Potentially silly question from newbie

[CiaraC]

So I'm new to this, and am vaguely thinking about buying a low whistle. How much flexibility do you get in terms of keys? I mean, if you buy a D whistle, can you play in other keys too with it, just by half-covering notes etc? Or does that mean you can really only play properly in D? I'm thinking about D, as you can probably tell, but maybe you could tell if there's a more 'sensible' key to buy with regards to playing session music, given that this will probably be my only whistle for the forseeable future. (most of the music in sessions here is in D or G, so I may be answering my own question, but I wanted to check!) I probably won't go for one of the combi packs, since I only have about £80-100 to spend (£120 max), and would rather get one good one than three fairly rubbish ones.

Thanks!

Ciara

[Tommy]

Good afternoon Ciarac, welcome to Chiff @ Fipple, and the exciting world of whistles. You are correct, that a D whistle will also play in G with a half hole or cross fingering. However, I have never heard of anyone buying just one whistle. Good luck with that thought.

[CiaraC]

Thanks! Well, one to start with anyway! Also I forgot to ask - how important is it that it's tuneable? All sessions will be at concert pitch I'm guessing, so maybe it's only important if you're playing with an out-of-tune piano or something?! The tuneable ones seem to be more expensive, but if someone tells me they're worth the extra, I'll be persuaded.

Ciara

[s1m0n]

A whistle that's been optimized to play in any key is a recorder; this is the primary difference between the two. Each has approximately the same number of useful notes, but on a whistle they're limited to one major scale and related minor & modal scales, plus others which can be attained with one or two forked fingerings or half-holed notes. However, a whistle has a wider useful range; formally three octaves but in practice two and a bit. An additional plus is the simple fingering system + straight-ahead overblow for octave jumps. Minus is that accidentals, where playable, often have a different 'colour' than notes that are in the major key of that whistle.

I believe the working range of a recorder is about an octave and a half, but they make wider use of complicated fingerings and more holes to become fully chromatic within that range, with no notes that sound weak or with a different tone colour.

So the formal answer to your question is that while with moderate skill you can reach the odd intervening note to make a tune work, you won't buy one whistle and expect to play everything on it. That's a recorder.

[jemtheflute]

Yeah, low D will do most of what you need for tune sessions, just as high D does. You only really need other keys if you play with folk who play a lot of odd-key tunes or a lot of stuff from non-Irish traditions - e.g. the Scots go in for a lot of A and Bb tunes, the French a lot of C, etc......
I'd say go for tuneable if you can afford it as no instrument is totally stable regardless of environmental factors - and sessions are frequently in hot, fuggy rooms which cause woodwinds (and bodhrans) to go sharp while the strings go flat and the free reeds stay where they were coz they can't tune....... Plus flutes and whistles go sharp as they warm up in any context..... and while a good one will have been made to be in tune once warmed up, if you can't adjust the tuning, you and everyone else will have to put up with it being flat until it does warm up. Then you have to consider that you can't guarantee that all sessions will be at 440 - if there are no fixed tuning instruments such as free reeds or piano involved and everyone as they arrived tuned to, say, the piper who arrived first and just tuned his pipes to themselves, you may well have a night when the whole sesh is sharp or flat of 440.

Have you investigated Guido Gonzato's whistles? He doesn't usually offer tuneable ones, but you can get whistles in several keys from him for the same money as you'd spend on one e.g. Overton or Alba or Kerry/Chieftain or whatever, which(IMO) will sound/play less well than Guido's! Or just get one Low D from him - then if it turns out not to be the thing for you, you won't have spent a lot of money! Or make your own - see here.

Good luck!

[TheSpoonMan]

I believe the working range of a recorder is about an octave and a half,

Whew, no! I can get two octaves on my recorders, and I know a lot of the literature calls for about another half-octave above that. The higher notes are definately easier to get on the whistle, tho.

with no notes that sound weak or with a different tone colour.

Hmmm.... that's note entirely true either, but you're right that certainly the recorder is meant to allow the player to play in every key equally efficiently (basically).

[hoopy mike]

Try the Dixon polymer low D. It's cheap and tunable and I think it's a good first low whistle.

