thumb holes

jmyersgoucheredu · Post by **jmyersgoucheredu** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:04 am

Does any one make a C or Bb whistle whistle with a thumb hole? I thought Chris Abell might, but I see no reference to this on his website.

Thanks,
Jeff Myers

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:06 am

Mike Burke will do it, Chris Abell will do it. Others probably will, too. You just need to ask.

Montana · Post by **Montana** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:17 am

See dhigbee's post in the Whistle Forum. She's selling a Burke D with a thumb hole for $85 (For Sale: Burke Al D Pro). Sounds like a good deal...

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:44 am

Only maker I've heard refuse to drill a thumb hole is John Sindt. But anyway you can do it yourself fairly easily.

Ask cskinner, she has committed such goffence against the odds.

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:58 am

It's true, it's true. And for my punishment I am stuck for all eternity with a C natural (or an Ab on my Bb whistle, etc.) that can be perfectly in tune, or slid into for floating intonation; that can be ornamented; that makes tricky passages smoother; and that also can be played just as it is on a whistle without a thumbhole, just by keeping the hole covered. And even worse than that, I am stuck in the musical company of James Conway and Noel Rice, fellow sinners. The gods have been merciless.

Carol

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:04 pm

Noel Rice is a neat guy. He has strong opinions and they are well-founded. I talked to him at length several years ago at the Festival at Grant Park about his Boehm leaning, and he made a good case for both the Boehm flute and the C-natural hole. In fact, it was the first I'd seen C-natural holes (I thought they were a bit weird), but I was impressed aht he had gotten Chris Abell and Mike Burke to make a bunch of instruments that way for his students. I saw a 13-year-old girl who had been playing whistle for 5 years...she played on an Abell with a C hole and she just blew me away. Noel's fluting, to be sure, is known to be quite good. I remember wishing I'd had the opportunity to learn Irish trad from an early age and from such a dedicated community.

tommyk · Post by **tommyk** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:48 pm

Chris Abell is making me a D whistle in pink ivorywood with a LH thumbhole for Bb, a RH thumbhole for Fn, and a RH pinky (4th) hole for a low Cn.

FWIW.

Tommy Kochel
Just remember: "We must fight and win wars in order to prevent wars from happening in the first place." - G.W.B.

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:25 pm

Chris Abell is making me a D whistle in pink ivorywood with a LH thumbhole for Bb, a RH thumbhole for Fn, and a RH pinky (4th) hole for a low Cn.

I had a dream once I picked up a whistle and it had double rows of holes all the way down the tube. I couldn't figure out where to put my fingers. Have fun, Tommy.
Tony

tommyk · Post by **tommyk** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:46 pm

I will. It will definitely be my experimental whistle, but probably also the one I will travel with: with thumb holes covered and the low Cn ignored, it's just a D whistle.

He makes 10-holed whistles on request as well, but, frankly, I wouldn't know what to do with my LH pinky; that would be confusing for me, but the rest is relatively easy to handle.

feadog39 · Post by **feadog39** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 2:29 am

I don't know James Conway, but i'd be cautious of Noel Rice. What he didn't tell you, Jessie, is that he tried to compete in the All-Ireland using a thumb-holed whistle and got das boot. As many of you know, thumb-holed whistles are seriously looked down on in the Tradition (the same for the silver Boehm flute). Is there any rational basis for such a bias? Probaby not. I've never tried a whistle with a thumb hole, so I don't know what to make of them. But that Rice tried to thumb the tradition at the All-Ireland, i think that says alot. And regarding Noel Rice's playing. I'd give a listen for yourself before you take somebody else's word for how good he is. (To be fair, i have heard a couple, er, one of his students, and she was pretty good.)

In any case, i'll be interested in hearing more about what folks have to say about thumb-holed whistles. (Are there any thumb-holed clips around?) I'd really like to try one out sometime too, although I think you can get by pretty well without it, half-holing the C natural where tuning is crucial. So my intuitions are bit conservative on this one. (Don't think i'll be drilling any holes in my copelands any time soon...)

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 2:42 am

feadog39 wrote:. As many of you know, thumb-holed whistles are seriously looked down on in the Tradition (the same for the silver Boehm flute). Is there any rational basis for such a bias? Probaby not. I've never tried a whistle with a thumb hole, so I don't know what to make of them. But that Rice tried to thumb the tradition at the All-Ireland, i think that says alot.

Don't mistake Comhaltas for 'the tradition'. They may think they are but they are not.

feadog39 · Post by **feadog39** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 2:47 am

Peter Laban wrote: Don't mistake Comhaltas for 'the tradition'. They may think they are but they are not.

good point.

Hiro Ringo · Post by **Hiro Ringo** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:15 am

Tried a whistle with thumb hole and felt it gave more easily in-tune C and good tone. But interestingly,I soon got bored of the sound. Thus I chose 6 holes with offset pattern.

This shows(at least for me) that a drawback is not even a drawback.No, sometimes not at all. Then what? No idea.

6 holes mean something fatally important, thats my insight.

jmyersgoucheredu · Post by **jmyersgoucheredu** » Sat Mar 27, 2004 11:00 am

Thanks for all of the wonderful responses. I just ordered a Burke whistle with a thumb hole.

Jeff Myers

Dana · Post by **Dana** » Sat Mar 27, 2004 11:12 am

Congrats, you're going to be very happy!

Dana