Another 'which whistle suits my needs' topic

[Adrian]

Contact Jerry!

[Congratulations]

I may be totally wrong but...aren't whistles transposing instruments based on the key of "D" and most tuners are based on "C"? Therefore a "D" on a "D" whistle sounds as a "D" whereas the "D" fingering on a "A" whistle does not sound as an "D". Just a theory as to why ALL the whistles seem out of tune.

No. Chromatic tuners automatically choose the correct note. If you play a D for a chromatic tuner, it will tune you to a D, which is the correct note.

Whistles are concert-pitch instruments.

[Congratulations]

Btw: the Humphrey looks nice too though. But I don't like the part about 'the best flattened 7th is achieved by using OXXXOX rather than OXXOOO' :p

Okay, trust me on this one. Any whistle with the sound you want will not have an in-tune Cn with the oxxooo fingering. The only ones I know of that do are the rather-expensive ones that you don't like. BUT, you'll notice that Mr. Humprey also makes "Journeyman" whistles with thicker-walled aluminum tubing (rather than the thin brass), giving those whistles a more-in-tune Cn.

I really think you're looking for a Humphrey (or perhaps a Black Diamond).

As a side note, there are other ways to play Cn. oxxxox comes to mind, which is not a hard fingering. Also, you could learn to half-hole. If perfect intonation is that important to you, I would think that there would be no other option. It's really the only way to get a perfect Cn.

[fearfaoin]

Complaining your C's are out of tune on the whistle is a bit like a beginning fiddleplayer complaining his notes are off when he puts down his fingers.
This is not a fixed pitch instrument, it's, for a good part at least, your job to play in tune.

Agreed. If it's the cross-fingered Cnatural that's bothering you, then
you'll just have to get something like a Burke with a Cnat thumbhole.
Or learn to half-hole.

[Cayden]

If perfect intonation is that important to you, I would think that there would be no other option. It's really the only way to get a perfect Cn.

But then again what's perfect, you may need a variety of different intonations. A tune like 'the New Demesne' requires three distinctly different Cs to work well so where doe that leave you if you have only the one 'perfect' C natural installed on your instrument?

[Congratulations]

If perfect intonation is that important to you, I would think that there would be no other option. It's really the only way to get a perfect Cn.

But then again what's perfect, you may need a variety of different intonations. A tune like 'the New Demesne' requires three distinctly different Cs to work well so where doe that leave you if you have only the one 'perfect' C natural installed on your instrument?

Sorry, that was what I was getting at. Only the half-holing method allows you to adjust for exactly the intonation of Cn that fits your certain application within a tune.

Of course, it's good to keep options open, so I wouldn't refrain from using the cross-fingering methods, either.

I was ambiguous.

[Wombat]

Get a Humphrey, and the standard thin-walled number if you want something like a Generation that is dead easy to blow perfectly in tune. By all means play cross-fingered C nats if you must—you'll get used to the fingering—but half holing gives you so much more scope for expressive variation. I'd recommend Sindt too, but they are a bit heavy compared to a Humphrey.

I just got my first Humphrey and it's exactly what I've been looking for. It's a joy to play. The breath requirements are wonderful too. Right now it 'seems' slightly more responsive than a Sindt, but I think this might just be due to my being more comfortable with a lighter whistle and the balance. I guess, right now this seems like the 'perfect Generation' to me.

[Dralore]

If you want a good whistle that is in tune and won't break the bank, then I would suggest getting a Burke Whistle. Everyone that I have played have been in tune. They are not to heavy and do not require oxygen treatments after you have played for a while. They will run you about $150. His website is below. Hope this helps....




http://www.burkewhistles.com/index.htm

[Cayden]

I always love it when people time and time again recommend one of the dearest whistles and say 'it won't break the bank'.

he said, quite happily playing a whistle costing around a fiver

[shadeclan]

. . . My primary concern remains: will the whistles be in tune. I've browsed through the whistle shop page, for instance, and the 'tweaked' whistles improve the sound of the whistle, the amount of air required, the 'stability' of the tone, sometimes even the shape of the fipple... but it doesn't say anywhere that the instrument gets tuned correctly . . .

