Quiet and high air requirement. Is that possible?

Mustafva · Post by **Mustafva** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 5:35 pm

Hello, I've been playing whistle for about a year and now I'm looking for a quiet whistle to practice on. And when I say quiet I mean that I should be able to play the top of the second octave comfortably without using earplugs. I cannot do that with the high D whistles that I have, even my Laughing whistle is a little too loud I think. I probably have more sensitive ears than others.
I have two low whistles. One Alba low D and one KerryPro low F. I don't know if they have lower volume than my high D whistles but I feel at least more comfortable playing them in the upper second octave. I suppose that is because the lower pitch is less damaging to the ears.
I also have a Syn Bb, narrow bore(I also have C and D tubes). I like the volume of this whistle, it's quiet.
What I don't like with quiet whistles like the Laughing whistle is that they require very little air. Sometimes when I play my Laughing or Syn whistles I have to blow out air through my nose because I need to get new air in my lungs. With low whistles I don't think this is a problem because they require more air than high whistles anyway.
I would like to have a whistle, maybe in the key of Bb that is quiet (not louder than my Syn Bb whistle) and that has average or high air requirements.
Is that possible to get?

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 7:04 pm

Have you tried the Clarke Original design whistles? They only come in C and D at the present, but I have heard rumors that they are working on a low D with that design.

AiglosCelt · Post by **AiglosCelt** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 9:45 pm

Clarkes are absolutely THE BEST flute substitute (that is, high air requirement, soft, breathy tone) You should definitely look into them.

Mustafva · Post by **Mustafva** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 1:59 am

I have a Clarke MEG in D but I want something quieter. I think it's a nice whistle though. It's very easy to play on, it doesn't squeek. It never cloggs and ornamentation sound very nice on this whistle too.

Tak_the_whistler · Post by **Tak_the_whistler** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 5:25 am

if you have a desire to acquire another low D, I can thoroughly recommend Cillian O'Briain's. His whistles is rather on a quiet side, but the backpressure is almost nonexistent and the air requirement is higher than any other low whistles I own.

Doc Jones · Post by **Doc Jones** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 7:06 am

The Dixon Low D would also meet your criteria.

As for high whistles you might try a Hoover. They can be very sweet and quietish though I don't thin they have high air requirements.

Doc

Whitmores75087 · Post by **Whitmores75087** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 4:25 pm

Hoovers have very low air requirements.

Whitmores75087 · Post by **Whitmores75087** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 4:27 pm

Hmm! I Tried to reply and it didn't seem to stick. Let's try again....

Hooovers have very low air volume requirement. I creates a breathing problem for me sometimes.

Henke · Post by **Henke** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 3:57 am

Or a Shaw, they come in many different keys and they are even more like Clarke originals than the Clarkes themselves. That is, high air requirements and soft, breathy tone.

Oreo · Post by **Oreo** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 6:45 am

I agree with I.D.10 above. I like to use cloth tape or hot glue to change the airflow on the "exit ramp" of the fipple. PlastiTak will work, or chewing gum, etc. I have made even loud whistles play quietly in the top register. One of my favorites is to use tape, and cause a corner to protrude a bit higher than the lip/labium (sharp point). Or about a 1/16 of an inch into the air above the lip.

You might try O'Brien's Rover whistle, which I like better than the Laughing Whistle.

Oreo

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 6:45 am

Have you thought of covering part of the ramp with blue tac, wax or whatever? You would have the same air requirements and less volume. But I am not a whistle tweaker, so there is probally some reason this is dumb.

Mustafva · Post by **Mustafva** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:50 am

I just did a little experiment to test the air requirements of the whistles I own. I think I've seen someone else do this test on this forum but I dont remember who its was. Anyway, here's how I did it: I covered the top three holes, took a deep breath and played for as long as I could. I didn't underrblow or overblow, I just tried to use the normal amount of air required.
Then I wrote down the results. I tried each whistle 3 times. I did feel a little sick at the end of the experiment because of all the blowing and breathing.

Here are the results, and I've put them in order so that the whistle with lowest air requirement is first. The time is written in seconds.
High whistles
Syn high D: 85, 88, 86
Laughing Whistle high D: 72, 75, 73
Clarke MEG high D: 52, 50, 49

Low whistles
KerryPro low F: 46, 46, 53
Alba low D: 30, 31, 31

The Laughing whistle has been tweaked a little by me so it takes more air than an original Laughing whistle but I was still a bit surprised that it had higher air requirement than the Syn whistle.
It's also quite intresting that the KerryPro low F just have slightly higher air requirement than the High D Clarke MEG.

I will probably buy myself a Bb whistle, it seems like a good key for whistles. The Bb whistle has lower pitch than a high D whistle so thats good for my sensitive ears, and it's still a high whistle so it's easier to finger than a low whistle.
I used the search function on this forum to get some information about Bb whistles and I did find some good information but there are still more things I'd like to know.
What do you think about Burke Bb whistles? Is the air requirement for a Burke Bb comparable to the Clarke MEG high D or is it closer to the Syn high D? And how about the volume, I've read that the Burke is even across the octaves. Does that mean that it's a little quieter than other whistles in the upper second octave?
What do you think about Bb whistles from other makers like, Sindt, Overton, Silkstone, Alba, Hoover, Generation.
I'm not intrested in any wooden whistles or high cost metal whistles( Copeland) unless they are exactly what I'm looking for.

Mustafva · Post by **Mustafva** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 9:22 am

I decided to buy a Burke Bb brass. I have had it for more than a week now and I'm happy with it. Great sound and the second octave is quieter than on my high D whistles. The air requirement is about the same as my Clarke MEG high D and that suits me well.