Whistling at an angle

[peeplj]

A lot has been posted here about various ways of controlling the airstream, usually in the context of controlling the shrillness and volume in the second octave, although the technique is certainly useful for more than that. This is accomplished by opening and closing the throat, raising and lowering the jaw, and tensing and relaxing the facial and lip muscles.

Something I discovered by accident that, while not directly related, produces an interesting effect: instead of blowing straight into the whistle, bring the whistle to one side by about twenty degrees or so. Note that this isn't the same thing as blowing the whistle from one side of the mouth or the other, you are literally putting the fipple between the lips at an angle.

This is interesting because it doesn't seem to affect the first octave much, but tends to make the second octave a bit flatter in pitch and a bit softer and slightly less "focused" in tone. It also seems to increase the backpressure and resistance a bit, as I find myself blowing a bit harder to hold the second octave.

I'm not sure this is going to prove useful as a playing technique, but it is interesting, and I was curious as to whether other folks have played around with this.

--James

[fearfaoin]

So, the tip is still positioned at the center of the lips,
but one side of the fipple tip is further inside the lips
than the other side, right? Hm. I need to try that...

It seems like this would be harder with a shorter/fatter
beaked whistle, like a Clarke original.

[peeplj]

So, the tip is still positioned at the center of the lips,
but one side of the fipple tip is further inside the lips
than the other side, right?

Yep, that's it exactly. In essence, instead of blowing air straight down the fipple, you are actually blowing at an angle against the inner surface of the windway's side.

I've tried this on the whistles that are handy on my desk right now: Burkes, Overton high D, Susato, Generation, and Feadog. The most pronounced effects seem to be on the Susato and the Feadog.

This isn't a very drastic thing--it's not a "Gee! I've invented a new way to play whistle." It's more of a "I did this by accident and it was actually sort of cool..." sort of thing.

--James

[MTGuru]

Sure, James, I've talked about using this as one of the dimensions of whistle embouchure. Maybe I can dig up the old posts.

One suggestion ... try recording yourself with the angle as an objective check. Obviously, it affects both tone and perceived backpressure. But maybe not the tone as much as you think, especially from a few feet away. A recording can help you to judge.

I used the angle trick myself for my recordings for Peter Laban's whistle challenge thread a few years ago. The idea is that it tends to even out the tone a bit between different whistle, and makes it harder to tell them apart, especially when close-recording.

[Innocent Bystander]

There is another reason for doing this, or something like this.

One of my new high whistles squeaks. The top hole is a fraction out of line with the others. Less than a millimetre.
If you look down the tube, foreshortening it, you can see that the top hole is out of true. If I play it straight, like the others, it squeaks. If I twist it in my mouth a little to the left, no more squeak.

Not every whistle maker will admit this...

only the bad ones.

[MarkP]

I seem to remember (on another old thread) it was even listed as one of the 100 things credited with making one appear 'more Irish' too

seriously though, I think you're right. The biggest difference is that the sound is less obscured by your face from one ear (probably your right) so it's easier to hear yourself - so you'd want to try the recording as suggested. I realise now that I always seem to play that way, especially on the tweaked feadog (still my preferred whistle). Don't know why, I haven't stopped to analyse it, just seems to work better.

[RonKiley]

I play Feadogs a lot and I find that this softens the A' nd B' nicely. I have not made a recording to see the actual difference it makes to a listener.

Ron

[s1m0n]

According to the Venerable Bede, history's earliest recorded whistle at an Angle occurred in AD 573, when Pope Gregory the Great was moved by the blondness of english slaves offered for sale in Rome, and famously quipped that they were not Angles but angels ("non angli sed angeli").