Hello! I’ve started playing the pennywhistle. I play fiddle and a little hammered dulcimer, so this is the first wind instrument I’ve tried (other than a little harmonica). I’ve got a Susato high D and a Mel Bay Clark high D whistle.
The low octaves sound fine. The high octaves are difficult to hit beyond F#, and get screechy when I do hit them with a lot of blown air pressure.
Is there a technique for hitting the second octave tongue position in the throat? embochure/tongue position, etc.? Thanksfor your suggestions. Best regards.
For the recorder, the generally accepted technique is to raise the tongue in the mouth while playing higher notes; but the recorder has a thumbhole for octaving. Tongue position does make a difference with the whistle, in my opinion - a high position gives a more concentrated sound in the first register on some whistles. But I’ve found whistles to be very variable in their response to breath (much more so than recorders). So I don’t know if there’s a general rule. Practice makes perfect in the end.
I am not the best person here to advise you, but I started with a Susato high D. It is acknowledged to be loud, and that loudness, coupled with a my poor technique and my hesitation, made for a very poor learning experience. I found that buying a Dixon Trad high D changed my experience entirely. The Dixon was quieter, and I found it easier to play pleasingly. This is not to say that the Susato is a bad whistle - far from it, and there will be someone along soon to underline that point. I would also like to point out that the Dixon Trad does not have a monopoly on ‘approachability’ - it is just the most approachable of the few high D whistles I have played.
The Susato is definitely one of the louder whistles.
I don’t think tongue position as such makes a difference, but tonguing the high notes helps a lot. Instead of trying to start the note with a little huff of breath, use your tongue to (silently) say the letter “T”. This will give a sharp little burst of air which will get the high notes going more easily. Don’t overdo it, and you’ll need more or less of this technique depending on which note you’re playing.
Susato - do a search for “O ring tweak”. I agree that it’s not the easiest of whistles to play, particularly in the second octave. A Dixon is a good bet, or a Clarke Sweetone is a more forgiving whistle, but has a very different tone to the straight bore whistles.
Perhaps the other thing to say is give it time. In common with all wind instruments, there are no short-cuts to getting a good tone.
I just want to provide a differing perspective here in fairness to new players looking to try whistles. I have never found any of the Susatos I’ve played (I now own 5, including a D/C/Bflat set - one of my first - a separate Bflat, and a G) to be either loud or difficult to get to or play in the upper octave. For what it’s worth. I had a very scientific method for learning to handle the upper octave - keep mucking about till you’ve got it; play it and it will come…
the Clark’s I’ve played (your should be a “meg” copy) are easy to get the upper octave once you get the hang of it.
probably the best way i’ve heard it put was from our very own MT Guru to use “faster” air rather than just “more” air.
tonguing the high notes is a good way to get used to them breaking high, and then as you develop the Irish style, you’ll be able to do less tonguing, and use it only when you want.
my first high D was a Merlin Black Knight, which the maker even advised was EXTREMELY hard to get above the high F#, and as a beginning player, I could never get it. I ended up selling it, but want to try one again now, as it had amazing tone, just super hard to play.
Hello! A few days of experimentation, and the high octave is much more accessible. I’m not sure I can say “musical,” since my wife still has to leave the house! But, at least there is hope! Best regards.
I can’t find the o-ring tweak-thread.. ‘o-ring tweak’ returns zero results, ‘o ring’ 300 pages, and it’ll be the day when i can be *rsed to parse 300 pages
I have Susatos in D and C but i am not particularily fond of them, i think they sound like turbocharged plastic recorders..
If that Mel Bay Clark is a conical bore, with a plastic mouthpiece, I don’t think you can do much better for a beginner’s whistle. It is probably a Meg or a Sweetone, which are very similar, though I noticed my Meg was prone to rust. There are others, we all have our favorites, and you will want others in time. Stick with the Mel Bay Clark to learn, then try others. Many professional players get absolutely wonderful sound out of the Susato. It is a nice, almost indestructible whistle and it plays in tune. It requires lots of breath and is a bit picky on breath control . . . I don’t make mine sound that good. The advise about the tonguing on the high notes is good. I’d also second any advise to think about moving air faster rather than blowing harder . . . though the difference is subtle. I’d add, work on covering all the holes well. A little leakage can cause extra problem in the second octave. Secondly, I’m learning that the second D (bottom note on the second octave) often is more responsive on most whistles if I learn to keep the top hole uncovered. All in all, it just takes practice.
My wife doesn’t like my whistle much either. I am currently playing a Dixon Polymen pro D and am getting fewer complaints because it is a softer whistle. However. work on your technique. There is no magic whistle. BTW, it has seemed to me that though the tone on the Clark is not always what I like, they are always well in tune with themselves. They play well.
My Mel Bay Clarke looks very similar to my Clarke Meg, but it is not the same.
It is smaller and quieter, and a bit easier in the top of the second octave. Annoyingly, it’s also wicked sharp. The tube seems to be about 10 mm too short (being that if I pull the head all the way off the body about 2mm and cover the gap with tape, it will be in tune).
For that reason, it might be a good whistle to learn the basics on, but once you get to the point of either playing with others or trying to play with a recording, it’s not going to be functional.
Unless I just got lucky and bought the only two wicked sharp Mel Bay Clarkes ever made.
At the very least, it’s what a microphone, a mixing board, an EQ, perhaps an effects wielding sound man, an amplifier, a speaker stack, a microphone and most likely encoding and compression on the recording device, re-sampling on youtube, a sound card and, for most of us, computer speakers, sounds like.
With the exception of a fair amount of compression (which, imo, is absolutely necessary if you’re going to hear all of what a whistler is whistling above the sound of the other instruments), I don’t hear much processing going on there. Granted, everything you listed will influence the sound, but hell, so will anything in close proximity including whatever surface the player is standing upon. I don’t think you can totally discount that example simply because it’s amplified and run through a board. Now if they were loading that channel up with reverb or delay to make it sound like it was being played in some mythical Arthurian cathedral, I’d say it wasn’t worth a damn thing as far as getting some sense of how a particular whistle sounds.