Jerry Freeman will have to verify this, but I believe he tunes his whistles so that "A" = 440 on his "D" whistles. I played one (badly) with some professional musicians last December, and I was able to tune my "MellowDog" to their instruments with a small amount of fipple positioning.

[RonKiley]

It is interesting to me that so many people complain about not being able to play the inexpensive whistles "in tune" yet lots of professional players are earning a living playing these same whistles. I used to think that some of my whistles were unplayable. Now I play them and they are fine. I don't think the whistle changed. That said, the Humphreys is one of my two favorite whistles. The other is my Alba Q1. I would never let these two go. However you are likely to find me playing a Gen, Feadog or Waltons as well. After all the whistle is a folk instrument. They are to enjoy not for quibbling over a slightly out of tune note. Just pay them and enjoy them.

Ron

[dfernandez77]

A tune like 'the New Demesne' requires three distinctly different Cs to work well so where doe that leave you if you have only the one 'perfect' C natural installed on your instrument?

Peter, you are the king of monkey wrench heaving. And I mean it in the kindest way - really. Especially considering that a decent whistle is like a musical monkey wrench. In the hands of the right laborer it can be extremely versatile and flexible. Heck, I'm not a great player but I was playing a Green Day tune the other day for fun - pushing too much air through a flat Generation chrome D brought it into tune and gave a dirty edge that fit the style of tune. Maybe I should learn some Flogging Molly.

BlackDeath, I recommend listening to Mary Bergin on Feadoga Stain - she freakin rocks with a Generation. The lesson to be learned from Mary Bergin and the experienced (much more than me) folks in this thread is this. Though a Sweetone or Generation are not perfectly intoned, you can overblow or underblow (also subjective) to bring most notes into tune. I have a Burke and a Thin Weasel that are perfectly intoned at the expected air volume and dead on C Nat at 0XX000, yet I still play a Shaw for it's groovy voice and tonal "fluidity" (don't you love semantics?) Perhaps worse yet, I am reprogramming my head to play C Nat as 0XX0XX - it's maybe a few cents off on most "expensive" whistles but allows a proxy cut, strike, and roll that you will not get with 0XX000.

Find a whistle who's voice and breath requirement makes you happy. Learn to play it well and in tune (each has it's own quirks). Then learn to cut, strike, roll, cran, slide, overblow, etc. to break it. The magic is in mucking it up correctly.

Above all, have fun!

[Unseen122]

Hmm, fist of all, thanks all for the reactions !

Still, however, I'm not convinced (sorry >.<). My primary concern remains: will the whistles be in tune. I've browsed through the whistle shop page, for instance, and the 'tweaked' whistles improve the sound of the whistle, the amount of air required, the 'stability' of the tone, sometimes even the shape of the fipple... but it doesn't say anywhere that the instrument gets tuned correctly (which seems impossible anyway - isn't that a matter of where the finger holes are placed on the instrument and how big / small they are ?).

Well those Whsitles are tweaked by Jerry Freeman, and his tweaking process is different than mine. I personally increas the size of certain holes so the instrument is in tune. It is size and placement of holes, on a Waltons LBW the D is sharp and everything else (except a G) is flat to it, so I enlarge the other holes. I do not sell my Whsitles through stores as I have only been doing this for a couple of months (selling them that is).

[Tommy]

I have played a LBW tweaked by Avery Levine and found it to have a very good tone and in tune.

[riverman]

I agree with Dralore. A musician deserves the best instrument he or she can possibly afford. After all, you experience and play the notes every day. Even with a whistle, a traditional instrument, why play out of tune, or with the buzz that many factory instruments have? If you can spend $7 on a lunch, why not put pennies in a can for a Burke, or Humphrey, or Hoover?