any advice? please

[mrmchaggis]

hi, im new to playing the whistle and i was just wondering why, when i play the high notes on my whistle (which is a feadog) it sounds awful. is it something im doing or something wrong with the whistle itself. any help would be great cheers

[BrassBlower]

If you mean "high notes" as in the second octave, check to make sure your fingers are completely sealing the holes. Failing to do so in the second octave will produce a horrible squeak. The first octave is somewhat more forgiving, but you may get a "sick" sound.

If you mean "high notes" as in A, B, and C#, you may be underblowing, which will produce notes that are way out of tune.

Don't immediately blame the whistle, but if you know any experienced whistle players, you might let them try it out and see what they think.

[Easily_Deluded_Fool]

Buy another make of whistle!

Welcome to whoa!

Try a sweetone - about £4,
or a Dixon for about £20,
Alba Q1 £50 ish,
Chieftain even more £'s.

I tried several feadogs,
and found them all awful,
in fact - they were the worst whistles ever,
cheap bamboo whistle for a £1 are better!

Somebody will disagree,
but that's my personal experience.

HTH

[Bloomfield]

Well, Feadogs can be a bit grating in the upper second octave. See if the notes in the second octave hang between the octaves abit, like a buzz, wanting to drop down. That's a problem of the whistle.

Strident, screechy tones in the upper octave can often be corrected by dulling the blade with very fine sandpaper (try not to actually shorten the blade).

Also you can try to fill the cavity under the windway with blu-tac or some such substance. You need to pull the head off the whistle for this, not a problem with Feadogs. (Whether this has any effect is a matter of dispute; believing that it does helps.)

[mrmchaggis]

cheers everyone, ill take into mind what every one said. my friend has just bought a sweetone and i think that is a lot easier to play, might purchase 1 myself lol thans again.

[glauber]

Here's some advice:

You can pick your friends,
you can pick your nose,
but you shouldn't pick your friends' noses.

[BrassBlower]

Here's some advice:

You can pick your friends,
you can pick your nose,
but you shouldn't pick your friends' noses.

[fearfaoin]

Yeah, both my feadogs sound awful in the second octave. I must try to tweak them.
Sweetone is a much better beginner's whistle, in my opinion.

[mrmchaggis]

hi gr8 help every one

You can pick your friends,
you can pick your nose,
but you shouldn't pick your friends' noses.


im probably gonna sound pretty stupid now but i dont exactly know how to tweak it or what exactly it is because ive only just started playing.

any help again and i would be very grateful.

[vomitbunny]

Buy a tweaked whistle.
You'd be supprized how good a feadog or generation can sound. Or how bad they can sound.
"Tweaking" means altering them in minor ways which can make a huge huge difference in both sound and ease of playing. You can buy them already done. I bought several like this and over time learned how to tweak them for myself.

[mrmchaggis]

Buy a tweaked whistle.
You'd be supprized how good a feadog or generation can sound. Or how bad they can sound.
"Tweaking" means altering them in minor ways which can make a huge huge difference in both sound and ease of playing. You can buy them already done. I bought several like this and over time learned how to tweak them for myself.

thanks a bunch

[JillyKB]

Well, you can run a search on the forums about tweaking... but there are so many threads out there with that topic, that may get overwhelming. Check on the Chiff and Fipple main website. There is a whole section devoted to tweaking (which I will warn you is about as addictive as whistling and buying new whistles... there is also a teeny chance of permenant damage to your whistle ) Enjoy!