Could someone out there advise on the best whistle for playing tunes in the key of D minor? I have tried alternate fingerings for my D whistles, but there has to be a better way. Do I need a whistle in the key of F?? Many thanks.
A C whistle will give you a D minor. Play it like the E minor on a D whistle.
What Minor scale do you mean ; if its the “natural”, a.k.a. Eolian, it is easy on a C whistle.
Now if you mean also harmonic (classic) or melodic minors, then you might find the fingering of C# hard to manage. In this case you may be better off with a low F whistle.
Depending again on precisely which minor scale you would be playing, a low G is another possibility. (Corresponds to play in Am on a D whistle.)
On 2002-11-03 21:23, Wombat wrote:
Depending again on precisely which minor scale you would be playing, a low G is another possibility. (Corresponds to play in Am on a D whistle.)
True, Doric is minor, too. But then, if Doña tried to play it on her D whistle, maybe she does not need to go far below the D, and could also play Doric D on a C whistle.
Or recorder 
which reminds me that Sweet offers a D with three keys which would solve any minority discrimination. True, he doesn’t exactly offer it, but if one whistle replaces several ?
http://www.sweetheartflute.com/whistles.html
\
BbZH
[ This Message was edited by: Zubivka on 2002-11-03 22:13 ]
On 2002-11-03 21:58, Zubivka wrote:
On 2002-11-03 21:23, Wombat wrote:
Depending again on precisely which minor scale you would be playing, a low G is another possibility. (Corresponds to play in Am on a D whistle.)True, Doric is minor, too. But then, if Doña tried to play it on her D whistle, maybe she does not need to go far below the D, and could also play Doric D on a C whistle.
Or recorder >
http://www.sweetheartflute.com/whistles.html
Quite so. I have a strong feeling that it won’t be long before I explore the world of chromatic whistles. I’ll keep Sweet in mind but I think it’s just about time to have a word with a Mr.Colin Goldie. I like to be able to play jazzy stuff on whistle and the more difficult notes to half-hole make that a nightmare. I want to be able to play chromatic runs that are bang in tune and as fast as I could play them on saxophone. (I want a lot of things but that’s enough to be going on with for one post.)
[ This Message was edited by: Wombat on 2002-11-03 22:47 ]
On 2002-11-03 22:45, Wombat wrote:
I want to be able to play chromatic runs that are bang in tune and as fast as I could play them on saxophone. (I want a lot of things but that’s enough to be going on with for one post.)
Did you ever try to stick a whistle fipple into a sax instead of its mouthpiece ? Seriously, what happens ?
On 2002-11-04 05:17, Zubivka wrote:
On 2002-11-03 22:45, Wombat wrote:
I want to be able to play chromatic runs that are bang in tune and as fast as I could play them on saxophone. (I want a lot of things but that’s enough to be going on with for one post.)Did you ever try to stick a whistle fipple into a sax instead of its mouthpiece ? Seriously, what happens ?
I’d hate to think what happens, Zub. Seriously, no, but I imagine you could get a seal between a mouthpiece for a rather low whistle and a soprano sax. I’ve been told that you can put a fipple mouthpiece on a concert flute but I don’t know what would be required to make it playable. Seems like a good idea to me since one reason some of us don’t play flute is that developing and maintaining the right embouchure takes too much work.
On 2002-11-04 07:51, Wombat wrote:
I’ve been told that you can put a fipple mouthpiece on a concert flute but I don’t know what would be required to make it playable. Seems like a good idea to me since one reason some of us don’t play flute is that developing and maintaining the right embouchure takes too much work.
I’ve always been afraid developing the embouchure evolvez in fome kind off a lifp. Fe worss if itss cocobolo 
Regarding my whistlophone fancy, I just wondered if one could fill the air column. Maybe with a bag and bellows, for a real Union Garglophone ?
On 2002-11-04 08:37, Zubivka wrote:
On 2002-11-04 07:51, Wombat wrote:
I’ve been told that you can put a fipple mouthpiece on a concert flute but I don’t know what would be required to make it playable. Seems like a good idea to me since one reason some of us don’t play flute is that developing and maintaining the right embouchure takes too much work.I’ve always been afraid developing the embouchure evolvez in fome kind off a lifp. Fe worss if itss cocobolo >
Regarding my whistlophone fancy, I just wondered if one could fill the air column. Maybe with a bag and bellows, for a real Union Garglophone ?
Regarding lithping, never forget what happened to poor Micky Mouthpiece, the lithping WhOAdent. His problem was rum and cocobolo as I remember. And Disney had him working for the Yankee dollar for years. As for your fipplophonic fantasy, I have no idea whether it would play in tune. But then that was just optional wasn’t it Zub?
On 2002-11-04 08:59, Wombat wrote:
On 2002-11-04 08:37, Zubivka wrote:
On 2002-11-04 07:51, Wombat wrote:
I’ve been told that you can put a fipple mouthpiece on a concert flute but I don’t know what would be required to make it playable. Seems like a good idea to me since one reason some of us don’t play flute is that developing and maintaining the right embouchure takes too much work.I’ve always been afraid developing the embouchure evolvez in fome kind off a lifp. Fe worss if itss cocobolo >
Regarding my whistlophone fancy, I just wondered if one could fill the air column. Maybe with a bag and bellows, for a real Union Garglophone ?
Regarding lithping, never forget what happened to poor Micky Mouthpiece, the lithping WhOAdent. His problem was rum and cocobolo as I remember. And Disney had him working for the Yankee dollar for years. As for your fipplophonic fantasy, I have no idea whether it would play in tune. But then that was just optional wasn’t it Zub?
lithp from rum-coco ? Great for slurs!
In tune? When in trouble, play solo, pretend you’re playing an Alban Berg transcription. Or late Debussy hexatonic scale C-D-E-Gb-Ab-Bb). The trick is quoting a weird tuning fork, like (100 *Pi) Hz for a “transcendental” scale.
BbZH
(edited for the cutie Pi)
[ This Message was edited by: Zubivka on 2002-11-04 10:09 ]
Thanks to all for your help. Sometimes I have trouble with the concept that whistles, unlike dulcimers, can’t be retuned on the spot. I dusted off my Generation C and have no trouble playing in Dorian of C. Problem solved!
Thanks to all for your help. Sometimes I have trouble with the concept that whistles, unlike dulcimers, can’t be retuned on the spot. I dusted off my Generation C and have no trouble playing in Dorian of C. Problem solved!