Newbie could use a little advice!

[Dabri]

Hi all! I've been enjoying reading the posts on this forum, but haven't piped in until now.

I just picked up my first tin whistle a month or two ago and am having a ton of fun with it when I can play (which is not as much as I'd like -- time constraints...). Anyway, I've learned a handful of tunes and am anxious to learn more.

Here's my trouble: I'm finding I avoid tunes that use the high-B. I can't seem to play that note without having to blow hard enough that it's ear-piercing. The musicians on my cds don't have that problem, and watching Ryan Duns' Fordham University videos, he certainly doesn't have that problem either. Their high Bs are high and sweet and flow right with the music.

I'm playing a Generation D and a Clarke Sweetone. Any suggestions? Did any of you struggle with that problem when you first started playing?

Thanks so much!

Dabri

[Trixle]

I'm finding that i am having a similar problem..well, not in making the high b, but the high b is really beginning to ring in my right ear (left is fine for some reason) and is actually becoming a bit painful at times. I have been playing about 5 months, but just recently, in the last two or three weeks, i guess, have noticed this problem. I dont know what it is, i play a generation, a faedog, and a clark whistle, and i dont notice it with the clarke, but the gen and feadog are starting to hurt.

Sorry i couldnt offer any advice, jsut more of a "i'm noticing soemthing with high b too" post.

[john17]

Darbi:

Welcome to the forums. I too, like yourself are a newbie here. I just started playing tin whistle a couple weeks ago, and like you have watched the Ryan Dunn series.

I have a Walton D and a tweaked Clarke Sweetone. I've noticed that the Walton has a much brighter sound to it, and the B' on there can seem a bit shrill to me at times. On the Sweetone I don't seem to have that problem...maybe because it's a tweaked version?

What I have noticed with my personal progression is that knowing the high notes can be shrill I tended to shy away when approaching them and that only makes the sound worse. Then I decided to just go for them and found that sometimes I overblew them. After some practice I found a nice middle ground. In my beginners ignorance I thought there was only two types of breath...low octave breathing and high octave breathing. Now I'm starting to understand the nuance of different breathing for each note.

Maybe none of this pertains to your case, but I just thought I would share my experience.

Cheers!

John

[walrii]

The cheapies do get louder as you go up the scale. There is a trick to making the high notes less "shrieky." Basically, you purse your lips a bit, make your mouth cavity smaller and cause the air to flow less forcefully but faster through the whistle. The technique is hard to explain but pretty easy to pick up once you figure out what you are trying to do. You can make the lower notes a bit "fuller" by doing the reverse - dropping your jaw and enlarging your mouth cavity so you push a larger volume of air through the whistle at a slower speed. The effect is not nearly as great as what a flautist can achieve with embrouchure but it will help out the notes on the ends of the whistle's range. I'm sure an old head will chime in shortly with a clearer explanation.

Other makes of whistles, generally more expensive ones, have more even volume across the octaves. I have a Mack Hoover White Cap on a Waltons tube that is much more even in volume across the octaves than the original Walton mouthpiece. When I ordered that particular White Cap, I asked for an extra quiet whistle for practicing in hotel rooms and Mack delivered so the hign B on that whistle is fairly quiet. My O'Brien Rover is also fairly even in volume. Others on the forum will mention other tweakers and makers of good whistles with more even volume; those two just happen to be the ones I own.

Finally, high whistles are indeed loud in the upper octave, especially to the player. There have been several threads concerning hearing loss and ear pain. The consensus on at least one of these threads was that ear plugs are a good idea if you practice regularly for long periods of time. You can get special ear plugs from music supply houses that diminish the volume evenly across all frequencies so you hear the actual sound of your notes but at a lower volume. Normal earplugs like you get at hardware stores dampen some frequencies more that others and present a distorted version of your playing. Search this forum for "hearing loss" and "ear plugs." to learn more. Or wait a day or so and someone will post a link!

[Guinness]

Here's my trouble: I'm finding I avoid tunes that use the high-B. I can't seem to play that note without having to blow hard enough that it's ear-piercing.

Yep, that's the way to play it. FWIW, my goto whistle is a tweaked Gen.

[jkrazy52]

First thing ... the high notes can be damaging to your ears. If they "hurt", as in Trixle's case, look for some ear protection. There are some old threads here that mention ear protection designed for musicians. Walrii indeed does have it right!

Second .... practice will eventually help with the high notes, BUT sometimes another whistle will be a better choice. I have one high-end whistle that does not ever hit a clean 2nd octave B. It may be me, but other players have the same problem with this particular whistle ... so I blame the whistle itself. When I first started playing, a Feadog was giving me fits with the squeaks and squawks. Bought a Dixon and a Hoover. Much nicer to play, no problems in the second octave .... and probably is the only reason I persevered with learning the whistle. (Everyone will have different opinions on whistles. Feadog just isn't one I care for, personally.)

Welcome to C & F, Dabri.

[CranberryDog]

Something to check. Are you blowing the whistle or are you exhaling through the mouth piece?

If you place only the very tip of the mouth piece between your lips and blow, you may observe a difference. It makes it more difficult to inadvertently exhale.

This can help increase the velocity of the air stream without blowing harder.

[awildman]

Sounds like you're trying to force air through the whistle. You should be trying to blow air into the whistle instead. I've had the same experience with my Sweetone. That note will always be loud, but you can get it to be softer and less piercing. Try walrii's advice about blowing faster, not harder. He's spot-on.

[sbfluter]

What's really weird is that I felt the same way about that high B on whistle. So I got a lower whistle - a Bb. Still cringed at that high note. So I got an even lower one - a G. Still cringing.

Even stranger is that I felt the same way about the high B on my fiddle!

I think it could partially be psychological.

[cadancer]

Try "punching" the note a first to get into the 2nd octave, but then backing off a bit once you get the sound. At first you may need to tongue it a bit to use this effect. Often once you get the instrument to "speak" in the 2nd octave, it doesn't take quite as much air to keep it sounding properly. If you try and "sneak up" on the note you may find yourself blowing harder and harder to get it to "speak", then it may come out being especially shrill. Also make sure that the finger hole is completely sealed.

...john

[jim stone]

Stacotto the high b. Standard practice on many whistles.

[Dabri]

Thanks so much for all the great advice!

I did figure that my mouth position had something to do with it, because at first I couldn't do a high A either, but learned to tighten my mouth somehow. Hasn't worked yet for the B, but I'm encouraged that I'll get it with practice. I'll definitely also try doing more of a staccato, and making sure the hole is covered completely.

I'll also think about whether I'm forcing air through, or exhaling into the whistle, rather than *blowing*. That's a new idea for me. Thanks!

And thank you thank you thank you! for turning me on to Mack Hoover's website. I've already been in touch with him about getting a quieter whistle. That was part of the problem both with getting practice time (my family is *not* appreciating my new hobby -- hubby is calling me Squidward! ) and being tentative in approaching that B.

[Bill Hennessy]

I've been playing for a fairly short time, too. The high B, after about seven months, sounds pretty good most of the time on most whistles I use. It's best on a Dixon and worst on my Walton Mellow D. My problem is thinking too much about it as it approaches and messing up my rhythm. Practice, practice, practice I guess.

Don't get discouraged! There are times when Squidward sounds pretty darn good, I think!

Peace!

[cavefish]

get a clarke original -no squeeks very mellow

[Dabri]

Thanks, Bill and cavefish -- it's good to know that somehow it'll come with practice. Tonight I did try holding the mouthpiece much more lightly, and more at the edges of my lips (someone mentioned that above). That seemed to help.


Dabri