A thread on the flute board got me thinking has anyone ever tried a c# thumb hole to emulate ACA and BcB tight uilleann triplets. (Note though called aca the c is sharp).
I have never owned a whistle with a c nat thumb hole.
Currently if I’m doing an aca I tend to but not always play
A then c oxo ooo then a.
I also know that the actual pitch of the c is not hugely important but it would be nice to have a staccato c # effect matching the chanter.
Any thoughts?
May sound like I’m looking for a solution to problem that doesn’t exist but I thought I’d throw it out there.
Many maker offer an optional thumb hole for c natural.
Here is one of the many makers doing so as an example http://music.bracker.co/
Scroll down and you will see a photo and explanation of the c nat
Thumb hole.
I am confused as well. Do you mean a C nat thumb hole?
You play C# with all fingers off, or just the right pinky on: OOOOOO.
So why do you need something different? The top hole is the C# hole!
And why do you play AC#A with OXOOOO for C#? Most likely you get a somewhat sharp C natural with OXOOOO fingering.
PS: I actually made a high D whistle with a C# thumb hole recently. It was a custom whistle for someone who could only use her right hand fingers, plus her left hand thumb. The other left hand fingers where not able for whistle fingering. So I made a whistle which has the top C# hole a s a thumb hole for left thumb, and the other five holes for all five fingers of the right hand. The right thumb operates hole 3, hole 2 is fingered with R1, and holes 4, 5, 6 are fingered with R2, R3 and R4. She is now a very happy whistle newbee!
What might work for the O.P. is a d# thumb hole (like a recorder) with A played as normal then just open and close the thumb hole for your c#. This’ll also give alternative fingering for second octave d (oxoooo with the thumb hole open) and can be used as a vent (again like a recorder) for other second-octave notes so they play at similar volume to the lower octave. Advantageously, unlike on a recorder in the second octave, you only need to use the thumb hole when you want to, not always, so any “old habits” don’t need to be re-learnt
has anyone ever tried a c# thumb hole to emulate ACA and BcB tight uilleann triplets. (Note though called aca the c is sharp).
At this point it’s probably wise to realise that both triplets on the pipes are a rhythmic device, not a melodic one. In fact I would say the C# in them is effectively pitchless, it being played only very briefly and staccato.
Emulating these on the whistle would involve staccato tonguing of the notes to achieve the proper rhythmic effect. I would reckon on the whistle the effect can be achieved using what is available on it as is. And that is completely ignoring the question whether or not you would want to try emulate the effect to begin with and let the whistle be what it is, a whistle (but YMMV on that one).
A thumb hole that instead of playing a c nat plays a c #.
So you open it between two a notes by just lifting the thumb.
Now that I think about it though it wouldn’t work.
Maybe a c nat thumb hole would give this tight effect. I think the actual pitch of c doesn’t matter.
For instance you can be playing in g and still use a c# for the triplet on the uilleann chanter because the tightness is more important than the correct note.
On a flute you can strike the c key between two a notes.
I get a better approximation of the sound by lifting only one finger on the whistle rather than
Two between two a notes.
I think the occasional substitution of this rhythmic device for a roll sounds interesting and has merit on flute and whistle. By the tone of Gumbys post he does not which is fair enough.
Like I said in the first post probably looking for a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
(Pretty much how I’ve always felt about the c nat thumb hole).
I once handed my flute to a concertina player here in Glasgow and he let rip in this unique style based on how a concertina player might approach the tunes rather than a fluter. It was unique and interesting.
I think triplet staccato tonguing on whistle is very appropriate when playing Scottish tunes, especially pipe tunes.
Like I said in the first post probably looking for a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
(Pretty much how I’ve always felt about the c nat thumb hole).
Playing BcB can be nice using a C nat thumb hole, you just lift the thumb and put it down again.
The C natural thumb hole can help solving a number of problems associated with C natural and C sharp: you can get
a more in tune C natural
a more in tune first octave C nat
a stronger C natural, as strong as neighbouring notes
I’ve recently put a C natural thumb hole in my whistle and I’m finding it very beneficial. I’ve never been fond of cross fingering and have half holed. The only place I didn’t care for it was when I had to hold the C note for a length of time, but now I do that with the thumb hole and half hole the c for quicker durations - works really well for me, and I like the tone of the thumb holed C better than the cross holed C on my whistle.
By the tone of Gumbys post he does not which is fair enough.
Well, one part of what I was saying was that to emulate the rhythmic device these triplets are on the chanter, I don’t think you will need the C# thumb-hole. First of all because the actual pitch of the note isn’t all that important in those triplets.
But you can look at it from a stylistic point of view. My own playing has evolved towards approaching the whistle on it’s own terms, i.e. as a whistle player, not as a piper (and I consider myself a piper, first and foremost. And not much of a whislteplayer). I am generally not mad about all the triple tonguing stuff etc and wouldn’t use it in my own playing (but as I said YMMV and fair play to anyone who has a different approach).
Players of different instruments approach certain things in a different way, find different solutions to limitations set by their instrument. I feel, looking at differences between approaches from one instrument to the other, you can increase your understanding how music works, how things sit and work together within a tune.
So, yes ofcourse you can try play a whistle like a chanter or a chanter like a whistle (to an extend anyway). I like to poke a bit at that notion and ask ‘but why would you want to?’.
