What's your favorite / least favorite key?

Tikva · Post by **Tikva** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:18 am

West's thread on "What's your least favorite whistle?" and a recent visit to a recorder-playing friend got me wondering. The more I heard of her alto and bass recorder, the more I disliked the regular soprano one.

Would that be the same for you with whistles? What's your oppinion?

What are your favorite keys?
What are your least favorite keys?
And of course... why?

whistleman922 · Post by **whistleman922** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:56 am

i don't know that i could say that I have a least favorite. two years ago i would have said Bb, and Eb. But now i have a wonderful Bb that is an absolute joy to play so, while i still haven't tracked down a satisfactory Eb, i'd have to say that i've accepted it for what it is because i really just judge the key by what whistle it's played on.

As for my favorite keys...well I'd have to say D, A, and my low F without doubt. No real reasons for that, they just appeal to me more than the others. I have more fun playing in those keys.

bill · Post by **bill** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:25 am

I like low F the best, it has the low whistle sound but also some of the qualities of higher pitched keys. It seems to me like a good balance between high and low keys...

ziggysp2000 · Post by **ziggysp2000** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:53 pm

I second that....I absolutely love my Overton Low F

ubizmo · Post by **ubizmo** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:32 am

The only non-D whistle I have is my Gonzato alto G, and I like it a lot, for just the reasons mentioned. It has a lovely flute-like sound in the first octave, but still sounds bright and "whistly" in the second octave. The size is such that the fingering is no problem at all.

chas · Post by **chas** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:35 am

Interesting, F is my least favorite key. I've tried an Overton F; I've owned F's by Burke, Schultz, and Grinter and an F flute by Mark Hoza. I've finally decided that there's just something about a tube tuned to F that I find unappealing. I like playing in F on baroque flute, though.

straycat82 · Post by **straycat82** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 1:52 pm

I like the sound of Eb but it's too shrill for my taste on the whistle. I especially enjoy listening to Matt Molloy's early solo recordings on his Eb flute.
On the whistle D and G just feel like home (not a G whistle, but those keys played on a D whistle). I also enjoy the sound of Am and Bm on the D whistle.
I really enjoy the sound of a good C whistle. I also love playing my Gen Bb but rarely have the opportunity to outside of my own musings.
I don't much care for the sound of low whistles.
Also, some of my favorite piper recordings are played on C, B or Bb chanters.

West · Post by **West** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 4:14 pm

There seems to be some confusion -- at least judging what people have posted -- as to whether we're talking about keys in general or whistles in specific keys...

straycat82 · Post by **straycat82** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:49 pm

I was confused the same so I mentioned both. The thread said "favorite/least favorite key" but folks started talking about whistle keys.

Doc Jones · Post by **Doc Jones** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:24 pm

My favorite key is B natural. I'm also quite fond of E natural. Quite like F too.

My least favorite is C.

I have several quite excellent C whistles but C just leaves me flat for some reason, which of course is a bit odd as the key of C has no flats.

Doc

Guinness · Post by **Guinness** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:39 pm

Expressing one's dis/like of a particular key signature is kind of pointless given that all twelve are musically equivalent in an even temperament context.

WyoBadger · Post by **WyoBadger** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:01 pm

Guinness wrote:Expressing one's dis/like of a particular key signature is kind of pointless given that all twelve are musically equivalent in an even temperament context.

Not really. The different keyed whistles sound different because they are higher or lower. I don't think we're talking about key sigs, but whistles in different keys.

Me, I've never met a low G I didn't like.

T

straycat82 · Post by **straycat82** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 10:10 pm

Guinness wrote:Expressing one's dis/like of a particular key signature is kind of pointless given that all twelve are musically equivalent in an even temperament context.

So they all sound the same then? All set the same mood?

Tikva · Post by **Tikva** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:14 am

WyoBadger wrote:Not really. The different keyed whistles sound different because they are higher or lower. I don't think we're talking about key sigs, but whistles in different keys.

That's correct. Even if the title of this thread seems to have caused some confusion, everybody got it right in the end.

Guinness · Post by **Guinness** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 3:04 pm

straycat82 wrote:
Guinness wrote:Expressing one's dis/like of a particular key signature is kind of pointless given that all twelve are musically equivalent in an even temperament context.
So they all sound the same then? All set the same mood?

I stand by my statement (notice how I had not mentioned the word whistle). Obviously whistles do not all sound (or play) the same. Gotta love value-subtracted responses.