Okay, maybe not mania. Interest, perhaps? It doesn’t seem like many people play them.
A while back a got a Shearwater bass A non-tuneable alloy whistle. I can’t really give it a proper review since I’ve only been playing whistles from last September. Nor can I properly play it (or any whistle, really).
I believe it is the cheapest bass A one can buy, 86.95GBP (about 135 USD) + shipping. The owner was pleasant to deal with and the whistle was shipped quickly. Their page: http://www.shearwaterwhistles.com/
The metal seemed fairly soft and I used some sandpaper to add some texture to the back where the thumbs hit it otherwise it could get a bit slippery.
The tone holes aren’t perfectly circular, but there were no rough or sharp edges:
There are some signs of working in the labium area but no large imperfections (in my far from expert opinion):
The whistle is absolutely gigantic, compared to even a low D. Here’s a comparison with the Shearwater, a Dixon polymer low D, a Dixon high D and a Generation high G:
and from the end:
It could make a meal of the poor low D and still be hungry.
It also weighs a lot more. The hardest part of playing it for me is supporting it while keeping my fingers in the correct position. I think ideally (if funds allow) one would go from low D to low C to low (bass?) B to the bass A rather than trying to go from low D to bass A. It’s taken me quite some time to even be able to play it with any consistency and my fingers/hands get tired quite fast.
Not bad, really. I’d say it uses more air than my low D but not double or anything. Possible 30%-50% more (may be wildly inaccurate, I’m pretty bad at estimating that sort of stuff). It’s fairly quiet compared to the low D.
Holding it up and covering the holes is the part I find difficult, but I’ve been trying to play it a little every day for a while and it’s definitely getting easier.
Yeah wow, big whistle, and even bigger pictures! I think you need to resize some of them for forum use-they are gigantic.
I have an older Low B Chieftain that I like a lot. Not a hard finger stretch, and not much breath needed-well, much less than you would think it would take. It has a great tone too.
Your Shearwater is a very good value, that’s for sure. But that angle of your top hand looks very uncomfortable. Are you very tall, with long arms? My top hand is about parallel with the floor when I play the Chieftain, and I have pretty long arms.
A fair point. I was pretty lazy yesterday. I’ve scaled them down some today and edited my post.
I guess I have relatively long arms but I’m not especially tall (about 5’9"). Are you referring to how I was holding it away from my body a bit? It’s a thick metal pipe, it weighs quite a bit! Holding it out means the weight rests on my thumbs rather than trying to hold it up as it tries to fall straight down.
I’ve had a lot of trouble trying to cover that second hole, so the way I hold it has to be pretty precise for the top hand angle/placement. It’s not really comfortable but most of the strain is on my thumb.
Thanks for the advice. I’m hoping that I can just get used to playing it — my daily practice seems to be paying off and it’s getting easier. I’ve seen some people playing them with no signs of strain, so it seems like it should be possible.
If worse comes to worse I may have to go with a strap or some other aid like you suggested so I definitely will keep that in mind.
Thanks for reducing the picture size-makes it much easier to view, and it looks more normal as it would appear to the eye. Even so, some are still magnifying the whistle a lot, that makes the appearance rougher than it really is.
No, I wasn’t talking about how you hold it out, but just what I said; the angle of your wrist. Can you straighten out your wrist any more, and see if you can cover the holes like that? It might make it easier to hold and play.
I would take Tommy’s advice and make a temporary rig to see how it feels to you, and see if it helps you get a more comfortable grip on it. If you think it’s heavy, and have some trouble holding it, then you probably need some help with it. It’s an easy fix, and doesn’t cost you anything to make.
Personally, I don’t prefer offset holes, even on larger whistles, though for some, it’s the only way it can be played, depending on your hand size. But it might surprise you how you might be able to play inline holes as well or better, by just adjusting your grip sometimes. Of course, everyone is different, and has to find their own way.
Added: I also use the top hole or bottom hole (covered or partially covered) as anchors, when playing, depending on how high or low I am playing. So that helps me hold the whistle in position, without dropping it or straining to hold it. Might work for you too, though I imagine it took a little practice to get there for it to work for me.
No problem. I wanted to show the detail, but you’re right it does make the appearance look rougher than it is. Probably also partly due to the camera flash. The body of the whistle is basically like brushed aluminum.
Sorry, I am pretty bad at spatial relations. I made an attempt, but it didn’t seem to help. I could have just been doing it wrong.
Well, I don’t have any health conditions that would preclude being able to hold the whistle and some people definitely seem to be able to do it without an issue. I’m definitely grateful for the advice and will keep it in mind, but at the moment my thinking is if I use a crutch of some sort I won’t develop the ability to play without it.
I haven’t had an opportunity to try it both ways. You certainly could be right. The inline holes means the wrist has to be rotated a bit to line up the end of the pinky with those holes. Perhaps that’s what you were observing above.
I actually already do this, even on smaller whistles (mostly just for C#). It’s certainly helpful on a lot more notes with a giant like the bass A though. Playing C-natural (or the A equivalent) as [OXO XXX] can help too.
I bought a Goldie Bass A some years ago…never really took to it because of the stretch…nice haunting sound though…willing to part with it if anyone is interested…could be good for the collector type as Colin is apparently not making them anymore…I have to add the it has a bit of a bend in it as it was returned to me, from a @&%$#@#%% who decided to leave my city with my bass A…took awhile to track him down…shamed him into sending it back to me…I did post something about it when it happened…he, in his bitterness, mailed it back to me without any proper packaging…I suspect, however, that this @#^%%$^^$# just bent it on purpose because that’s how these @#%^$##*&% types roll…anyway, sorry for the rant…pm if anyone would like to have it…wasn’t looking to sell it really, this post just reminded me that I even had one kicking around somewhere.
Theobald Boehm probably didn’t envision it, but his mechanism, allowing the fingers and tone-holes to be disassociated in space, has allowed very low pitches to be made.
I would love it if a “Boehm system” Low Whistle could be made, with just the six holes and normal whistle fingering, but with the Boehm covered holes and rods and distant touches so that anyone could play it.
Now, the Bolivians figured out a long time ago how to make bass flutes without any fingerhole issues!
That would likely be a very expensive instrument but being a modern flute player, I would love to see that as well.
It would not be as simple though. Keys require pads which require replacement. If you aren’t casting your own tubes, the labor involved is intense as you can’t just drill holes and use a standard key. Are we prepared to spend a grand on a whistle? I bet you that is what it would cost at the minimum.
The makers of sub-D whistles ought to put angled necks on them, I think.
My bass whistle range from Bb to G have this bend tuning barrel / head.
The head can be rotated, so different angles can be achieved.
The bend helps a lot for reducing the stretch on these big whistles.
The whistles Bingamon and Hans were talking about don’t have keys. They’re just bass whistles. I think ScottMaurer was talking about even lower whistles — so low that actually reaching/covering holes with one’s hands would be impossible.
I think you need to resize some of them for forum use-they are gigantic.
