Taking a look around at recorders (I know, bad me) I noticed that the 7th hole on a lot of them is really 2 holes to aid in half hole-ing. Now when I try to half hole on my whistle, it sounds like my cat’s tail is caught in my fipple. So to aid those of us who are not half hole proficient, has anyone built one or know of whistles out there that have double 6th and 5th holes?
If I build one, do the hole placement rules apply to two holes? I assume one would have to place the two holes on a line following the circumference of the whistle instead of along the length.
I have the notion of drilling the first hole to hit the half step note first, then drilling the second of the holes to size to hit the whole step. Anybody see a problem with this?
I know having double holes would work in the first octave, and theoretically should work in the second octave. Personally, I don’t even want to hit the 3rd octave on my standard D (some notes should just not be hit.)
Thanks
Vilkas
It can be tricky making double holes. If the hole is too small it might not sound clearly.
If you’re brave, you might want to try this:
If you drill another hole lower than the lowest hole, you can get the D# note and solder a water key from an old trumpet so that the hole is a normally closed hole.
[ This Message was edited by: Daniel_Bingamon on 2002-05-06 21:26 ]
On 2002-05-06 13:37, MrTuffPaws wrote:
So to aid those of us who are not half hole proficient, has anyone built one or know of whistles out there that have double 6th and 5th holes?
And you never will be half hole proficient if you go this way.There was a discussion on this not so long ago,posted by Raindog if I remember.If you are looking for a whistle with semi-chromatic possibility,s I can recommend a Susato Dublin for the most accurate cross fingered semi tone options.
Peace,Mike
Give the double holes a try, but I think half holing the regular way is the best in the long run ( and I’m a recorder player too). Celtic music doesn’t need Eb very often and the low F nat that much either. On a Soprano recorder, (closest to a D whistle), the double holes give you a C# which IS used fairly often and the Eb which also appears in Baroque music quite a lot. This is why the double holes are there. Good luck.
About half-holing. I have found its more like 1/4 holing. The less uncovered the better. When playing fast you just kind of
wiggle you finger off the hole a little
and it (the F I am thinking of) will come out
sounding o.k. G# (A flat) also is one I use
and also just a little wiggle seems to work
best. I hope it works for you…much easier
than transposing to another key and playing
it on another whistle for me.
Lolly