quick poll

lemccullough · Post by **lemccullough** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:17 pm

Can we take a quick poll? I don’t want to be the one to change centuries of Irish musical tradition, but how many would be in favor of moving standard pitch down so that the cherished bottom D cran is actually a B?

That’s right, just make the B natural below middle C the new bottom D on a whistle, thereby shifting pitch and fingering for several tens of thousands of airs, dance tunes, ballads. Would that be too much of an inconvenience for the global mass of ceoltoiri?

This modest proposal rises from a totally selfish motive. . . my most favorite tinwhistle for the last few years has been a B Natural Composite made by Michael Burke. The official brochure description of “mellow and smooth and ultralight weight in black Bakelite Composite” hardly suffices to convey how satisfying this whistle is to play and to hear.

It is indeed lightweight but with a strong, solid timbre with a sort of inherent resonance, especially in the bottom D (B, actually). No, I don’t know what “inherent resonance” is, but it’s the only thing I can think of to describe the fullness of sound that dwells somewhere between the standard wooden whistle and a wooden flute. The Burke B Natural Composite projects a tonal quality all its own. It sings, nicely.

And when you hit the upper octave, it’s smooth and even more rich, with an extremely powerful, achingly pure high C natural that just wails when you slide into it.

If Irish music were pitched a minor third lower, I could play it a lot more than I do.

Anyone want to start a revolution? Or at least a whistle flash mob? Round up a couple dozen players armed with B naturals and we’ll meet at random sessions, take them over and change the course of musical history.

Is ar mhaithe leis féin a dheineann an cat crónán. It’s for his own benefit the cat purrs.

— L.E. McCullough

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:22 pm

OK by me.

Post by **Dale** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:26 pm

I don't think we have to vote. McCullough has spoken.

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:32 pm

Send me the whistle, L.E., and I'll consider it.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:34 pm

Mr. McCullough, Giraldus Cambrensis states a strong case for you:

"It is remarkable that, with such rapid fingerwork, the musical rhythm is maintained and that, by unfailingly disciplined art, the integrity of the tune is fully preserved throughout the ornate rhythms and the profusely intricate polyphony—and with such smooth rapidity, such 'unequal equality', such 'discordant concord'. Whether the strings strike together a fourth or a fifth, [the players] nevertheless always start from B flat and return to the same, so that everything is rounded off in a pleasant general sonority. They introduce and leave rhythmic motifs so subtly, they play the tinkling sounds on the thinner strings above the sustained sound of the thicker string so freely, they take such secret delight and caress [the strings] so sensuously, that the greatest part of their art seems to lie in veiling it, as if 'That which is concealed is bettered—art revealed is art shamed'."

Okay, so it was Bb back in the day, but hey, how much more traditional can you get?

Unseen122 · Post by **Unseen122** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:43 pm

I used to have a Syn B and it was my favorite Syn out of the set. It is ok by me, just as long as we can trade our other Whistles for ones in B.

Bill Reeder · Post by **Bill Reeder** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:58 pm

I'm just as happy as I can be with my Burke B whistle. It's become my favorite since I picked it up at the St. Louis Tionol recently. I bought it just in case I ran into a B piping session. Now I've got a B set of my own and I don't particularly care if I never play in D again.

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 3:37 pm

hmmm... my Bb would still not be much use... hmmm....

of course... Mike's composite D is a nice one too.... hmmm...

of course... I wouldn't be much further behind in my learning curve than I am right now... hmmm....

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 5:58 pm

Dale wrote:I don't think we have to vote. McCullough has spoken.

Hey-- he wrote the book on whistle playing... literally!

Matter of fact, LE, why not just change future printings of the book to state that the B whistle is THE whistle of choice...

The Burke composites are indeed very nice whistles.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 6:23 pm

The only problem with this is I wouldn't get a chance to play my Burke WBB D or DBN in session, and that's a thrill I'd hate to give up!

Not to mention my O'Brien, Hoovers, and other fine D whistles I've accumulated through the years!

--James

riverman · Post by **riverman** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 6:30 pm

I have only played a year, and therefore do not speak with much authority, but I have a Burke in D, and I love it in all the notes but the high A and B, which I have to "approach" very carefully to keep from blowing my ears out. The "quiet whistles" in D aren't really much better. Even my own loving family tells me that they don't like it when I hit a high A--in ANOTHER ROOM! So I'm all for this.
Imagine Irish music without pain!! [/i]

Jon-M · Post by **Jon-M** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 8:44 am

I have far too much cash invested in the key of D to submit to this tamely. On the other hand, if we were to move to Bb and its relative keys, Generation Bb's being as good as they are, we could all save a lot of cash.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 8:55 am

riverman wrote:I have only played a year, and therefore do not speak with much authority, but I have a Burke in D, and I love it in all the notes but the high A and B, which I have to "approach" very carefully to keep from blowing my ears out. The "quiet whistles" in D aren't really much better. Even my own loving family tells me that they don't like it when I hit a high A--in ANOTHER ROOM! So I'm all for this.
Imagine Irish music without pain!! [/i]

This will get much better with practice. Burkes are some of the easiest whistles out there, and they can actually play the high B and high A softly after you get some control.

--James

Post by **Nanohedron** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 11:13 am

Jon-M wrote:I have far too much cash invested in the key of D to submit to this tamely. On the other hand, if we were to move to Bb and its relative keys, Generation Bb's being as good as they are, we could all save a lot of cash.

Just use the old notation you're used to. Fingering's the same on a B whistle as on a D, or a Q, after all.

Many pipers do this all the time in their own way. Whether you've got an Eb, D, C#, C, B, or Bb (or, God help us, an A or G) set, in conversation the notes tend to get referenced from D. It's a shop-talk expedient that saves a lot of time and headache, as being clear about the intervals is more important than being able to recite the "correct" name of the note. But that's probably because most pipers don't play with orchestras and such. My set's in C, but when I use notation, for example, I read a D tune and play it so fingeringwise. It just happens to come out in C. I don't think much about that. The thing is to play.

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 11:30 am

Nanohedron wrote:
Jon-M wrote:I have far too much cash invested in the key of D to submit to this tamely. On the other hand, if we were to move to Bb and its relative keys, Generation Bb's being as good as they are, we could all save a lot of cash.
Just use the old notation you're used to. Fingering's the same on a B whistle as on a D, or a Q, after all.

He means D whistles, not notation in D (I've seen quite a bit of his gear, though not recently unfortunately ...). Jon-M would never use sheet music.