I just got a Generation nickle Bflat whistle and love the sound in the lower register BUT when I go above C it sounds very “airy” (kinda like a brass whistle and not the lovely clear tones of the lower register at all) and you can sometimes barely hear the lower register of the high note sounding at the same time. I took the top off to check for extra bits of plastic but it looks clear to me. Is this the way it should sound on the higher notes? Is there something I should do to try to correct this?..or is it just me?
[ This Message was edited by: cowtime on 2001-11-04 18:28 ]
Yikes. I had the exact same problem with my Gen Bb. Couldn’t seem to correct it. If only it could sound as good in the upper octave as it does in the lower!
I came across a used Silkstone Bb at about this time, which I’m very happy with by the way. My Generation sits on my desk awaiting a miraculous recovery.
You can use the “Sticky-Tack” tweak that is very often discussed on the board. Do check out Dale’s instruction for tweaking cheap whistles on the main C&F site, or do a search for “tweaking” on the board for instructions. Should improve the sound in upper register pretty much.
I’m sure they’ve changed the mold - I’ve come across a number of newish Generation Bbs with this exact same problem. This is exasperating because you always used to be able to rely on these whistles being good. I have a five or six old ones, none of which have been tweaked at all and all of which vary from very good to excellent.
I have tried tweaking two of the newer raspy ones. General cleaning up and blue tack should help. I took a knife to the blade and improved one (belonging to a friend) to the point where the problem was almost cured, just a bit of raspy harmonics left on the high B. I did this by taking the sharp edge off the “ramp” on the blade. On mine though I went too far and ruined it altogether. (I’m going to attempt to rescue this one by peforming a “ramp extension” - what raindog described in an interesting post called “the ultimate whistle tweak” a few pages back - when I get around to it.)
The plus side is that Generation seem to have changed the mold for the D and Eb whistles also. A much greater proportion of these whistles now seem to be OK. I’ve had very good results recently getting whistles for students - just removing the head and siting it a little further back (where it should be) improves the sound instantly. Then cleaning up and blue-tacking is about all that is needed.
Unfortunately,the Generation Bb designed the bore larger to move the toneholes closer together. This helps with the finger placement problem at the expense of upper octave quality.
Larger cylindrical whistle designs can benefit by using the Renaissance Recorder as a model. It had a large cylindrical bore but used a narrow windway and a wide but short voicing window to reduce energy loss in the upper octave.
The “Labium Ramp Extention” is a means of reducing the voicing window like the Renaissance Recorder without changing the windway size causing clogs. It will lower the entire scale of the instrument but a player will unconsciously correct this by blowing harder and raising pitch. This tweak is far from a well designed voicing,but will be of help.
Covering the lower toneholes when playing upper notes will also help “firm up” those high notes.
On 2001-11-05 15:16, Thomas-Hastay wrote:
Unfortunately,the Generation Bb designed the bore larger to move the toneholes closer together.
So when did this change happen Thomas? I have just compared my new raspy Generation Bb bought a couple of weeks ago with an old model bought 20 years ago and the tubing, hole placement, and hole size appear to be identical.
My solution to the problem was to retune the entire whistle using the Eb or 4th hole as my reference tone together with moving the fipple back to adjust the bell note for a more solid note when blown hard in both octaves.I have increased overaul hole spacing, thus increasing hole diameter, resulting in a reduction of raspiness and a sweeter tone in the higher octave.I’m not sure why but larger holes even on a Gen D give a sweeter,less raspy tone plus a little extra volume to boot. Cheers, Mike
My new hole configeration requires oxxxxo for G#(Cnat on D),a little strange but very nicely in tune, particularly for slow stuff.
[ This Message was edited by: mike.r on 2001-11-05 19:42 ]
Sorry, I guess I should have been more clear. I should have said “The Generation Bb was designed larger than other brands of Bb whistles” not Re-designed by Generation with a larger bore.
One of the problems with internet communication is lack of emotional expression in text and a tenency of the reader to “Read into” text, literal and/or multiple meanings to a statement.
example: “She was a wicked woman” could mean that she was bewitchingly beautiful/evil of nature/sensual and seductive etc.
It is best to “assume” the best of a statement rather than the worst.
Thomas thank you. I assumed you were responding to my observations about changes in Generation Bb whistles.
Well now that you have cleared up the misunderstanding, may I ask why you used the word “unfortunately”? If the size of the bore used in Generation Bbs, old and new, were unfortunate, why do they sound so good?
I might add that a Sindt Bb, which also sounds fine. I have appears to have a slightly larger bore than the Generation. I had a Chieftain Bb in my possession for a while - don’t have it now, can’t check - and I’m certain that had a considerably larger bore than either of these two. And it played just fine…
