resulting notes in the middle are well within range as well, and the resulting scale is an acceptable B scale. At least, it works for me.

Total length of the doctored Generation (metal part, without fipple):
316 mm

Distance from the top end of the whistle to the top hole:
132 mm

(Of course you know you can tune Generations by removing the fipple, if yours is stuck, try soaking it in hot water for a few minutes, it should let go).

Bill

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.

Key_of_D wrote: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.

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

Key_of_D wrote:Susatos I found to be: Reminiscent in tone to that of a recorder... (blah)

Right, if you don't like the sound of the Susato, that out. The B Susato does have the characteristic Susato sound.

Key_of_D wrote: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.

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