I just want to announce that I received a D/C Modal Whistle from Colin Goldie last month and it is awesome! Not only does it sound and play brilliantly, it’s a great icebreaker/conversation piece at sessions (“Does that whistle have an extra hole??”)
Its a very good concept. For years I have been playing the bottom C by partly covering the end tube but it was only a matter of time before someone did the obvious thing and extend/add a hole.
doesn’t brewerpaul (busman whistles) do that with his D+ high d whistle? kinda cool to watch the evolution of an instrument.
be well,
jim
What is Colin asking for one?
Modal Soprano D/C tunable
€181,00 excl. 19% VAT
€215,39 incl. 19% VAT
phew, im glad im not the only one who does that!
Apparently this was an “official” part of the flageolet technique, when that was a popular instrument in days gone by, so it seems I just reinvented the trick 30 years ago by accident!
OK, here’s a question then for you end-stoppers; something I’ve never understood.
When you’re playing a tune at speed, how in the world do you actually make use of this technique, unless you have fingers like a tarsier? Take a phrase like the opening of The Graf Spee (in C): |E2CD EG~G2|AGcG AGcG|EDCD EG~G2|AGcG EDD2|
I have normal large-ish hands. And on a D whistle there’s no way I can extend my little pinkie finger to end-stop those lower C-nats without twisting my hand completely out of position. And even then, with no speed of movement or accuracy of pitch.
What’s the secret of proper pinkie prestidigitation I’m missing? 
I seem to find it quite easy.
Maybe if you play with your fingers flatter than I do it might be more difficult.
The pitch is also affected by how you hard you blow so its a mixture of the two.
Its a useful technique to have.
Thanks, Gordon. Yes, I normally do play fairly flat fingered. The thing is … I can do exactly what you do in your video, no problem at all. But the note produced is a C#, not a C. And playing even that in context and at speed, and not as a demo, seems iffy to me - except perhaps in a slow air. So I’m still not convinced it’s terribly useful. But I guess I’d have to hear/see it done.
I think it depends on the whistle.
I find it almost impossible to do on the Clarke type; easier on the feadog and very easy on the wider Dixon one.
If you had one of those wooden whistles with the bell shaped end (like the Glenluce ones or the Tamlinn ones) I bet it would be even easier.
It’s a technique used by some recorder players to extend the range of notes available in the third octave.
The usual method is to stop the end of the instrument on your leg just above the knee - difficult if you are playing standing up - and you do have to be careful not to jam the instrument into your teeth 
It usually to lowers the pitch by a semitone rather than a whole tone but as an earlier post said, it probably depends on the instrument - and also the note being stopped. I have noticed Uillean pipers often use the same technique - presumably for similar reasons - at least they don’t have to worry about their teeth 
Mostly for very different reasons, actually. End stopped pipes are played with closed fingering to control articulation, though there are also notes which depend on the chanter being on or off the leg.
Yes, I’m familiar with the recorder technique. IIRC, I’ve also seen recorders with end-stop keys for that purpose. Probably invented by the guy with the missing teeth.
Next step. Someone will add a thumbhole, and as a result invent a brand new instrument. He’ll probably call it the “recorder”, don’t know why.
More likely you would end up with a flageolet:
http://www.flageolets.com/articles/flageolet_family.php
The interesting things is that flageolets usually have a barrel section before the fipple which acts a reservoir with air blown in through a small tube that resembles a double reed. By doing this it smooths out the air flow across the blade and removes a lot of potential chiff making it a very sweet sounding instrument.
They have done… The whistle in question has a thumb hole for the bottom hand, which gives you an Fnat.