Which Whistles do better in the high octaves?

[violinmyster]

Sindt, Rose, Burke, O'Brien have all been good up top for me.

I'd stay off the Bleazey's though!

Interesting the Rose is one of the ones I found to be temperamental at the top , especially the high B

[WARD1066]

I sat on my Shaw C and bent it by accident. Straightened it up, then squeezed the mouthpiece together to make it need a little less air. All in this is now the easiest instrument i have to hit the high notes. Beautiful beautiful sound. Very quiet even into the lower third octave. Lovely. Its even easier to hit the high notes with this shaw than it is with the sindts (although sindts bring other good things to the party which I like). I have not tried burkes.

[MagicSailor]

I was wondering which whistles do better in the high octave without becoming shrill and louder or breaking up? I have tried high end whistles which do this. I know that it also depends on breathing. But some of the whistles must be easier to blow and more consistent in higher octaves.
Being newer to the whistle I would appreciate any info. Thanks.

Thornton!

Very nice upper register and can be played very softly right up to the top of the second octave without dropping down or squauking.

Owen

[Azalin]

My Burke narrow bore is somewhat acceptable in the second octave, but still loud.

I remember my Copeland high D, that one killed elephants. Almost as bad as a Susato.

[Tommy]

Many expensive whistles will get very loud in the second octave in my experience anyway.

Yes, it's an interesting question about what to do about it.
Some teachers (Cathal McConnell) recommend staccottoing
the notes on the top end, to reduce shrillness.

Any other suggestions? I'm actually struggling with this
right now as I have a couple of whistles that are
lovely till you get to the top two notes and then
they kill spiders.

Whistles that have a distance of less than 5mm from the wind way exit to the blade do ok but can viberate a spider web. Whistles that are very close to 4mm window length can play very sweet to the top. But a lot of players do not take the time to adjust their breath control for the bell note on a whistle like that. Then they say it it is flipping up to soon.

[MagicSailor]

Whistles that are very close to 4mm window length can play very sweet to the top. But a lot of players do not take the time to adjust their breath control for the bell note on a whistle like that. Then they say it it is flipping up to soon.

Never had the flipping up problem with my Thornton. It's the most easily controllable whistle I've ever played.

Owen

[A-Musing]

Anything higher than a Low F is generally too "shrill" for my particular ears.

However, among the Lows I've played over the years, my Burkes have been the most easily accessible and "well-behaved" high-octave players of the lot.

Since Mike's designs seem to be very similar, from whistle to whistle, this higher-note pleasantness probably holds throughout the keys.

Good luck!

[Guidus]

How come nobody mentioned the Dixon Trad? Absolutely lovely, sweet and easy to play second octave.

[free-feet]

Interesting the Rose is one of the ones I found to be temperamental at the top , especially the high B

3 things come to mind...

Are you leaving any other fingers near any holes - like the bottom one for support? I use my bottom finger to support the whistle on B's and i seem to remember the Rose did get temperamental at the top if that bottom finger was covering the bottom hole even slightly.

I always found it played best when it was blown as hard and near to the breaking point as possible throughout both octaves - that's when i found it really started to sing. It does sound a very nice whistle if you blow not too hard throughout, but it is a little temperamental if you do that.

I also played it for about 90 minutes every day (for well over a year it was the only whistle i played), swabbed and kept in it's case, so the wood would stay saturated and swelled. If it's allowed to dry out some then that will obviously change it's response as well.

[arnie]

Anything built by Mike Burke is sweet in the upper range, and the playability is excellent.

Best.
Byll

I have a Burke Composite Session high C, and for that whistle I agree, compared to my other whistles. Also my Sindt D is a very easy and nice blower in the upper range.

[Cayden]

Before, as per usual, just about every whistle in the universe has been recommended, maybe it's about time to think whether you need to polish up on your blowing/breathing technique. If a number of whistles start breaking up in the high notes for you that should under reasonable circumstances shouldn't, there's an indication you should go back to basics and practice instead of buying another whistle. Stick to the one instrument for a while, play it and play it often until you can handle the high octave and note transitions without and breaks or squeaks. Then play a few other whistles, for a while if need be. You'll be surprised how they improve with time.

[Makar]

Before, as per usual, just about every whistle in the universe has been recommended, maybe it's about time to think whether you need to polish up on your blowing/breathing technique. If a number of whistles start breaking up in the high notes for you that should under reasonable circumstances shouldn't, there's an indication you should go back to basics and practice instead of buying another whistle. Stick to the one instrument for a while, play it and play it often until you can handle the high octave and note transitions without and breaks or squeaks. Then play a few other whistles, for a while if need be. You'll be surprised how they improve with time.

I would love to blame some of my whistles for doing that but from what I gather, reading things on this site, it's mostly about me and not so much my whistles. Practically all my high d whistles squeek in high B and A (ok, not all the time as I improve!) - I suppose I better buy some more till I find one that doesn't
I need to practice...try not to collect...at least not one a week...(personal admission - maybe I am starting to see the light )

[violinmyster]

Interesting the Rose is one of the ones I found to be temperamental at the top , especially the high B

3 things come to mind...

Are you leaving any other fingers near any holes - like the bottom one for support? I use my bottom finger to support the whistle on B's and i seem to remember the Rose did get temperamental at the top if that bottom finger was covering the bottom hole even slightly.

I always found it played best when it was blown as hard and near to the breaking point as possible throughout both octaves - that's when i found it really started to sing. It does sound a very nice whistle if you blow not too hard throughout, but it is a little temperamental if you do that.

I also played it for about 90 minutes every day (for well over a year it was the only whistle i played), swabbed and kept in it's case, so the wood would stay saturated and swelled. If it's allowed to dry out some then that will obviously change it's response as well.

Thanks a lot for the ideas. I will certainly keep this in mind. I do remember you posting a thread about your new Sindt and how much you loved it. Why did you switch, did you find the Sindt easier or just wanted something new?

[free-feet]

Thanks a lot for the ideas. I will certainly keep this in mind. I do remember you posting a thread about your new Sindt and how much you loved it. Why did you switch, did you find the Sindt easier or just wanted something new?

Breath wise, i found the amount of air and back-pressure are very similar between the two. The Rose has, by far, the most gorgeous sound of any whistle i've ever played (especially when it's really pushed hard), however the Sindt is far more responsive at high speed like an old style Gen or Feadog.

The Sindt sound took a little getting used to after the Rose and the C nat was a dog, but then i stuck an O'Briain Improved tube on it and that sorted out the C nat and made it sound better at the same time.

The top notes on both whistles i would say were about the same. I would second Peter Laban on what he said, that it's very rarely the whistle at fault. I think for most people they simply don't push the whistle hard enough throughout the range and when they get to the top notes they either don't work or the player pushes hard enough only on those notes and they therefore sound completely out of balance with the rest of the whistle.

Another way of looking at it is that instead of focusing on the bottom octave as the main area on the whistle and pushing up from there to get the second octave (which is something i read a lot on this forum), focus on the second octave as the main area and ease down to get the bottom octave. The second octave becomes far more controllable like this and the bottom octave becomes far richer.

Oh, and about the smell. It'll be Patchouli and Ylang Ylang mix. I didn't ever put any on the whistle or case it's just that i always wear it as perfume and the whistle and case have probably picked it up from being in my pocket. Friends tell me it does fade away after a few months.

[Guinness]

Dissatisfaction with whistle tone is a frequent sentiment on this forum. Technique notwithstanding, sometimes I think that we should just get used to the sound of a whistle and not expect it to sound like a harp.