Sale pending
I’m looking to sell a Hammy Hamilton low D whistle that I bought several months ago from aphillips. I’ve dabbled with it a bit, but it is just too large a reach for me. It has a nice rich tone and requires medium back pressure. I’d like what I paid, which was $180, and I’ll cover shipping to the US. I’d also be willing to trade for a Goldie/Overton low D or A, or a Water Weasel in A.
Photo here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BO8G65kBixG/
More photos available, just email me.
Ah too bad it’s not working for you! They are big whistles.
Just a note; to my medium sized hands the Hamilton was actually an easier reach than the Burke Viper I had at the same time.
Good luck with the sale and I hope you find something you love!
Thanks! I’m not sure I’ll even be able to play a low whistle well. I have large hands for a woman, but I just couldn’t find a way to hold it that didn’t stretch my fingers into a cramp. Its too nice of a whistle not to be played though, so I’m hoping someone else can give it the attention it deserves.
You do surprise me. Checking the photo the holes don’t look that far apart to me and if you have large hands for a woman . . .! I may be stating the obvious but have you tried using piper’s grip!
I have, and I’m very well aware that a good portion of it is me and my lack of practice with it! I have a really hard time sealing the lower two holes, as there doesn’t seem to be enough “padding” on my fingers to seal them without gripping the whistle more tightly than it seems I should. I can occasionally find an ideal angle and position, but I miss more often than not.
I’m still a newbie to the whistle and have been taking lessons for about a year now. I’ve been concentrating on high D and want to start working a bit harder on the A. So… My lack of ability for the reach on the low D is probably more impatience than anything else.
Ironically gripping the whistle and pressing down hard on the holes makes it harder to seal them. Cover the holes lightly for better sealing. Dry skin can also make a difference. Moisturising the hands before playing can make a world of difference.
I found low D very hard when I first started. I thought it was the stretch. I just couldn’t seem to seal the holes. What I did was to try, every evening, to play a G as a long tone and then move down G - F#, playing the F# as a long tone. I probably did that, and only that, for about a week. Then I had a week of doing the same thing, followed by playing F# - E, playing the E as a long tone. The following week I went down as low as the low D. during all of that time, I didn’t try to play any tunes at all.
Then, for about a year, I’d start my practice with the long tones mentioned, but then go on to tunes. Whenever I was having a problem sealing tone holes, I’d go back to the long tones and slow practice of sealing the bottom notes. I don’t have any problem sealing holes now. I have longish fingers and I’m a man, but it’s hard for everybody at first, I think (well, it was for me!). It’s just a question of sticking at it.
As an aside, I quite often found that when low notes broke, that is, made nasty squeaking noises or didn’t sound properly in some way or other, it wasn’t necessarily the right hand fingers which were at fault; quite often there was a leak somewhere higher up. For me, this was particularly true of the second finger on the left hand. But maybe that’s just me.
Thanks so much for the suggestions. I do want to try a low D again sometime in the future, and your ideas also can be applied to the A whistle (which I also initially found a lot more difficult than I do now, but still have my moments with). My teacher’s main advice is to slow everything down to a snail’s pace until I can play smoothly and accurately, and the speed happens all on its own. I’m learning patience…
And… I can’t seem to edit my original, but the Hammy has been sold.