Whistle Question

Subject: Whistle Question
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 12:56 PM

If you trim off the right amount from the end of a tin whistle, can it play accurately in a new key?

~Susan

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: jeffp
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 01:03 PM

I seriously doubt it. The holes are positioned relative to the overall length. If you change the length, the spacing will be off.

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 01:04 PM

OK, thanks.

~S~

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: greg stephens
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 01:06 PM

You can buy them in any key, so it's not a problem.

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 01:07 PM

E flat?

~S~

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: greg stephens
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 01:09 PM

I dont what brands are available in America, but the ones marketed as flageolets in Britain certainly come in E flat.

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: Mooh
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 01:13 PM

www.chiffandfipple.com

That pretty much will answer your questions.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: Gedpipes
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 02:07 PM

No.
Anyway don't be so tight WYSIWYG. They only cost a fiver! ;-))

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 02:11 PM

Here's that link for Chiff & Fipple

Nigel

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: JWB
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 02:42 PM

I've got a Generation whistle in Eflat. I always wondered why such a key was available. Apparently, it's favored by players who want to do a solo piece during a session, since there aren't many other instruments that are particularly easy to play in that key.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: Snuffy
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 03:54 PM

A lot of Irish players use an Eb because the fiddlers they play with keep making the pitch "brighter" so a D whistle is out of tune with them.

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: jimmyt
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 04:27 PM

Double check me Leadfingers, but I think a Bflat whistle will work fine in Eflat also. jimmyt

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: Dave Swan
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 04:40 PM

I've got a nice Bb whistle which came from West Coast Whistles. Give them a look.

D

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: gnu
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 04:53 PM

Thanks for the link Dave.

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: NH Dave
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 05:02 PM

Unless the whistle has a lower, unstopped hole that determines the over all pitch of the lowest note, trimming the end a bit would only affect the lowest not on the instrument, raising it a bit. All of the other finger holes will still retain their same relative distance to the the blown end, and not vary in pitch.

    I have known whistle players who have loosened the plastic blown end from the bore and can now raise and lower this blown end, thus making each note a bit sharper or flatter, than it had been, but I don't see as this would be any advantage in playing with others who use some sort of refferenced standard pitch, or who tune by electronic tuners - clamp on bits that show the exact note the instrument is currently playing.

    Dave

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: Bernard
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 05:27 PM

If the 'mouthpiece' is removeable (as with the 'Generation' whistles), you can sometimes trim a couple of millimetres off the tube length, thus allowing a little more leeway in tuning, but it's drastic and likely to be of little use.

I, too, have an Eb Generation whistle, and a low Bb - which will, as suggested, play in Eb - just as you can play in G on a D whistle.

I have (I think) a full set of Generation whistles, which start at low Bb, C, D, Eb, F and G - and includes a three-hole Tabor Pipe in D which looks like an ordinary D, except for the absence of some holes...!

My tunable low G tabor pipe is something of a rarity, as Generation stopped making it some years ago (mine is 35 years old) - and it doesn't have a plastic mouthpiece. It's entirely brass.

Many keys are accessible from other whistles by learning 'cross-fingerings', but you have to pay more attention to the blowing pressure to stay in tune, which makes it hard work...!

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 05:32 PM

can't be beat.

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: Barbara
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 05:37 PM

Actually some classical instruments come in Eb -- I think a clarinet does, and I found the Eb whistle (Generation) useful for playing cross whistle in A. Or for playing with people tuned sharp -- like concertinas, or autoharps. I always soak my bits so I can tune them, and you will also be able to pick me out of a crowd of whistle players because when my bits get old and crack where they join the barrel, I repair them using hose clamps.
The first set of Generations I bought, I mail ordered from someplace in NY city, and the entire set came one tube inside another and all the bits in a bag at one end of the box. There were 6, as I recall, and I still have a couple (they would be about 30 years old). Several of them I have never seen for sale in stores -- they were Bb, C, D Eb F and G, from low to high respectively.
The G whistle is about 3/4 the length of a pencil, about that bore, and makes you squinch all your fingers together to play it. It is good, especially in its second octave, for clearing rooms, removing loose paint and fillings, and in delighting small, thieving children.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: Kaleea
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 04:04 AM

Unless a whistle is terribly out of tune, I would not cut or trim. Whistles are available in most all keys, though they are usually "spelled" in flats and not sharps-thus instead of D#, it's Eb. I also have Generation Eb & Bb whistles. The Bb was my very first whistle-given to me by a Bodhran playing pal in a Ceoli band I used to be in. I played along with pipes & pipe recordings. There are also pipes in keys other than Bb, which makes it necessary for other instrumentalists to play in other keys in order to join in. Also, the "Bluegrass" or "Traditional Music" keys of G & D & A are often not good for singers. Many singers prefer Ab, Eb, and Bb as their voice sounds better & works better or more smoothly in those keys--many church hymnals have more hymns in those keys.

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 04:55 AM

Thanks, I always wondered about that! I often tune my autoharp a half step low, and I wondered what other folks can do if their instrument is not capoable. :~)

~S~

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: Leadfingers
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 12:06 PM

Gedpipes - OK So Generation Eflat is only a fiver - On Overton is over a hundred quid !! And Eflat is a nice key to play on a Bflat whistle as was mentiones above . I tried to turn an Eflat into an E
by trimming off the Mouthpiece end ! Had to do ALL sorts of tweaking
to get it even remotely in tune with itself ! Now I use Chieften - a
good range and NOT quite so pricey as Overton !!

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: Sarah the flute
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 12:42 PM

I had a generation Eb and wanted an E but couldn't find one I liked SO my friend took the plastic top off and sawed off a slice and then replaced the now movable top and it is perfect AND tunable. Great for those stupid tunes in fiddle player keys!!!!

Sarah

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: GUEST,Barrie Roberts
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 03:41 PM

I have a photo of John Molineux playing an instrument of his own devising. It consisted of two penny-whistles coneected by a length of rubber gas piping, with a mouthpiece cut in the rubber halfway. One whistle had some of its holes taped over to create a drone effect. He got quite stropppy when I told him that with a little effort and development he could invent the bagpipe!

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: Pete Fletcher
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 06:36 PM

And if you're accompanying singers Eflat Bflat are great singing keys

Subject: RE: Whistle Question
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 09:41 AM

You'll find quite a few pieces with flats in O'Neill's Music of Ireland.