Dixon high d whistle with brass tuning slide--tuning?

Whistle
1

I’m still pretty new at the whistle, and need some advise. I’ve been playing my new Dixon whistle for a couple of weeks, and am having trouble with the tuning between octaves. When the first octave is in tune, the second octave is very sharp. I can bring the high g to about 15 cents sharp, but then the tone breaks and the note goes to the first octave. What is the trick to playing this whistle in tune? I don’t have this problem on my cheap whistles. Thanks for any advice.

2

Hello a.mellifera. Apparently Dixons have a reputation for some inconsistancy in the intonation department. I have got three of them and while I havn’t gotten round to testing them with a tuner, I can detect a bit of sharpness in the second octave by ear on one of them. Since I don’t usually play with anyone else, I don’t find it to be a problem. The overall tone of the whistle is so nice I figure I could just choose to not worry about it. However Tony Dixon has a reputation for excellent customer service so while I can’t speak for him, I have heard that he sometimes sends out replacement whistles to people who are not happy with his products. It’s possible the whistle you have is a bit more “out” than mine is. You could also adjust the slide to where the first octave is a little flat and have a working comprimise. Best of luck.

3

Thanks for your reply. I like the sound of the whistle and enjoy playing it, so I’m not ready to give up on it yet. I played with a friend yesterday, and it sounded okay when played with his guitar, but when he played his flute, I could hear how off I was! Time for more practice and experimenting, I guess.

4

The Dixon I played I liked well. It was tunable with aluminum body. But, it did take some drastic wind pressure requirements. I could play it in tune by tuning the bottom octave, which has less tuning variation via breath, and breath lightly on the second octave. When playing lightly on the second octave, I could play it in tune. I enjoyed playing the Dixon I tried. Just watch out for the breath requirements for tuning. Good luck and don’t give-up.

-Casey