Do you play an open high D?

Borderpiper · Post by **Borderpiper** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 10:19 am

The guy who taught me was a great player but tended not to use open high Ds except when doing crans on them or when it was held, giving a better tone. Now I have got my first expensive whistle, an Abell D, I have found certain sequences sound purer and have less crossing noises if I play an open D and E. I have spent the last two weeks training myself to do them when it sounds better but it is hard work as I never really did it when I was learning. Has anyone else had this experience and is the change of technique worth it?

Dave

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 10:41 am

I have always played the second octave d like OXXXXX, except for in really fast passages. Yes, it does make a difference in tone and is worth doing.

Borderpiper · Post by **Borderpiper** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 10:59 am

I've been putting it in for fast passages too, hence the hard work. I've also been putting in an open E (oXXXXo) for some passages, ie in custy's (Am) the following phrase:

|~A3 GAc|dec deg|

What do you think?

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 11:00 am

No, I would not do that with the e.

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 11:16 am

My whistles won't let me do that with the E.

Bretton · Post by **Bretton** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 12:54 pm

I actually find on many whistles that the closed D (xxx xxx) is more in tune, but the open D (oxx xxx) has a more projecting tone. The open D is great for ornamenting the note (cuts or crans) since it actually drops the tone down instead of raising it as usual...comes out very crisp and poppy on most whistles too.

-Brett

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 3:32 pm

All the whistles I use, I have always fingered octave D closed, except on slow airs where I need vibrato.

I wish all my whistles had the same fingering for the 3rd octave D.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 3:37 pm

I always play second octave D with the first finger up (o x x | x x x) on all my flutes and whistles, unless I'm going for a "hard D" on flute, which calls for all fingers to be down irregardless of which octave.

By the way, just about every whistle I've ever tried will give a good clean third octave D with (o x x | o o o) although sometimes it will sound less shrill to overblow the 2nd octave D (o x x | x x x).

--James

Jeferson · Post by **Jeferson** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 3:42 pm

Whistle make makes a big difference. I do it on the high D, but not E, except in one complicated tune (a fun Dave Brubeck jazz one!) in which I play the high E open, too. For me, it works well on my Dixon Bb... making it some other note I guess, not high E, but fingered OXXXXO.

Jef

Borderpiper · Post by **Borderpiper** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 3:54 pm

On my Abell if you play an open E - oxxxxo after an open D it stays stable, in tune and gives the same difference as the open D does compared to the closed. You can only really do it from the D but it sounds really nice. I have been throwing it in in jigs and occasionally reels. I just wanted to know if anyone else has the same experience.

I don't do it on my other D whistle (an old tweaked feadog with a tweaked generation brass body) as it sounds as good open or closed.

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 3:59 pm

I think doing that on the e is a bad habit to get into.

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 6:54 pm

Vented 2nd octave "E" is a touch flat on my Dixons (D and Bb), Walton's C, and Sweetone D (all the whistles I have with me at the moment).

I play either vented or unvented "D" depending on the tune - for most fast tunes I leave the top hole closed, but if the "D" will be sustained I open the vent. Really varies by tune, though. In "The Ballydesmond Polka #2" from my Walton's 101, the opening sequence is:

C# d C# B C# B

I go from cross-fingered C# to vented D and back, then do the next 3 as B, half-holed C#, B - then for the rest of the A part of the tune I stick with unvented D. Just seems to play better that way.

I do think that the vented D sounds better on all my whistles, but the difference is fairly small with most of them.

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 8:28 pm

peeplj wrote:By the way, just about every whistle I've ever tried will give a good clean third octave D with (o x x | o o o) although sometimes it will sound less shrill to overblow the 2nd octave D (o x x | x x x).

I have one whistle that is in tune with that. I have to use that plus:
Clarke orig design D black: OXX OXX
Clarke orig design D unpainted: OXX OXO
Burke brass pro D: OXX OOX
depending upon what whistle I am playing.

I can't remember offhand what my low whistles take, but the above 3 fingerings, I have to remember to get in tune. Fortunately, I only have about 3 tunes that use it.

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 9:24 pm

:adminok:

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Sat Mar 27, 2004 6:05 am

JessieK wrote:I have always played the second octave d like OXXXXX, except for in really fast passages. Yes, it does make a difference in tone and is worth doing.

I agree-- with practice, it's not hard, and the sound is a LOT cleaner and crisper on most whistles.

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Do you play an open high D?

Do you play an open high D?

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