Three different whistle youtubers have stated that their favorite whistles are Low F, and that made me curious. For those with a wide enough range to have an informed opinion on it, what is your favorite key of whistle?
The professional’s answer might be “whatever key I need for the gig.”
All of my whistles from Bass A to High Eb are voiced pretty much the same, respond the same way, are tuned the same way etc so those performance factors wouldn’t be part of it.
If it’s that “stranded on a desert island” thing I suppose I’d want one in the middle somewhere, standing between the gravitas of the lower sizes and the birdlike sweetness of the higher sizes, the Mezzo sizes, like the F you mention.
It’s tough. Would it be my Goldie F? My Alba E-natural? My wonderful Generation-based A?
One of those.
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Bb, hands down.
It’s a sweet spot for the tin whistle, but also a sweet spot for Irish music.
And uilleann pipes in Bb are nothing short of majestic. If having a purring cat on your lap feels calming, someone starting the drones of a Bb set is like being wedged between two purring cheetahs.
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Bb and low D.
Bb is accurate for Breton tunes - it sounds close to the bombard. Low D is OK to emulate the wooden flûte for Irish tunes.
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I’m rather enjoying my Goldie Low-D whistle. It’s more challenging to play, but rewarding.
I’ve recently been looking at the Kerry Optima Mezzo whistles. I They all have a 3/4 inch (19mm) bore from high D down to F, which would make them all different from each other. I’m intrigued by that. I don’t have a “set” of any whistles, just whatever I’ve picked up over the years.
I’m under the impression that there’s something trendy about F whistles right now, which might be the answer to the OP’s question. Just something new that youtubers are latched onto.
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