Alto A (not low A)

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 10:50 pm

I would appreciate any suggestions about obtaining a wooden Alto A whistle. I don't have a problem with the recorder type beaks (as per Sweet whistles).

Price range not exceeding US100.

Any sane suggestions?

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 12:12 am

Uh.....I got an eight dollar Pakistani cane whistle that is actually pretty good. Supprizingly good. If I had paid 60 bucks for it I wouldn't have felt ripped off. But it is a crap shoot ordering such things.

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 3:09 am

Vomit Bunny,
You have the nicest way of telling me this is a stoopido expectation:-

talasiga wrote:...........

Price range not exceeding US100.

........

OKAY then, lets lift the range a bit, say not exceeding US450.
Any owners of same can offer a review?
IE do you have an Alto A wooden whistle? Lets hear about it.
I promise not to tease you.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:07 am

talasiga wrote:OKAY then, lets lift the range a bit, say not exceeding US450.
Any owners of same can offer a review?
IE do you have an Alto A wooden whistle? Lets hear about it.
I promise not to tease you.

Check out Thinweasel.com . Glenn Schultz makes A whistles in wood within your price range. I haven't played his A, but I've played high G, C,D, Bb and low G and they've been uniformly excellent. He da man! Tell him Paulie sent you...

Mr.Nate · Post by **Mr.Nate** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 12:03 pm

If you live in Australia, then you should check out Michael Grinter.
He is a well know flute maker who also makes wood whistles in many different keys.

I e-mailed him about his prices more than a year ago. His asking prices were in Euros, which I thought were strange. I think an A was around 300 euros.

He is listed in the expensive whistle guide. Don't go to fast or you will miss it. There is a link for a nice review with some pictures.

Good Luck,

Nate

Mr.Nate · Post by **Mr.Nate** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 12:13 pm

Here is part of the e-mail I got from him....

Hi Nathan,
Thanks very much for your message and your enquiry regarding my whistles.

The whistles are made from Cocobolo and come with a brass tuning slide.
They are available in the keys of high D,C, B flat and E flat and low F, A,
G and D. Prices are as follows...High D and E flat - 270 euros, C & B
flat -
300 euros, G & A - 320 euros, F - 350 euros and low D - 380 euros. You need
to add around another 20 euros to cover postage and insurance costs.

If you decide to go ahead and order, then I don't ask for a deposit, but
just let me know what you would like and I could put one aside from the next
batch. Waiting time for a whistle is presently around four months.

His e-mail at the time was: grinter(insert at)castlemaine.net.au

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 1:34 pm

talasiga wrote:OKAY then, lets lift the range a bit, say not exceeding US450.
Any owners of same can offer a review?
IE do you have an Alto A wooden whistle? Lets hear about it.
I promise not to tease you.

I do not have one--and have never even played one, so feel free to tease me. However, now that your price range has gone up a tad, another possibility is Bleazey http://www.bleazey.co.uk/. I have a blackwood soprano D that's very nice, but I've also played NorCal's mopane alto G, and was quite taken with it (and it would have been taken with me if I'd thought that I could get away with it).

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 4:30 pm

thanks for all the comments.
I have decided all this is too expensive.
I already have 3 custom ordered flutes in the pipeline.

Maybe I should try a Dixon first.
So I am changing this topic. Its no longer limited to wood.
Any comments on any Alto A (that is not Low A) whistles
except Alba. (Alba is already covered in another recent topic)

Thanks.

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 4:49 pm

Wowie Zowie Darwin! That Bleazey Wooden A at 145 pounds looks ever so tempting! Maybe I shouldnt have changed the topic title so fast .......

Mr.Nate · Post by **Mr.Nate** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 8:09 pm

My choice for a metal whistle in the key of A
would probably be a Burke (aluminum or composite) or an Overton (Goldie).

I have a Burke low E that is excellent and an Overton F and narrow bore G, which is the same bore size as an A. I have a great deal of respect for both makers. There are pros and cons to both. Do a search and you will have more than enough information. Buy them both if you can afford it!!

Nate

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 8:42 pm

Yes, Mr Burke calls his A "low A".
Does he mean Alto A?
A low A would be lower than a low D wheras an Alto A
is 5 semitones below the standard D or 7 semitones above a low D.

KDMARTINKY · Post by **KDMARTINKY** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 9:29 pm

I have always been told that alto is low, mezzo is medium. So when you are asking for a low A, it is an alto, isn't it?

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:03 pm

talasiga wrote:Yes, Mr Burke calls his A "low A".
Does he mean Alto A?
A low A would be lower than a low D wheras an Alto A
is 5 semitones below the standard D or 7 semitones above a low D.

Most people I have discussed this with call the A below Low D a Bass A.

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 4:07 am

KDMARTINKY wrote:I have always been told that alto is low, mezzo is medium. So when you are asking for a low A, it is an alto, isn't it?

When I ask for alto in tin whistles my request is consistent with the meaning of it here:-

the ALBA whistle page

Alto is only low in relation to soprano and mezzo soprano. In Italian alto literally means high and although etymology does not oblige current semantic, alto continues to refer to the high end of the range second only to soprano in all European (including English music terminology).

I am not being pedantic here. Rather I really find the term "low" something confusing unless it refers to the low end of a given range.

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 7:28 am

This is ENTIRELY OT (it's a talent of mine really...), but NorCal, my daugther says that your avatar is way cool. She never says that about mine, so you should feel special

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