Brain cramp...or brilliance? YOU decide! :)

Whistle
1

So, I’ve been pondering lately…

a very dangerous buisness for me mind you

Why ARE whistle holes all different sizes??? Is it just a master plot of the crystal people to make for an interesting C&F logo? Or is there a deeper meaning?

At first, I assumed that it would have been for tuning, but wouldn’t that be instead more drectly affected by lacement, rather than overall hole diameter?

I also understand that large bore, large hole whistles tend to play louder then their smaller counterparts. That being said, wouldn’t it stand to reason that if you made a whstle with large holes towards the bell end, and decreased their size up towards the mouth piece, that you’d create a more balanced volume?

If the higher note holes were a bit smaller, they wouldn’t tend to play as loud right???INow, before I incur the wrath of all the good whistlesmiths on the board, let me state again:

I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL - NOR DO I PLAY ONE ON TV!

Just idle musings. I think I need to up my medication again! :slight_smile:

B~

2

Think in terms of playing accidentals on your whistle, e.g. F-nat. To get it, you half-hole the hole below F#; that is, you change the size of the hole. Hole placement and diameter both have an effect on pitch – along with a few other factors.

3

Both hole placement and size affect sound and pitch. In general (very general), the lower octave is more affected by the placement, and the upper octave by the size.