Faulty technique or faulty whistle

[JohnB]

I've got a (secondhand) Chieftain low G that I'm having problems with - playing the top notes of the 2nd octave I have to blow so hard that it sounds out of balance with the lower notes ie. too loud and shrill. I don't get this when playing my D, C or Bb Generation whistles.
Any thoughts - are Chieftains known for this or is it me?

Thanks

[brewerpaul]

Are you tongueing those highest notes? Sometimes just a bit of tongue gives a burst of air which gets the note started more easily. Instead of just sort of breathing into the whistle, articulate the note by using your tongue as if you were saying the letter "T", slightly explosively. I've found this to help with the high notes on many different whistles.

[hoopy mike]

I've got a (secondhand) Chieftain low G that I'm having problems with - playing the top notes of the 2nd octave I have to blow so hard that it sounds out of balance with the lower notes ie. too loud and shrill. I don't get this when playing my D, C or Bb Generation whistles.
Any thoughts - are Chieftains known for this or is it me?

Without hearing a clip, it's difficult to say. And what do you mean by "top notes" of the second octave - G and higher, or substantially higher than that? I'm always a bit suspicious of second-hand whistles though - who'd sell a good one?

[JohnB]

Thanks for the suggestion Brewerpaul I'm a concert flute player and don't nrmally tongue - gave it a go and slightly better but still a lot of blowing and sound increase so I'm thinking it's a naff whistle

Hoopy - by top notes of 2nd octave I mean D and E, I don't usually go any higher on whistles (I don't want to set the local cats and foxes off)

[krabben]

I also own a chieftain low G, and I experienced just the same thing. The only way I could get the top notes to sound reasonably in tune was to use tongueing like brewerpaul explained. Still I could only hold the top notes for a little while. I now play a colin goldie low G which I find a lot easier to play and I can easily get those top notes without sounding shrill.

[JohnB]

Thanks Krabben just what I wanted to hear as I was thinking of upgrading to a Goldie.

[JTC111]

who'd sell a good one?

Lots of people...
Folks who've given up the instrument for a variety of reasons.
Folks who have more good whistles than they can play so they sell off the ones that don't get time.
Folks who prefer a certain tone that they don't get from an otherwise good whistle that they own.
Folks who've bought a whistle that is uncomfortable for them to play (fingers too tight or too stretched, taste of metal in the mouth, etc.).
Folks who are a bit down on their luck and need money to pay the bills.
Folks selling off the collection of a deceased whistler.

As I said, lots of reasons. Let's not start putting people off buying used whistles. There are some amazing bargains available on that market.

[JTC111]

Thanks Krabben just what I wanted to hear as I was thinking of upgrading to a Goldie.

I'll concur with Krabben. My low Eb Goldie is one the easier whistles I own on which to hit the high notes. It does require a little bit of a push on the front side of the note, but I haven't come across a whistle that doesn't to some degree.

[dspmusik]

I now play a colin goldie low G which I find a lot easier to play and I can easily get those top notes without sounding shrill.

that was my Goldie low G you bought! glad to see you're still enjoying it

if Generations were what you were used to before, there always seems to be a 'getting used to' process with any new whistle. a strong bell note often means tough to get high notes, and easy blowing high notes often means a weak bell note. not always, but frequently.
like Paul said, try tonguing the top few notes to get them to 'break' and think about blowing *faster* not harder.

[Flexismart]

I bought a Low G Chieftain from Phil Hardy and could never use it - totally a lemon. I sent it back to Phil and he tweaked it, and I still couldn't play it. It took too much air. I sold it.

That said, my main whistles are Kerry/Chieftains - a high D Songbird (no longer available), a really strong player, and a Chieftain Mezzo C - a magical whistle with a great sound. For more delicate work I use an OZ Vambrace Gidgee high D.
I like Chieftain whistles, but for the midrange keys like G and F I think I'll go with Goldie in the future. My current low F is a Burke that I like, but it doesn't inspire me to play it very often.

[PhilO]

As to used whistles (and I'm thinking maybe that remark was tongue in cheek), through the years I've bought and traded for many a used whistle, including the 2 best whistles known to man (or woman), i.e., a Copeland G and an O'Riordan Traveler G. Sometimes people just lose the desire to play them at all...and others get a treat.

Philo

[ecohawk]

As to the OP's original question, requiring quite a push is an oft-stated issue with Chieftains. Most of them have tremendous volume as well. Although my low Brass OS Chieftains don't seem to require as much push as their newer aluminum cousins IMHO. I've owned a high D, Bb, A and low/alto G in aluminum and all wanted to be pushed or they played flat. My alto A and low G brass need much less.

As to the point about used instruments, I'm with PhilO. I'm sure Hoopy Mike was having us on about that. I also believe that some of my best instruments have come by way of a previous owner. My Copeland low G, a brilliant whistle, came from someone who said they weren't playing whistles as much anymore. My A Copeland, likely the finest whistle I've every played came from someone entering grad school and needing the money. He warned me it was special at the time. Glenn Schultz blackwood high D. Magical and bought last year from another maker who was selling off from his collection.

You might want to keep the Chieftain around while playing others for a spell. I've found more than one whistle that just wouldn't work for me at first, yet when picked up several months later the damned things had fixed themselves I think it's the San Francisco air.

ecohawk

[hoopy mike]

As to the point about used instruments, I'm with PhilO. I'm sure Hoopy Mike was having us on about that...

Well, maybe a little, but I think "caveat emptor" applies to whistles just as much as it does to second-hand cars. Sure, there's usually a genuine reason behind the sale, but another genuine reason could be that the whistle doesn't sound very good (at least when played by the seller), in which case the buyer has to decide whether to take the risk that it's the player and not the whistle at fault. Perhaps we're talking mostly about the "higher end" or more expensive whistles here (not much point in buying a second-hand whistle when a new one costs $5) which are inherently more variable due to the hand-crafted production methods.

[JTC111]

Well, maybe a little, but I think "caveat emptor" applies to whistles just as much as it does to second-hand cars.

But as every bad whistle was once a new whistle sold by a maker, we incur some risk whether we buy new or used. I bought a lot on here a couple of years ago for $900 that included 3 Copelands, 3 Sindts, 2 Goldie/Overtons, a Chieftain, a Sweetheart, and one other that I can't recall. Best whistle deal ever! The only worry I had was if the whistles would actually show up. I kept the 3 Copelands, 1 Sindt, and 1 Overton, sold off the rest and recouped all but about $150 or so. I don't know if another deal like that will ever come along, but you never know.

[JohnB]

Well thanks very much I've been working on some of the tips here and am getting a better result so perhaps with more work on my part it may be playable in the higher notes