Whistle tuning

[T Blackmore]

Does there exist a whistle which is in tune with itself? Am I foolish to even wish for such a thing? I have a Generation in D that makes me want to ram it into my eye, it sounds so bad. My Susato in A is much better, but not perfect. I have already made up my mind to get a Copeland, but I wonder how reliable even they are.

[Wanderer]

Does there exist a whistle which is in tune with itself? Am I foolish to even wish for such a thing? I have a Generation in D that makes me want to ram it into my eye, it sounds so bad. My Susato in A is much better, but not perfect. I have already made up my mind to get a Copeland, but I wonder how reliable even they are.

But, Generations are the king of whistles, used by masters everwhere! It must be you and not the whistle!

Seriously, though, while Generation brand whistles have their (sometimes rabid) fans, they also have their (sometimes rabid) detractors. Many of us (myself included) are convinced that Generation whistles tuning is more or less random due to poor quality control. I once bought a box of 10, pitted each one against my tuner, and each one was dramatically different as to which notes were sharp and which ones were flat, etc. Just about any musician that likes the Generation will admit it can take some work to find the "good ones" or to tweak the whistle so that it's worth playing.

That said, I don't know how long you've been playing. A lot of the "out of tune" phenomenon really can amount to poor breath control. I have a Soodlum's whistle which was horribly flat in some places when I got it, but now I can play it pretty good. I just got to be a better player. Some whistles aren't really suited for beginners, and take a lot of wrangling to play well. So, it really might be you and not the whistle

Copeland whistles are pretty good. I really liked mine. But I've heard that they've had some quality control issues since making it a more factory process. However, they are really good about working to make things right. However, Copeland's aren't very forgiving of breath control. When I was a new musician, I wouldn't have been able to make much use of them.

Something else you might want to try is a Sweetone. They're really easy to play, have stable tone, and very consistent, and cheap to boot. Some people don't like the tone, however. Another good beginner instrument would be a Burke, because they're very consistent, easy to blow, and have easy octave transitions. And a Burke is a high-class instrument that is also cherished by many more advanced players. I hear Joanie Madden plays them along with her O'Riordans these days.

Also, a final consideration: It's my understanding that a whistle is an instrument of compromises. The way they are constructed, it's impossible to have a "perfectly tuned" instrument due to the overblown harmonics or something. Our own Thomas-Hastay (who doesn't post much these days) posted about this a couple years ago. Conical whistles (like the Clarke original, Sweetone, Shaw, and Copeland) are supposed to make this compromise better.

Just some food for thought.

[Jennie]

I've recently fallen in love with Michael Copeland (his whistles, I should say) but someone at a session played mine and complained that the high B tends to be out of tune, as on other Copelands he's tried. I couldn't hear it. Is this a common Copeland fault? Don't tell me my new love isn't perfect.

Jennie

[Wanderer]

I've recently fallen in love with Michael Copeland (his whistles, I should say) but someone at a session played mine and complained that the high B tends to be out of tune, as on other Copelands he's tried. I couldn't hear it. Is this a common Copeland fault? Don't tell me my new love isn't perfect.

Jennie

I never really noticed that mine was out of tune. Then again, I don't play many tunes that require the 2nd octave B. It *does* require a fair amount of push and agression up there. Maybe your friend just underblows all the Copelands he's tried? I haven't personally heard anything about all Copelands being consistently out of tune in the 2nd octave B.

[Jennie]

I've recently fallen in love with Michael Copeland (his whistles, I should say) but someone at a session played mine and complained that the high B tends to be out of tune, as on other Copelands he's tried.
Jennie

It *does* require a fair amount of push and agression up there. Maybe your friend just underblows all the Copelands he's tried? I haven't personally heard anything about all Copelands being cnosistently out of tune in the 2nd octave B.

Maybe he overblows; he's a pretty assertive player. Hmmm. I tend to underblow and sound flat. I like tuneable whistles for that reason.

Jennie

[BrassBlower]

It is a good idea to try any of your whistles against an electronic tuner to determine what sort of breath control is required. At medium pressure, my Generations and Oaks tend to be a little sharp and my Clarkes a little flat, so I use a very light breath on the Gens/Oaks and a hard breath on the Clarkes.

