I’ve only been playing for a month, but played flute as a child and am enjoying whistle. I was having trouble with lots of squeaks in the second octave. I really wanted to play the Picard whistle tune, but couldn’t seem to get the highest C and D.
Last night came a breakthrough. Guess I just didn’t realize how much air you had to use to get those high notes. I kept backing off from all that LOUD NOISE. But last night I just let loose and they came out so pure and perfect. But man it’s loud. And it takes so much air I almost hyperventilate. Especially on my Clarke Original; my Walton Mellow D is a little easier. Still, they both are so much LOUDER up that high. Do all the whistles have such a difference in volume between the low and high notes?
My five year old said after all that loud music that he liked the old mommy better. He meant the pre-whistle mommy, I guess. When asked why, he said because it was quieter then. Ha! This from the child who can yell loud enough to wake the dead.
So here’s the question: I want to buy a quieter whistle with a lower air requirement. I’m thinking about the Hoover (traditional or narrow???). Maybe the Laughing Whistle. Understand they are both sweet sounding and quieter. Then again, maybe I need to learn to play on these whistles I have first. Suggestions would be great.
I have a Burke, soprano D Narrow Bore composite which is relatively quiet. It has a low air requirement compared to some of my other whistles. It also has less of a volume differential between the octaves. You might want to add it to your list of whistles to check out.
I recently posted about my new Cillian O’Briain “Improved” D purchased through C&Fer Steve Power (see photos of his store and his own self in Jessie K’s recent posts about her visit to ireland)
Of my 20 or so whistles, the"Improved" is among the quietest (even in the second octave), beautifully in tune between octaves,not expensive, and accompanied with Steve’s excellent service. For trying to play in the house with least aggravation to spouse and children, the “Improved” would be my recommendation. At the other end of the scale, my Weasels and my Copland have the greatest volume, and are my personal preference for most public playing.
I have just obtained a Hoover trad bore, and I think you might find it suits you. Yery light breath requirements for this whistle, and extremeley pure tone, especially in the higher register. Overall the trad bore is a whisker quieter than my Clark Original D, if that helps.
Apparently the narrow bore Hoover is quieter still, but there is a caution about the Cnat fingering (See Whistle Shop website via C&F links). In spite of this, I’d say it’s worth a try, because I would anticipate it to sound extremeley sweet.
I like like the Hoover tradional bore more than the narrow bore. The traditional is still quiet. The narrow bore is so narrow it is difficult to get the low notes.
I’ll second the referral for the Hover Traditional Bore Brass D. It is my most played whistle, since I play at home the most. It sounds sweet. It is quiet. I have also played 32 bars before with out breathing and not sounding rushed. This is the only whistle that I would like to have in every room of my house. I have no trouble with oxxooo fingering of the C natural on the traditional bore. I find that playing this whistle with its sensitivity for octives has improved my playing emphasis on other whistles. I have much greater control after playing a sensitive instrument. I can also play longer on the other instruments as I do not waste as much breath (wind that is above what is needed to stay in tune). I also find that I enjoy long practice sessions better because it is quieter than my Copeland, O’Riordan (wood and aluminum), “Goldie” Overton, and Weasel.
Mind you, I greatly enjoy all of these whistles very much, but I play the Hoover the most. The Hoover can’t stand out in a session. When I start playing at sessions more, I will probably be playing one of the others much more frequently. For my personal enjoyment, the Hoover is one of my favorites.
Hi Tonya.The clarke sweetone D requires very little air and has a rather quiet,reedy tone that jumps easily into the octave and is relatively easy to play due to its small size.Today I found one of those rare,one in a hundred,good to play,needs no tweeking (except to make it tunable)variety of whistles.Its a Waltons C ,brass with the green fipple and next to my sudog(another thread)is my favourite inexpensive whistle.good luck Mike
My vote goes for the Hoover Narrow Bore. The one I got from Thom is simply perfect for “civilized” second octave play. It is very quiet, however, so if you don’t consider this to be an advantage stick with other brands.
