I have a question for those of you who sometimes play whistle duets with other whistlers or who layer whistle parts when recording. Do you choose whistles with the same tonal (and overtonal) characteristics for the job or do you choose whistles with different characteristics.
In case my question isn’t yet clear, let me illustrate. Suppose you have three harmonised whistle parts and you are playing in D. It would probably make sense to choose a high D, low G and low D whistle to play those parts. In that case my question comes to this: would you choose perhaps all Overtons or all Burkes? Or would you choose a mixture: say, Abell high D, Burke low G and Copeland low D?
I’ve adopted both approaches with good results. In particular, I love ‘Overton choirs’ and have nine Overtons in part to have this effect available in all keys I commonly play in. I find Overtons to be very consistent in tonal characteristics and pretty much instantly recognisable, regardless of key. But I also find the combining of a pure higher whistle with a very overtone heavy lower whistle gives very pleasing results: Burke low G with Copeland low D, for example.
None from my own playing, but I heard Mary Bergin & Joe McKenna (her brother-in-law, btw) play a duet set in concert: Contentment is Wealth into Mooncoin Jig. Joe played an Overton A and Mary played a Copeland A (the first Copeland A every made, btw, given to Mary by a mutual friend of ours). The two whistle sound gorgeous together. Just stunning because the sandy Overton sound and the flutey Copeland sound blend astonishingly well. I had the sense that it sounded better than it might have on two Copelands or even on two Overtons (near heresy, I know).
The track is also on Joe McKenna’s “The Irish Low Whistle” CD, where it stands out among the other tracks some of wich are good and some of which are a bit disappointing (or, in the case of Echo’s Calling, positively annoying).
Usually play duets on Bb or F whistle if possible, and I think most of the locals (including me) prefer playing on two similiar whistles to avoid brand-to-brand tuning issues. Note that we do not usually play harmonized parts; both musicians play the melody, as is standard for Irish music.
Occasionally we will play duets on whistles in different keys, ie D and A whistles, playing tunes that can be played on either instrument…
In recordings I have mostly gone with high and low D’s. From my collection, an Overton Low D and a Burke Wide Bore Brass have worked well in recordings where I play both parts. As for live duets, I agree that a D and an A work for some tunes. But I have done a lot more with two D’s. A friend has an Abell. It has a very different tone than my Burke, but the two blend well when she plays duets with me. My Dixon Low D also sounds good with the Abell.
I prefer whistles with similar qualities for unison playing, but widely different qualities for harmony playing. When recording, I like to use my Oak or Gen D as the melody whistle and my Dixon G or A as the harmony whistle. I have such an example on the Clips Page (Skye Boat Song).
Just a matter of taste, but I’d combine extreme and opposite characters, letting the high voice with the “purest” sound. For instance Overton Low and Copeland high. Or Copeland low and the purest wooden high D I could find. Of course, separate mike pick-up might nbe needed to balance the volumes.
The more the characters will be distinct, the more you’ll get of a polyphonic mood–IMHO. Now you MAY want it sound like a four-hands on the same piano, then the choice would be just the opposite…