Hello,
I recently posted a topic on what whistle I should purchase. Through a tip from my instructor I have decided to look at the Chieftain Suprano D whistle. 
One thing I need to know though, is having it tunable essential? 
I need to know this because I would rather go with the $90 then the $120 tunable. THANKS AGAIN! -Casey 
If youāre playing alone, tunable isnāt essential. If youāre playing with others, itās a lot more important. Some instruments can tune to you if your whistle is out, but many cannot.
Hope that helps,
Tery
Generally Iāve found that tunable isnāt essential,
even when playing with other instruments, if my whistle
is in pitch externally.
Iāve played often with guitars, banjos,
fiddles and virtually never have had
to tune an in tune whistle. The exception
is if Iām playing outdoors in cold weather.
If I may add, I like Chieftain
low whistles better than the high D, which Iāve
found quite shrill and acrid in the upper register.
There are cheaper and, IMHO, better options.
If you go to a session, the tunable instrument players will have electronic tuners, which is the easiest way for them to get in tune with each other. Therefore, if your non-tunable whistle is in tune to begin with, no problem.
Tony
Always go with tunable. There might be the one time your whistle is in tune, compared to the nine times it isnāt. Playing in tune is essential. Anyone who tells you otherwise doesnāt play in tune.
JP
If thatās what a Chieftain is going to cost you, you can get a Burke tunable for $100 without a serious delay. I have no idea why you would go for the Chieftain given this option. The Burke does have a rather pure sound but itās a class act and really wonderfully responsive. Iām assuming Overtons are more pricey but very few, if any, would recommend a Chieftain ahead of thee or several other similarly priced options. Elfsong and Water Weasel are others that come to mind and Sindt if you can find one secondhand and avoid the wait.
Let me, er, āfourthā the recommendation of considering something apart from a Chieftain. I agree with others that Chieftains make very nice low whistles, but a high D Chieftain is a very loud and shrill beast. There are a lot of other nice options in your price bracket that you might consider insteadā¦
Apart from that, unless you know for a fact that you are only going to play alone, my advice would be to always go for a tunable whistle.
Jens
Tunable is generally a good idea. One other advantage is that a 2 piece whistle breaks down into smaller pieces, making them easier to transport.
The majority of requests I get are for tunable whistles. So much so, now, that the only one I make as a non-tunable is the Village Smithy, and Iām giving some hard thought to offering that option there, tooā¦ nawwww!
Cheers
serpent
Iād say tuneable is essential, except if the whistle is made by a very reputable maker who takes the time to make the whistle in tune.
Personally, I have to have somewhat tuneable b/c of my sensitive ear. I canāt stand it if a whistle is a bit out of tuneā¦ itās not bad when Iām playing by myself, but if I go to play with a CD or something, and itās outā¦ eeeehhhhā¦ shudders Not fun for the poor audio.
Well, I agree with John Palmer, it seems so obvious to me, but I might be wrong. A whistle will get a lot sharper when getting warmer. Maybe most of the people in here end up playing out of tune without knowing it? Maybe I just have weird whistles. I know that I end up playing out of tune myself very often, and Iām currently working on staying in tune. I test my whistles using my tuner, I also test every notes. I do the tests when the whistles are cold, test again after playing them for a few minutes, and same after half an hour. Sometimes you will notice that you have to blow a few notes harder or softer to get a right-on-spot tuning.
Just keep in mind there are some very good players with a very well developed ear, and you will bother THEM if you end up playing out of tune. I know that someone like StevieJ can detect the slightest tuning āproblemā. It takes some time to reach that level of ādevelopmentā, thatās why Ive bought a tuner, and I would suggest many of you do the same. You can also practice getting in tune by playing a note on a piano (or whateverās in tune) and try to tune your whistle to the note. Then you can test your whistle using a tuner. Iām sure it helps.
To second Az and John:
I have played with a flutist for years in a duo and there was always the same āritual.ā We would tune and begin playing. After the first piece, she would re-tune because her instrument had warmed up.
In the frenzy of Irish dancetunes, I think this step gets missed but it would likely help, especially to the more sensitive ears.
Because I started on non-tweaked cheapo whistles, my ear actually got used to sound of a sharp whistle. When I first got my Burkes, I was confounded that, having tuned them with an electronic tuner, it just sounded wrong. What a predicament!
Always get tuneable.And I tried a tuneable Chieftains E yesterday at Lark In the Morning. The second octave was SO hard to blow to, and when done, was super uneven. I keep thinking I will become such a better player that I can make those whistles work, but no luck so far.
I also played whistles by ? Joseph. Very interesting chiffy tone but still not as even as I like. I am spoiled by Burkes, which I play relentlessly and often. They continue to be even and reliable in the upper register. They never clog and I have not messed with soap or anything in almost a year. Just not necessary. No matter what you ultimately prefer as a whistler, for $100, you cannot go wrong with a tuneable Burke.
The speed of sound is affected by mainly temperature and also humidity. So, A=440 is not the same at 65 degrees as it is at 70 degrees. If an insturment maker is on top of things he/she will take these factors into consideration when tuning an instrument and adjust the calibration so that the āsweet spotā is acheived precisely at the correct frequency.
So if the the ambient temperature and humidity are different than the standard (where the instrument was hopefully tuned), than tuning is required by the player no matter how precise the maker originally tuned the instrument.
Bottom line is a tuning slide is imperative for in tune playing.
Ronaldo
Ronaldo,
Thanks for the info, it just confirms what I thought. A whistle is just NOT in tune by default, since itās affected by temperature. Itās getting warmer when you play it, getting colder when you donāt. Some very good players can tune while they play, just by listening, even if theyāre slightly out of tune. I wish I could!
Also, even if by some magic fantasy your whistle always was perfectly in tune at A440, if you spend any time at all playing with other people (either live or recorded) you will run into situations were they are not tuned to A440. You will not be very popular if you tell the five fiddles in the session that theyāre wrong and they should all retune their instruments to be in tune with you.
And there are instruments whose tuning cannot easily be adjusted. Just try telling your concertina player sheās 10 cents sharpā¦
like others have said it really only matters if you play with other people when considering getting a tuneable whistle.
all metal instruments will change in pitch with temperature changes. we used to hug our saxophones in marching band and blow warm air into them as we were walking onto the field in cold weather to prevent them from going flat.
as for playing with other people youād probably always want a tuneable whistle. 440 isnāt standard everywhere. all mallet percussion is usually tuned to 442 standard, hehe. but yeah, if youāre playing with others buy tuneable.
Your welcome Azalin, and just to let everyone know just how much the temperature affects the tuningā A-440 at 70 degrees F is the same frequency as A-436 at 60 degrees. Thats why the tuner makers have those little callibration settings on them.
Ronaldo
ā¦while weāre on the topic, can anyone recommend a good cheap electronic tuner?
thanks.
How about free and perfect?
http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~tuner/tuner_e.html
wonderful bit of programming there!
serpent
Weāve had this discussion before, if anybody
remembers. At the end of the day it all sounds
great theoretically, but I virtually never touch a tuning
slide on a whistleāthe exception being
serious cold. And Iām playing outdoors
with all sorts of instruments. Today we were
on the street and a fella pulled out a non-tunable
generation and wailed. Just fine. Seen it so often.
So I still donāt think a tuning slide is essential.
I mean my whistles have slides, just donāt use em.
Hey! Do you think this is why no one wants to play with me?