shrillness of high note

andymac · Post by **andymac** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:15 am

hi,

I've been playing whistle for a couple of years and have gotten pretty good - except when it comes to hitting the high B on a high D whistle. The 'note' that comes out is universally ear-piercingly shrill - irrespective of the make of whistle used. My favourite whistle, a brass Dixon, has a beautiful flute-like tone until that note.

Am I missing something technique-wise?

Is there a make of whistle that is less shrill?

Apologies if this topic has been covered in vast depth before.

Andy Mac

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:19 am

A bit of holding back on the breath and a degree of shading with the lower fingers can go a long way.

slowair · Post by **slowair** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:51 am

Peter,

What do you mean by shading of the lower fingers?

Thanks,
Mike

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:12 pm

Cathal McConnell recommends cutting the high notes short and sliding onto them as a remedy for shrillness. It works for him. I think that it would lock you in to a certain style of playing which would be a minus.

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:15 pm

What I said

Using the lower fingers to aid intonation and improve tone by shading the open holes (by keeping them close to the open hole or, especially for the lower hand fingers adding a slight vibrato). I'd instinctively use the left ringfinger to dampen the B a bit.

Les Cruttenden · Post by **Les Cruttenden** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:47 pm

I have a Dixon high D brass...it's a beautiful whistle and I must say i have no trouble with the high D...never tried to go beyond it but it has never been shrill...i generally, where possible , and it often is..slide up to mine, at other time i tongue it...(oh dear) but try to focus rather than blow hard...it seems to work....the trouble is we often get what we expect...if that makes sense so when i say i focus i make a specific effort to play it gently as possible without losing it...I really find it okay...you are right...it is a smashing whistle...Les.

Whitmores75087 · Post by **Whitmores75087** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 4:23 pm

Here's my take on this shrillness issue. A half way decent whistle will be loud in high b, but not shrill or ugly. Loud stuff bothers me, so I wear earplugs when I play. But to get a good b, don't back off on breath. If you have an electronic tuner, blow a b until it's in tune even if that means lots of air (and loudness). The note should be clear and clean, though possibly loud. Being afraid of the loudness will cause you to blow more gently, and that could be the source of the problem. Earplugs may embolden you to give it what it needs.

OBrien · Post by **OBrien** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:55 pm

I find that the Blue Tack Tweak really takes the shrillness out of the high notes of an inexpensive whistle. Fill in the hollow under the windway with some sort of moldable material like Blue Tack or modelling clay or even wax, if you don't plan on leaving the whistle in a hot car. You can use the tip of a screwdriver to make a nice flat surface, level with the end of the windway. Just make sure nothing gets into the windway.

Whitmores75087 · Post by **Whitmores75087** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:14 pm

The tweak that O'Brien recommends is a must. And it will take out harsh noises. I find that spraying a shot of heavy duty hairspray in through the windway helps too. I'm not kidding! Repeat until whistle sounds good. If you go too far, soak in rubbing alcohol.

DRC · Post by **DRC** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:18 pm

Aside from all the technique suggestions, you have to consider that it may be the whistle itself. Not all whistles are created equal, no matter how they're created or who creates them. One person could order two Dixon brass high Ds (or any whistle) and find that one may be great on the high B, while the other doesn't quite cut it. And there are a lot of whistles that have problems with the high B. I've had a bunch!

Yes, there's a lot to proper technique and developing certain techiniques to bring out the best in any whistle, but there's also the very real possiblity of getting a whistle that doesn't quite meet the maker's normal standards. It happens. You can fight it all you want and try your best to work with a sub-par whistle, but if you're not comfortable playing it for whatever reason, what's the point? Once you play a really good whistle and easily slide into that high B...and C#, you'll see. They're out there. Give the Burke narrow bore brass or aluminum blacktip a try. I have both, and they play easily and sweetly into the high B and beyond. No screeching with these whistles! One of the other whistle players in our band has a Burke narrow bore composite D that's great on the high end as well. Mike just makes good stuff.

DC

PCL · Post by **PCL** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:14 am

Here are some general notes on tweaking a whistle that I posted in another forum a while ago. I hope they make sense. One day I'll buy a digital camera and include some helpful pictures.

"Any whistle with a plastic fipple should have the fipple removed ( the ol' hot water trick), the glue and daggy bits cleaned out, and the fipple put back on to the barrel. To be able to move the fipple is necessary for fine adjustment to the tuning. Sometimes, the fipple is quite tight: hard to remove, and hard to put back. A bit of sandpaper wrapped around a dowel will allow you to enlarge the inside diameter of the fipple. If the fitting is too loose, some teflon-tape wrapped around the top of the barrel will do the trick.

Getting rid of the buzz and the loud high B: Some whistles have loud unpleasant overtones on the high notes. I suspect this comes from the corners where the blade of the fipple meets the walls. Take two bits of bees' wax (poster-putty will do), about the size of a grain of rice, and work them into the corners at the ends of the blade. You may need something to help get the wax into the corners, a pencil, or a biro will do. Again, it is trial and error, but you will get there. The effect is that the whistle gets a bit sharper (luckily you can adjust the fipple), a bit quieter, the low notes may become quite soft and too easy to overblow (less wax on the blade should fix this), the high notes get sweeter, and the octaves may be improved.

Tuning the whistle and the octaves: The notes of the scale can be tuned using sticky tape and adjusting the position of the fipple. However, a whistle with a cylindrical barrel is probably out of tune across the octaves. You need to put bits of bees' wax into various parts of the barrel to reduce the bore at critical spots. Again, it's trial and error, but it works. Your high B will probably be the flattest note compared to its lower octave. Take a chopstick, or similar, and while blowing a high B, push the chopstick up the bore and notice where the pitch suddenly rises. (Despite the fact that narrower usually means flatter, there are points where it does the opposite.) Take a blob of wax, about the size of a pea, and use the chopstick to move it up to the place where you got the rising pitch. Carefully hold the whistle horizontal, so the wax does fall out or roll toward the fipple, remove the chopstick, and put a flame (match or cigarette lighter) to the part of the barrel where the wax is and melt the wax a bit so that it holds fast.

If all fails, buy a new whistle and start again"

Toot sweet!

P.

andymac · Post by **andymac** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:05 am

PCL - i read your post with increasing disbelief - you do what with blu-tack??? I know about filling the internal head cavity with it, but not pressing it into the edges of the blade. So i just tried it on a Generation D. It works just as you said. It transforms the second octave - perfectly balanced, a joy to play - the high B plays at excactly the same volume as the A using the same pressure.

However, the low notes do lose a lot - the low D is very soft - although probably possible to live with. Maybe I need to experiment more with the blu-tack.

Thank you for that tweak.

PCL · Post by **PCL** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:43 am

However, the low notes do lose a lot - the low D is very soft - although probably possible to live with. Maybe I need to experiment more with the blu-tack.

Some whistles are a touchier than others with the bottom-D. All my plastic-fipple whistles are thus waxed, and they all work reel good—low notes included.

P

Bretton · Post by **Bretton** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:17 am

There are a few whistles out there that aren't as shrill on the high B...

One reason I really like Humphrey whistles is because the highest few notes, while a bit louder when blown hard enough to bring them into tune, are still very sweet sounding. Somehow Gary manages to do this without impacting the lowest few notes (which is what happens on many whistles with good sounding high notes).

Burkes are another type of whistle that are pretty good about the high notes not being to shrill while keeping a solid lower end.

Rose whistles have a beautiful, sweet sounding upper octave, but the low end was a little weak on the one I had...same thing for the Dixon PVC whistles I've tried.

-Brett