I have a problem with one of my songs that has several octave jumps on the base note. From low octave to high works fine, but the jump from high to low can be a real struggle, and it only happens on the base note from a sustained high to a low. The only way I can make the jump is if I suck in a strong breath before hitting the low note, which does terrible things to the phrasing, to say nothing of it’s being audible. It happens mostly on my Gen D’s (one of which I tweaked and improved the low octave but lost most of the high - oh, well), and the other, which is actually a pretty good one. It sometimes happens on my Walton brass high D, but not often.
The same thing happens when I play the scale in a downward direction - after the second-octave D, I can’t break down to the lower octave for the rest of the scale.
Maybe it’s a breath control problem, but I don’t really think so since it happens only on this one jump and after octave-D, and I wonder if the resonance stiffens the fipple blade or something. Anybody got any ideas how I can solve this problem? I love the song (Hi Lili, Hi-Lo), but it’s irritating to play.
I think you’re right, it’s a breath thing. The pause before the note makes sense, actually. Think of air moving through a hose under pressure. If the pressure is low, it’s easy to rapidly increase it by just turning up the pump. But if under high pressure, suddenly reducing pressure is more problematic. There is a slight but noticeable gap between when you turn down the pump pressure and the residual air still in the line comes down. In this cse, the pump is your lung and the line is your throat, lips and the fipple of the whistle.
I’m not very familiar with the song in question, but instead of a heavy breath, maybe you could add in a very brief pause before dropping to the lower note.
I think in part it can be the whistle, as you suggest, and in part it can be the player ( breath control ), as you also suggest. I have a few Overtons that break cleanly between octaves, both going up and down, without tonguing – just as though one flipped a switch. Other whistles I have do octave jumps rather more messily, but I find that I can improve the performance with practice. I find that descending jumps are more difficult for me that ascending ones.
A technique I sometimes use is to interrupt the flow of air to the whistle, not by tonguing, but by momentarily suspending the pressure on my lungs. This helps the downward octave jump without the more staccato effect of tonguing, and is useful in other ways as well. Alternatively, one could use the throat, rather like saying the word “cake,” for an intermediate effect.
An old flute player’s trick…when you hit the low note, try slapping your ring finger left hand (or any other handy finger) down as you hit the low note.
I have found this helps it to speak quickly and clearly.
Also this can sound like the grace into a “hard D” on the pipes which never hurts.
The fact that you tell us that you can make the downward jump easily after sucking in sharply first leads me to think that your windway may be clogging with moisture from your breath. Sucking in sharply is the BEST way to clear this-- better than the finger-over-the-Window-and-blow technique. Blowing may actually add MORE moisture, and you can do the suck trick right in the middle of a tune.
The other replies are all good advice for low notes, which can indeed be tricky on some whistles.
I would have to agree. The Lower notes are more sensitive to distortions in the windsheet caused by condensation on the windway surface. You’ll notice clogging more on the low notes before the high notes cut out.