Do you ever get use to going to the high octive?
When I hear others playing the high octive it sounds so beautiful!
When I play it , it sounds so loud & harsh & high!
Proper breath control comes with time and practice.
Sometimes a dead room can bring out the worst in a whistle’s tone. A little reverb does wonders, and it is often electronically added to recordings. Does your whistle still sound bad if you play it in the kitchen or bathroom?
I have not tried that! ( playing in kitchen or bathroom)
I’ll give that a try.
Also I have noticed that the tone is different depending on which whistle that I play:
Feadog D - sort of harsh, easy to hit
Clarke D Orig. - airy, less trouble to hit, takes alot of air
Copper whislte D ( I made from plans from web) - sweet, harder to hit
Sweetone D - on order - ?
Generation D on order - ?
Does personal taste come into it?
Definately, personal taste plays a big part.
The Clarke original design always had the most pleasing upper octave of any whistle I have ever tried, but sometimes the wood will taste terrible. I like to put a little cinnamon oil on it.
If you have a backup whistle, you can try some of the tweaks to reduce the air requirements of the Clarke, but I have decided I like them just as they come. I tend to not breath enough with whistles with low air requirements, myself. Make a wooden plug that will just fit into the space above the wooden block (to restore it after a failed tweak), then squoosh the airway down a bit until you get it like you like, or stick some poster putty in the sides to aim the airstream more to the center of the “blade” or dimple of the fipple.
I found myself liking them much more untweaked after I stopped smoking cigarettes.
Where in Tennessee are you? If you are in the eastern part, we may be fairly close.
I’ll give the tweaking a try on my Clarke.
I really like the sound of the whistle.
I live out side of Nashville, on the eastern side.
When you hear someone else play in the second octave, they are several feet away. When you play the second octave, the source of the sound is a few inches away.
I’ve only been playing for a few months, but I’ve noticed that sometimes I seem to “hold back” on the high notes, like I’m afraid they are going to sound screechy and shrill. And they do. But when I “let go” and just play with confidence, they sound much better. So my advice, for what it’s worth, is don’t be afraid to blow!
I’m the opposite–as a flute player, I tend to go for the high notes. Depending on the whistle and/or my breath control, it can be all right, awful, or anywhere in between! My Burke is the easiest on the high notes. Clarkes and Sweetones are forgiving up there. Good Generations and Improved Feadog are fine when I have more control. Susatos take some experience to master in the upper reaches, and I haven’t mastered them yet, though I do like them in general. Just MHO.
CJ got it right. There are whistles that sound ok on the high notes, and some that don’t. Tweaked Feadog’s, tweaked Generations, etc are great. Burke is great.
Personal experience: I have a whistle that I’ve dubbed Moby Dick. Loud!! I played it at the beginning of a session. The guitarist across from me said “that thing screeches, eh?”. Two hours later he could hardly hear it with the noise from the full pub. You have to pick a whistle to fit.
An O’brien tweaked Feadog best for practicing in a small room. A Susato is for a full session in a crowded pub.