I am interested in buying a low D and had a chance to play 3 Howards ( 2 nickel and one black one)while I was in Toronto at the Recorder Shop on Dovercourt. All three were out of tune on the C# ( way too flat). I brought my Korg AT tuner and tested all three and they were exactly out of tune on the C#.
The note was half between C and C#.
Is this common with the Howard Low D? I like the sound of the Howard compared to the Susato Low D but for the price he was asking I did not feel like “adjusting” the top hole.
By the way the Susato was also a bit flat on the C# but tolerable (~ -20 cents )
I am interested in buying a Low D but unfortunately I would like to test them first. There are no low D’s where I live (Ottawa) that I know about.
Once in a while there are Low D’s on sale at the Ottawa Folklore Centre on Bank St. in Ottawa. I bought a Susato there a few months ago. They also have ‘Bishop Low D’s’ now and again.
I have two Howard low Ds. I think one
can solve whatever problem there is by
blowing the note harder. At speed
no one will hear it; sustained, you
can blow it in tune.
I’ve never played a Howard myself, but since they’ve got a plastic mouthpiece, I may be able to offer some advice.
If you’re needing to blow a little bit harder to keep the note in tune, you may want to try filing down the blade jut a bit.
What I believe this does, is makes it a little more difficult to make the octave break. What this then translates into, is more volume, and notes you can blow in tune, without squeaking and squaking all over the place!
It works on ALL of my plastic fipples high whistles, and even on a Kerry low whistle too.