Chieftain low E OS tuning problems

[krabben]

I just recently got a hold of an Old style chieftain low E, non-tunable. The tone is wonderful, and this is in my opinion how a low whistle should sound. However I discovered that the whole whistle is about 25cents flat. In addition the first octave C# is about 40 cents flat(surprisingly not that audibly noticeable). Is there anything that can be done to make the whistle play a bit sharper? Or I guess I'll just have to keep playing it by myself. Such a pity though, because I love the sound. Would be nice to be able to play it with other instruments.

[fearfaoin]

Perhaps you are not using the same breath
pressure the maker used when voicing the
whistle. Are you able to make it sharper by
increasing the pressure/speed of the air
column? If so, it may just be a matter of
changing your playing style.

[krabben]

Perhaps you are not using the same breath
pressure the maker used when voicing the
whistle. Are you able to make it sharper by
increasing the pressure/speed of the air
column? If so, it may just be a matter of
changing your playing style.

It does indeed require a bit more air than im used too. However, it's still noticeably flat when I increase the air speed as much as I can without changing octaves though.

[Steve Bliven]

One other possibility is that the whistle hasn't properly warmed up to "breath temperature". The warming process also has some effects on tuning.

Best wishes.

Steve

[greenspiderweb]

Just an outside possibility-I once had a low C whistle (different maker, similar design) that played sharp by roughly the same amount-and later found out from the maker that the block had come loose and made it play sharper.

So, it might be possible the opposite is true with yours-check to see if the aluminum block (seen inside the window) is loose, or looks like it may have moved (look for a noticable ring in front of it where it may have been).

[pancelticpiper]

I've bought whistles over the years which were flat or sharp overall. (Not Chieftans though.) So I myself don't assume that a whistle comes in tune from the maker.
One D was quite flat overall (more than a quartertone) . I ended up chopping the end and carving out all the holes.
One Low G was just a bit too sharp to be played with others. I sawed that one in two and made my own tuning slide with a section of copper pipe from a hardware shop.
Neither had loose fipples: they were just made out of tune.