Has anyone ever noticed...

MojoXN · Post by **MojoXN** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:39 pm

OK, to start off, I have an Oak in D.

Has anyone ever noticed that if you position the fipple so that your upper lip is just shy of the hole in the fipple (kid of on the edge of the hole), the tone of the whistle changes completely?

The altered tone sounds kind of like a woodwind of some sort, I could be wrong about that, but it sure as heck sounds remarkably different, richer, fuller somehow.

Am I crazy, or is there some rational explanation for this?

P.S. When playing in the "different" configuration, it' impossible to get to the second octave, at least without squeaking and such.

pao · Post by **pao** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:28 am

yes i noticed that too, and not only on the Oak but also with others of its kind... nice sound, though that's just it, the second octave can't definitely be reached because the much needed air does not completely go in..

MojoXN · Post by **MojoXN** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:52 am

I like the sound abunch... Which you standard English speakers would probably call "a lot" There's the WV coming out.

Anyway, I find it an interesting variation on the standard tone of the whistle, quite useful when playing tunes that stick to the first octave.

Anyone else notice this? How can it be properly incorporated into playing?

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:59 am

Do some searching on Kwela. It sounds like you are doing something similar if not less drastically.

pancelticpiper · Post by **pancelticpiper** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:35 am

Yep I noticed on my Burke low D especially that you get different sounds if you have the mouthpiece all the way in your mouth, halfway in, or the lips on the edge. The tuning is best and the tone the clearest if the mouthpiece is all the way in your mouth. Lips on the edge give a more complex tone but B in particular plays flat.
Go Mountaineers!

MTGuru · Post by **MTGuru** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 3:14 pm

Also keep in mind that what you hear in your ear may not be what a listener 10 feet away hears. A nice, breathy effect at the fipple may become a purer tone at a distance, especially if masked by playing with other instruments. But I agree that the relationship between embouchure and tone is fundamental.

s1m0n · Post by **s1m0n** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 5:31 pm

MTGuru wrote:Also keep in mind that what you hear in your ear may not be what a listener 10 feet away hears.

Good point. If your lips don't touch the fipple, you've broken the whistle-head connection, so you may be filtering out whatever you normally get in the way of vibes conducted by your teeth and bones rather than the air.

Daniel_Bingamon · Post by **Daniel_Bingamon** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 8:11 pm

Some whistles have wall around the window opening. When you put your lips in the close proximity to the window, you are creating a "wall" on the top.

Put your fingers around the sides of the whistle and the sound will change even more dramatically. Pitch will flatten slightly as well - in fact this trick is used on Native American flutes that have been pitched a little too sharp - the window brings the pitch down just a little.