An Alba Bass A (yes a huge 30" monster) from a fellow Chiff-er arrived today in the post.
I’ve only gone down as low as C before, and I wanted to take the plunge into really low whistles.
And I’ve never even seen an Alba in person afore.
Imagine my surprise, my amazement, when I picked up this enormous thing and could immediately just play!
I had Hatao-esque imaginings of my fingers stretched to the utmost, vainly attempting to span the beast.
There was no such thing. The hand position was similar to many Low D’s which have come under my fingers.
The bellnote is solid and satisfying. The scale is in tune. The breath requirements are modest. I was blown away by how much not-different it was from my everyday whistle, a Goldie Low D.
I can’t put it down. (Well I had to put it down for a minute to type this, and every now and then to sip my White Russian… but that’s another story… the Dude Abides…)
It has that feels-just-right-in-the-hands wouldn’t-change-a-thing aspect my Goldie did went it arrived in the post.
It transforms jigs and reels into new things, and is fantastic for airs.
I’ve had my eye out for a Low C for some time now… I’ll strongly consider an Alba.
Lowest I’ve ever gone is a Burke low C, which is about as wide a stretch as my fat stumpy fingers can handle. Assuming you’ve played one of Burke’s low C’s, how would you say the stretch compares? I really like the sound of the lower whistles and would love to delve into the deeper realms but fear my hands would fall off.
I haven’t played a Burke Low C, and I don’t have a Burke Low D to hand any more.
But I did note, when I had a number of Low D’s including a Burke, that the Burke had fairly widely-spaced holes especially the upper hand compared to some other whistles.
The Reyburn Low C I had had, it seems to me, finger-holes spaced around the same as this Alba Bass A.
On both the Reyburn C and the Alba Bass Ab the upper-hand index finger needs to be a tad higher than I’m used to (from playing loads of different Low D’s).