I was learning the tune Si Beag Si Mor, on Cathall McConnell's CD tutor, which has lots of upper notes in the second octave. Although they were shrill, didn't seem damaging at the tme. I knew that third octave notes are supposed to be cause for concern in terms of hearing damage, but 2nd octave seemed pretty safe. (I have a Clarke D whistle)
A little while after practicising, my ears were starting to hurt, and now a day later they still do. Hopefully it'll go away...But how do I learn these tunes with high notes in them without causing long-term damage? Has anyone else experienced this problem? Maybe I should go to a Low D whistle! That would probably solve this problem...
thanks for any suggestions!
Baen
Upper notes in 2nd octave--Ouch!!
For the upper octave B I have to wear earplugs. For the upper octave A I have to have an earplug in the right ear because I spent too much time playing upper Bs without earplugs.
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We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light
--Plato
- Easily_Deluded_Fool
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Try playing in a different room.
If I play in my kitchen, which is all hard surfaces,
I get lots of bounce back.
Low whistles really sound great in there because
the whole room seems to vibrate.
If I play in the room with carpets, soft seating etc,
then the sound is different, with no reverb' at all.
HTH
If I play in my kitchen, which is all hard surfaces,
I get lots of bounce back.
Low whistles really sound great in there because
the whole room seems to vibrate.
If I play in the room with carpets, soft seating etc,
then the sound is different, with no reverb' at all.
HTH
No whistles were harmed in the transmission of this communication.
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- Tell us something.: Hello, I'm Lesl, I teach and play Irish flute. Just updating my web address. Thank you for reading this!
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I think you should make a whistle mute, either with a ball of blutack or
with the trash bag ties. I found about them on the board somewhere. http://chiffboard.mati.ca/search.php?mode=results
Also, I remember on this thread
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... 2nd+octave
someone mentioned Cathal McConnell's way of softening those high
notes. That thread helped me the most on not screetching and no ears
hurting.
When I'm just trying out a tune on whistle or practicing it, I mostly drop
the high notes an octave down until I've got the hang of the fingerings.
Then when you know how to play it and go back up, it sounds better.
Hope that helps, Lesl.
with the trash bag ties. I found about them on the board somewhere. http://chiffboard.mati.ca/search.php?mode=results
Also, I remember on this thread
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... 2nd+octave
someone mentioned Cathal McConnell's way of softening those high
notes. That thread helped me the most on not screetching and no ears
hurting.
When I'm just trying out a tune on whistle or practicing it, I mostly drop
the high notes an octave down until I've got the hang of the fingerings.
Then when you know how to play it and go back up, it sounds better.
Hope that helps, Lesl.