E whistle??

Whistle
1

Do any makers besides shaw and susato make E whistles? Rare key, but I’m finding it more and more necessary now that the band I’m in plays quite a few songs in E and not to mention, playing in A would be a breeze, without busting my budget for a keyed flute/low E. SO, anyone have any suggestions, or could point me to a past thread about this.
On a side note, why exactly are they so rare? , while Eb which seems to be odder to me, is relatively more common

2

Cough, cough. (Whistles in A too, by the way)
A lot of singers like E.

3

Just a note on the Eb thing, when I was much younger, I learnt to play in a fife and drum band. We used Bb and Eb instruments, mainly learning military tunes, (not so long after WW2). It was always my supposition that we used those keys to have the ability to play with brass bands using our instruments in common keys and playing a common repetoir.
There seems there is a story doing the rounds that certain sessions in Eire have switched to Eb in an attempt to keep out interlopers who turn up with D’s. An urban myth?

4

Colin Goldie makes great low E whistles. I have a standard and a narrow bore one, if anything I prefer the narrow bore. It’s also an easy whistle to play.

5

Dixon

6

I have a Bernard Overton Low E that plays great.

Yes it’s a very useful key. I had one studio gig were everything had to be played on either an E or an Eb.

The composer had contacted me before he had put everything in stone and I told him that for the uilleann pipes and my nicest low whistle (MK) he would have to have everything in one or two sharps.

Well I showed up on the day and in typical fashion the composer had forgot all that I had told him and everything was in four flats, or four sharps! So I had to do everything on Susatos, the only Low E and Low Eb I had at that time.

During one lull I was noodling on my MK Low D and the composer yelled “I like that one! Why don’t you use that one?”

“Because it plays in one sharp or two sharps, like I told you last week. The guy who made this one doesn’t even make them in four sharps or four flats.” :swear:

7

Guitar players like the key of E. It feels like home to many of them. So I find a lot of use for an E whistle. I have used the Susato high and low E’s in the past. Over time I replaced both of those with Burkes. The Burke high E is really sweet. Another whistle that I use more than I would have guessed is a B whistle and that is usually to play support for songs in the key of E as well. If you are feeling industrious you could make an E whistle yourself either from scratch or by modifying something like a Gen Eb or make a B whistle from a Gen Bb or maybe a Gen C. I’m still looking for the thread that explains how to go about the Gen conversion. Maybe Pancelticpiper can speak to that as I think recall he may have done that himself for a Gen-like B whistle.

Here’s what I found on the B whistle mod so far:

Feadoggie

8

Howard too:

http://www.bigwhistle.co.uk/shop_results.asp?search=2&maker=*&highlow=1&key=12&tunable=2&cat=*&GO=GO+�

9

Lots of makers out there offering low E whistles, if that is what you’re after. Chieftain, Reviol, Overton, Burke, Susato, among others like Syn, etc. Take your pick, and try one in your price range. Phil Hardy (Kerrywhistles.com) offers some nice package deals on the lows, as well as Maurice Reviol’s one head and various bodies deals as well.

Have a blast!

10

Susato high E (VSB):

http://www.whistlethis.com/index.php?content=YkdsemRHVnU%3D&utid=TXpZPQ%3D%3D

11

Any particular problem with a Shaw E? I have one, and like it a lot. It’s a wee sweetie. Inexpensive, too.

12

hmm i guess the same could work for Eb to E as well? how are generation Eb though? it puzzles me though, that the bottom part has to be removed as well, and that it wouldn’t mess up the whistle’s tuning with itself

13

i think i read somewhere that they need quite a lot of breath, dunno if i just made that up in my head though XD.

14

If you want to give it a try, Pipe-maker Nick Whitmer has detailed instructions on his website for making an E whistle out of a Generation F. Here’s a link to his site: http://mysite.verizon.net/nwhitmer/index.htm

It’s what Angus MacGyver would do, with a swiss army knife and duct tape of course :smiley:

15

Not being tuneable might be an issue if you’re intending to play with others.

16

Good point.

Hey, doesn’t the Dixon Trad come in E? Pretty sure it does.

17

I made a Generation C# out of a C and a B out of a Bb. The same approach would work for making an E out of an Eb.

  1. chop the tube at the top until the upper-hand notes are in tune in the new target key. Usually
    xxx ooo
    xxo ooo
    xoo ooo
    oxx ooo
    will all be close together and shouldn’t need any further adjustment.

Next chop the bottom until xxx xxx is in tune in the new target key. What you’ll now find is that xxx xxo and xxx xoo are flat and these two holes will have to be carved out quite a bit. My Gen C# and B play great.

To go lower you have to add tubing. I made a Gen A out of a Bb by making a new body. It plays great too.

Here they all are, Generations in A, Bb, B, C, C#, D, Eb, and F. That Gen Bb was horrid and I have a terrific Freeman Gen Bb now.

18

Um yes. ever get that sense of deja vu?

19

Sorry, I’m spectacularly dopey today!

20

No prob, it is Friday after all :slight_smile: