I just got my first alto G whistle and I love it. But it made me realize that I wish I also had a high G whistle to complement it. I like the sound of my Generation F and G whistles, but while I can play the F whistle without any problems, my fingers get a little too crowded on the G whistle. So are there other options than Generation? Which makers have high G whistles? And which is the one with the widest space between the holes? Can somebody tell me?
The high G is the exception where I recommend playing with arched/curved fingers, so that your fingertips come down onto the holes, instead of flat across. This takes advantage of the narrowing taper of the fingers toward the tips, and gives you a bit more room without crowding. It’s still a tight squeeze, though.
Ecohawk is right. You can’t change the physics. High G whistles are difficult for most of us to finger. The Generation is a bargain too. Mike Burke does offer a high G whistle in either aluminum or brass but is does cost about 30 times what you’d typically pay for a Gen. Glenn Schultz made a few Thin Weasels in high G.
Hey true art hurts. Have you considered shaving the skin and muscle off the sides of your fingers to make them fit better? What about modifying the Chinese foot binding to finger binding to make your fingers more slender? What about bionic attachments a la Edward Scissorhands? There are options don’t give up. Once you figure this out, you can work on figuring out why anyone would want to hear a high G whistle being played.
I’ve got two ocarinas in G that play an one octave higher than a high G whistle and another that is in C another fourth higher!
I’ve also got a garklein recorder which is in C above the high G whistle. Its finger holes are not in line, but the ones for the left hand are slightly moved to the left and the ones for the right hand are moved to the right. Helps a bit, but of course a garklein recorder is even smaller than a high G whistle, so it still is pretty uncomfortable to play, at least for my fingers. But I bet on a high G whistle this would help.
I have a Susato G sopranino recorder, which lets me play pipe tunes using something similar to Highland pipe chanter fingering at a volume that will cut through a roomful of fiddles - that is, its fingering mostly matches a sopranino whistle in A. I have fairly average hands for a man and don’t have a problem with the spacing. (I have more problem with a garklein recorder but I can manage that with a bit of thought).
I also have a wooden Hopf G sopranino renaissance recorder with a much nicer tone and which can play comfortably up the very top of the standard recorder range. It was originally made for Michael Copley of the Cambridge Buskers. He would occasionally blow it with his nose for theatrical effect.
I don’t use either the Susato or the Hopf much any more - a Menaglio soprano G ocarina is even more assertive at the same pitch. The finger spacing for that is a bit wider than the recorders.
I’ve got a Generation high G. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Cost me 50p and I must have played it for a total of about ten minutes in ten years.
I have one of those Glenn Schultz High G whistles and it’s a wonder of the woodturner and machinist’s art. The walls are amazingly thin. Glenn couldn’t find stainless steel tubing with the right dimensions for tuning slides and fittings so he turned and bored his own.
The sound is wonderfully sweet and birdlike, and not at all shrill, believe it or not.
To address the original question, though, the finger spacing is still very tight. Can’t mess with physics.
If Susato can make keys on a large low whistle to alleviate the reach problem
maybe they can also do on tiny Tin whistle, my imagination is there are joints connected to the small holes and keys are elevated few millimeters. The only problem will be half-holing.
You can also try the O-ring technique that I have been doing.
Simply find an O-ring that is not too tight and not too loose, just enough to narrow your finger and wear one on each of your finger pads near the joint before the second pads. It narrows the finger by a few millimeters.
It looks like a finger belt.
Similar concept like that of a foot binding… but on temporary.
It feels a little stressful though as your blood circulation is affected on your fingers, but i find it effective.
You can also wear thimble on all fingers and remove them before you play.
Another approach for more comfortable finger spacing was used by Frans Twaalfhoven for his “piccolino” recorder, in F an octave above a sopranino. He used very steeply angled holes, with the external openings overlapped between the two hands. It had feasible spacing and normal fingering. If it had a two-octave range it might have been the highest-pitched wind instrument ever made.
Twaalfhoven has retired and I don’t think anybody else has ever made a recorder that high-pitched, but Giorgio Pacchioni makes an “ocarinetta” in F at the same pitch (range of a tenth, I think).
Hans Rotter makes one, too. (With full 10 hole range.) I’ve tried it, but not only is it a little bit too small for my fingers, but also too loud for my taste. But I bet you would love it!
Pendant fingering is much better for small ocarinas. The Noble Mini is completely easy to finger and plays in C one octave higher than a garklein recorder or a Soprano C ocarina, or, since this is a whistle forum: two octaves higher than a C tin whistle.