Another vote for the Hoover. I have a narrow bore and it sounds wonderful and is very easy to play. Or to put it another way, my, admittedly bad, playing sounds better on the Hoover than an on other whistle.
jb
I don’t understand, quite, because
the Clarke original is a pretty quiet
whistle. Maybe these other whistles
are quieter still. However there is
something to the idea that the very
top notes on D whistles tend to be
a bit shrill. An option, other than
buying another whistle, is to abbreviate
very high notes, to play them staccato.
This is actually recommended by some
teachers.
Perhaps I’m biased having been to visit our own dear Mack Hoover in person, but I can tell you I played a LOT and I mean a LOT of his whistles while I was out. Overall, they are very pure of tone, and well in tune, and I found no difficulties with cross fingerings.
You may want to call Mack and see if he can build a whistle especially for you. If anyone has the talent to tailor an instrument for you…I think Mack certainly does. Ask him about his CPVC line as well. VERY mellow, yet solid in tone. Not loud, but better balanced than most of my other inexpensive and moderate whistles.
At any rate, the call is well worth it just to talk to such a wonderful craftsman, and outstanding human being!
I second the endorsements of Mack’s whistles, if you want quiet. The Clarke original is LOUD when compared the the Hoover narrow bore, esp in the 2nd & 3rd octaves. Your ears will love you for it. It’s possible that the trad bore may be a better bet than the narrow. THe latter’s mouthpiece windway is so tiny that inevitably, there’s some clogging. Wind requirements are miniscule so lots of control is needed. But it does its job. I have practiced on a narrow bore C (substitute for my sop sax!) in a hotel room on 3 successive nights without incurring the wrath of the occupants next door.
In any case, the great thing is Mack can custom-make whistles to your specs. He just made me a loud, wide bore CPVC B whistle. It’s great! Definitely mellow as described by someone.
The telescoping Laughing Whistle is very quiet, and has a very sweet sound to it. Recommended if you want “quiet”.
That being said, the Hoover narrow bore is even more quiet. Actually, just sighing into the mouthpiece will cause it to jump directly into the third octave. More or less. Recommended if you want “absurdly quiet”.
I find both these whistles rather hard to play, because their air requirements are so low. And of course, both whistles are louder in the top notes than the bottom, so no flute-like evenness of volume across the range.
On 2001-08-14 03:48, Jens_Hoppe wrote: Recommended if you want “absurdly quiet”. >
Reminds me of the attempt my husband made to mute my whistle. . .couldn’t understand why stuffing a little piece of cotton in the fipple was unacceptable to me.
The O’Briain Improved, available from Shanna Quay. I’ve never tried a Hoover, so cannot compare, but the O’Briain is ridiculously easy to play (the comment earlier about a whistle almost being difficult because the breath requirements are so low applies here too). And the price isn’t painful at all.
Sorry for two in a row … but here are some non-whistle-specific thoughts as well.
Getting into the higher registers not only requires more breath (which can be whistle-dependent) but also more “breath control” from the player. At a recent workshop, I started probing the idea that “sound comes from the abdomen” … which runs counter to all the diaphragmatic info I’ve been fed. But it really does work. Expell ALL your air (physically press in on your abdomen to get the hang of a full exhale), then relax your body so the abdomen naturally fills with air … then fill your lungs. Use your abdominal muscular pressure to expell the air through your instrument, varying the intensity of that pressure based on how much air it takes to get the note.
Another idea to work on is to KEEP YOUR FACIAL MUSCLES RELAXED as you play, particularly in the higher registers. This also runs counter to what I used to do, which was squinch up and compress everything to get lots of pressure. But this makes for shreiky and constrained tones. Work toward a point where you can actually feel your cheeks “puffing” out as you play in the upper registers … the point isn’t to puff your cheeks, but to keep them relaxed enough that “normal” blowing makes them move.
These two things have been very helpful to me lately … I’d like to think they’ve dramatically improved the quality of sound I produce. At first, neither felt particularly natural to do … but I think they are helpful techniques worth developing.
Mike