Another way to tell is by playing in unison with another instrument and listen for the oscillations. You can then blow harder or softer to bring it into tune.

[JohnPalmer]

Michael Burke told me that he purposely makes the B on his whistles a little flat. I don't know why. But they are still my whistle of choice, except for low D's.

I think that some whistles are made to be pushed, and in that way, some of the notes sharpen up to pitch. We tend to play all alone at home and don't need to blow very hard. My experience is that if your second register sometimes falls down an octave, then you're not supporting very well.

JP

[Marcelo Muttis]

Hi friends, I´m a Whistlemaker and I´m agree with all of your conclusions, they have all a part of true.
Why don´t you try my whistles

Marcelo Muttis

www.eidan.150m.com

[amar]

Hi friends, I´m a Whistlemaker and I´m agree with all of your conclusions, they have all a part of true.
Why don´t you try my whistles

Marcelo Muttis

www.eidan.150m.com

Marcelo, interesting page you've got there, too bad you don't have an english version as well.

[Marcelo Muttis]

[/quote]

Marcelo, interesting page you've got there, too bad you don't have an english version as well. [/quote]



Thank You Amar I´m working on it

[Flyingcursor]

Mr or Ms T,

I had the same difficulty. In a lot of cases it will work out with breath control but I still have problems with some of them.

[buddhu]

Of the cheap metal tubes with plastic gob-pieces, I've found Feadogs to have pretty robust tuning.

I'm waiting for a Jerry-tweaked Walton Mellow D from Bigwhistle ... I have high hopes for the tuning on that one as Jerry fixes that sharp bell note, and apart from that note my other Mellow D tubes seem to be reasonably tuned.

Gens, Doolins, Clares and normal-bore Waltons all vary a lot.

[vomitbunny]

None are perfect by a long shot. Nature of the beast. A whistle would have to have a few keys to be better in tune, although some are definitly better than others. What I've found about tube type whistles, are that, at least for me, the lighter the blow of the whistle, the better in tune and eveness of tone.
As far as thick body whistles, I have limited experience. They have different strengths and weaknesses. Susato's are pretty darn good overall, and predictable in the third register. Dixon the same, but the third octave is sorta funky. I have a silktone alloy with probably the best c nat of anything I own. In tune and strong. But f nat sucks on it (cross fingered) and I hate the third octave fingering. Got a syn that sorta falls in midway. And Alba Q1 with a good c nat, good f nat cross fingered (for a whistle) but the high d seems sharp and I don't like the third octave fingering. (I keep mentioning the third octave. I don't use it much, but I like to be able to throw in high d's and e's a bit for fun).
I could go on. I have a few others that could be described as "thick body" compared to tube style, but I think you get the idea.
Anyone remember that Orkin whistle from earlier post? I think most of the tuning problems were adressed with that thing. Keys and such. Some years ago, but it didn't go anywhere much.
Maybe you should concentrate on using different whistles depending on whether you are playing in G or D? I think I remember someone posting something about that several months ago?

[Thomas-Hastay]

Keynote/bell note can be adjusted by changing the whistle length between the voicing and the top tonehole. Longer = flatter/Shorter = sharper. Changing the size of the voicing window can change the keynote too. Smaller = flatter/Larger = sharper.

Each tonehole can be adjusted for pitch by reducing or increasing the depth of the hole. Deeper = flatter/Shallow = sharper. This can be done by applying fingernail polish to the top of the hole ring to increase the depth(flatter) or sanding the top of the hole to make it more shallow.

You can also change the pitch of an individual tonehole by increasing or decreasing the diameter. Larger = sharper/Smaller = flatter. You can use a file or a cone of sandpaper to enlarge the hole or use fingernail polish on the inside to reduce the hole.

Caution: make changes in small increments.

You could also consider sending your eye skewer to someone like Jerry Freeman or others. They can make a determination whether to "tweak it" or trash it and they do charge reasonable prices.

Thomas Hastay.

[Darwin]

Michael Burke told me that he purposely makes the B on his whistles a little flat. I don't know why.

I think the idea is that they're a little flat when cold, but sharpen up when they get warm. I'm not sure if it's Michael that I heard that from, though.