LOW WHISTLES

[King Friday]

Chieftain Golds have do a very strong bell note. The only thing I don't like about them is the extent to which the C# is flattened to improve overall tuning.

[Franz]

I agree with Tony McGinley and really like my Chieftain Low F. It is much easier to play than a Low D (for me anyway) but low enough to sound nice on slow airs. I also like my alto G.

[Brian Lee]

Have you ever heard a Low C? They can be amazing! Not an easy stretch for everyone, but more manageable than I ever expected. Of course, N-O-T-H-I-N-G beats a flat C set of uilleann pipes!

[A-Musing]

Happy...
I'm surprised to hear that your Copeland has a weak bell note. I have a Copeland brass Low D and same in Low F. They both have solid, robust, gorgeous bell notes! Like BUTTA...rich and golden smooth...

[Happy are the days]

Is the bell note as strong as the other low notes. Sad to say, mine isn't. When I'm playing with the bottom hole open and then when I open the second hole, it's like a jet taking off. I need to contact Copeland. I think I will ask them if they can make me one by lowering the bottom hole and opening it up.

[Happy are the days]

I don't know if my message went through. I'm glad you have a strong bell note. Sad to say, mine is rather weak. When I'm playing with the bottom hole open, and then when I open the second hole, it's like a jet taking off. I will contact Copeland and ask them if they can make me one by lowering the bottom hole and opening it up. But I love the tone of the Copelands.

[The Weekenders]

A low G, as pointed out before, is very helpful for a lot of song accompaniment. When I was in a band, I used it a lot that way. Low A would be my second choice. Brenda Stubbert sounded good on it as I recall, done in the "original" key, so to speak. A lot of GHB tunes sound good on it.

[pancelticpiper]

I'm very, very late coming to this thread, but wanted to add something about keys. Seeing that you are a pastor, I thought I should mention that most Church music in centered around the range C to c (for a one-octave tune), then if the tune has a greater range, the range is pushed down to B and/or up to D. Then if the tune has an even bigger range, the range can be pushed down to B flat and/or up to E. The keys vary tremendously in Church music, as they use whatever key is necessary to fit the given melody into the normal range. Since I've played a lot of Church stuff I ended up with a ton of whistles which between them can do any key. Often you're using the 4th of the whistle- so Amazing Grace for example, in F, can be played on a C whistle or an F whistle, etc.
But about all-around expressiveness, the most expressive whistle I have is a Susato low C. It plays much better than my Susato low D (dont' know why). It is simply fantastic for airs. My favourite high whistle for airs is a Generation C that has been tweaked by myself (hole carving to correct the scale, head packed with wax to correct the flat upper octave).
By the way I have low D's by Overton, Kerry, Howard, Susato, Burke, and Copeland, and the Susato low C is my favourite for airs.
About the weak low E on a low D whistle: the low E is weaker than the surrounding F# and bottom D on all the low D whistles I have. It can't be "pushed" like the other notes can. On my whistles at least, the Burke Pro has the strongest low E of the lot. The corresponding note on the Susato low C (actually low D) is good also. Don't know why.
The "bell note", what Irish players call "bottom D", on the Burke Pro low D is VERY powerful. You can really push it and it doesn't break the octave but just gets louder and louder.

[pastorkeith]

I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone for their input. I continue to learn from these boards and my enjoyment of playing has become a daily time of peace for me. I have added a Humphrey LOW F, my first higher-end whistle (the tone blew me away as soon as I put some air into it) and I am a few months into the typical six month wait for a Sindt LOW A. I own high whistles (various Susatos, Freeman-tweaked D and a few others so I have most keys covered now) So we'll go from there adding More Lows
blessings
pastorkeith

[anniemcu]

I love my WaterWeasel Low G, and my Alba Low A. Bb had been my favorite key for a long time, because of the lower tone, sweet sound, and ease of fingering, but I am getting quite comfortable with the lower ones now.

[rhulsey]

I've not played my low whistles much, still working on the higher stuff. I have an O'Riordan low f that's really nice and broad - takes a fair amount of wind, though. I also have a Grinter low F - delicious sound, seems to use a bit less air than the O'Riordan, though more character. I have a Water Weasel G, too - a keeper.

I'm trying now to play what i'm learning on both the higher whistles and low to get the feel of the grip - i have fairly small hands for a guy and it's a challenge, but a fun one, to be sure!

reg

[CranberryDog]

New to whistling (less than a year) I love slow airs and tunes that really allow the Low D to sing with its haunting tone. After a LOW D what Low whistles would those "in the know" believe to be most useful?

Pastorkeith

It's been my experience that some low D's have a weak bottom hole. If you have large hands, I would buy one where the bottom hole is moved down and is opened up to be almost as large as the second hole. I don't like weak bell notes. I have a Copeland and I was discouraged that the bottom hole is weaker then the other two bottom holes or notes. I love the sound of the Copeland but I think I will sell it. I have a Chieftain Gold coming and I hope the bell note will be as strong as the other lower two notes. Good luck!!!

It must be your particular Copeland. I too am a fan of a loud and solid bell note. My Copeland has just that. As previously noted, Burkes, Overtons MKs, and Reyburns are fine too.

[scheky]

In my personal opinion, for what that's worth....

If you don't yet have a Bb, get that one first. Heck, I've had a Generation Bb for ages that's wonderful. Didn't cost much and I swear it's the sweet spot for keys for them (with all the Gen debates, I've never heard anybody ever badtalk the Bbs).

The Low G suggestion is good, as it opens up some tunes more easily played, but I personally found mine not all that useful. I could play G on my Low D or my High D for the majority of tunes with no problems. Still, if you want to concentrate on the Low Keys, it's a must have eventually.

Low A is a solid whistle that's not, in normal circumstances, often used, but for solo play or group play (if everyone is on board) can really make some tunes shine when transposed.

My personal Favorites though, in the Low category are B and F. I've heard more than a few recordings done in F to the point where I realized that it's a wonderous key, and I agree with L.E. that the world MUST be tuned to B. B is the most wonderous of keys.

So, sorry to say, get em all. Get the Bb first though.

[pancelticpiper]

A correction to my above post: yesterday I took out my Kerry low D whistle again, and did a comparison of the bottom D and low E (bell note and bottom hole) between it and the Burke, Susato, and Copeland. Actually the Kerry has the strongest low E of the lot. What I did was to repeatedly lean on these notes, seeing at what point they break. On the other whistles the low E has a lower breaking point than the surrounding bottom D, and F#, but on the Kerry all the notes break at the same point. This would make the Kerry my favourite low D, except for the fact that its second octave is very flat, making it unusable for playing with others. The Copeland has the weakest low E of the lot, and the weakest bottom D.
About the tuning of C sharp vs C natural, myself, I always prefer the top hole made so that C natural is spot-on. In the Irish music I play, I play about 100 C naturals for every C sharp, so I'd much rather blow the occasional C sharp into tune than to be playing out-of-tune C naturals all the time.

[Carey]

Interesting thought on C nat. Now that you mention it, tiz a rare C# that I play, and it doesn't last very long either. Many more C nats.

Bottom of the low octave good but don't like the upper octave? Weak lower ocatve but lovely upper? "This would make the Kerry my favourite low D, except for the fact that its second octave is very flat, making it unusable for playing with others."

This is why we have so many whistles. The physics won't allow a single simple tube to make all those notes equally well. You can contrive to adjust for these limitations with more holes etc to balance things, but then you have a tiny clarinet. Part of my joy comes from how simple the whistle is. Take a pipe, poke in some holes and, in the hands of a good player, wonderful music comes out. Magic.