Stay Hoopy,
Mike

[CiaraC]

Lots of great advice there - thanks so much! So I'm convinced to go for a tuneable one (I didn't know about them sharpening up when they warm up). I've had a look at the Guido Gonzato and Dixon ones, but I think I'm more likely to get a metal one, just because it's going to be a present for myself (from someone else!), and I'd like to get one that I feel is a bit special. I'm just not convinced about plastics/polymers, even though they might sound great! (I guess I'm a traditionalist at heart). So I'll start with a D, but bear in mind that I might get Whoah or whatever it is -I know what you mean!
Cheers,

Ciara

[Barney_Stone]

Hi,

I play with lots of other musicians in sessions and TBH, they've never been so far out of tune that I would have needed a tuneable whistle.

I've got 3 Chieftains (non-tunable)

Tenor (Low) D
Alto G
Mezzo-soprano D

All nicely @ concert pitch (after a 10 second warm-up blow). If you buy from a decent retailer and it's not @A440Hz, they'll change it, or give you a refund.

Have you thought of the Kerry low D easy-blow for about £85?




BS.

[Makar]

I understand your thoughts on the metal whistle - something a bit more special etc. I have to say that I really like the Dixon non tuneable low D - it has a great sound for the money, is very easy to play and I actually like non metal mouthpieces. The Dixon actually looks and feels great too.

Check out Phil Hardys reviews on some lows etc. (he reviews the Dixon too) Plenty of other reviews out there

http://www.kerrywhistles.com/dl.php?group=19

[CiaraC]

Wow, Makar, thanks for the link - that's really helpful. Particularly pleased to see clips from At First Light at the top - they're one of my favourite bands! I think that site will inspire me hugely.

So, since I posted yesterday, my budget in my head has increased (anyone else ever find that?!) and I'm thinking maybe that something like a Chieftain (non-tunable D, like yours, Barney_Stone) might be on the cards. Or I *love* the look of the Alba standard D (not the vibe). I like the way the all-metal, silver-coloured ones look best, and since I haven't tried any, looks and reviews are about all I have to go on for a whistle! I guess I should probably get down to my local music shop and try ones with plastic mouthpieces and metal ones, and compare. I'm torn between getting a cheaper model and feeling like I'd want to upgrade pretty soon (I'm like that, unfortunately - I'd lust after the best one I could get, even if the cheaper one would do me fine), or getting the most expensive one I can afford (£160?) and running the risk that I decide the whistle's not for me! This website is *so* helpful, though - glad I found you guys! (and gals...)

Cheers,

Ciara

[Barney_Stone]

I *love* the look of the Alba standard D (not the vibe). I like the way the all-metal, silver-coloured ones look best, and since I haven't tried any, looks and reviews are about all I have to go on for a whistle! I guess I should probably get down to my local music shop and try ones with plastic mouthpieces and metal ones, and compare. I'm torn between getting a cheaper model and feeling like I'd want to upgrade pretty soon (I'm like that, unfortunately - I'd lust after the best one I could get, even if the cheaper one would do me fine), or getting the most expensive one I can afford (£160?) and running the risk that I decide the whistle's not for me! This website is *so* helpful, though - glad I found you guys! (and gals...)

Cheers,

Ciara

They do vary a bit in sound/hole spacing etc. so I wouldn't get one based on looks alone (although I agree, it is tempting!).

If I only wanted one and I didn't mind waiting a couple of months or so, I'd order an Overton off Colin.

Other than that, get comfortable with a "Piper's Grip" on the borrowed MK and try some at a shop.

BTW, my friend Clare who doesn't play, has shorter fingers than me, but a wider span (four of us compared spans in a Curry House).
When I suggested she tried "Blowing my Pipe", she smacked me round the chops with a Peshwari Nan!



BS.

[CiaraC]

Ha ha, sounds like you deserved it! ;o) Can't really justify an Overton, though - I suspect that that might be too decadent even for me...! Since I last posted I've changed my mind about the non-tunable Chieftains, since lots of posters say they have tuning issues. Currently going for the alba standard, or a Burke Viper (but they're not as pretty!), unless I can find a Northern Irish whistle maker, in which case I'll stick to my roots and buy one from them!

[Barney_Stone]

Cool

Let us know how you go on.

BS.