Are your fingers cramping from having them so close together on your low D?
Do you find yourself drifting out of piper grip and playing with the fingertips?
Is that tenor whistle just a little shrill for you?
If so, (insert deep echo effect here) Do what I did!
I just recieved a Bass A whistle from Phil Hardy. I love it. I can make the finger stretch with my medium hands easily. It looks like a Chieftain whistle on steriods. Big pipe. Low notes. Lovely.
I will post a real review on it when I have a chance to settle in and play with it. I just got home this morning from a trip to see the relatives in the lower 48 and the remodeling isn’t done, yet. I am going to be having a lot of fun with this whistle when I get time to play it, but for now, I just get to toot it a little.
Bass A?? Yikes. I just received my Overton Bass Bb and it’s a handful, but the A must be HUGE. I’ll post a review of mine as well since I have seen some posts concerning Bass whistles of late. None of my Low Bb holes are offset so the fingering will take some getting used to, but it sounds absolutely awesome and I’m willing to put in the time! At least no one will pick on me when I’m playing it… at 30" long and well over an inch wide it could be used as a lethal weapon!
I’d like to say I love my Low A Overton …but it’s just too big for fast playing, I find…and I’ve yet to get anyone to join in with it at a session…my hands are average sized, and I play uilleann pipes and a bit of flute.
If I take the Low A to a session, it always gets noticed, and I’m invariably asked to play it…so be warned…
…it may serve well as a weapon of self defence, but played badly and it could be LETHAL !!!
I, too, have a super-low A from Colin. He called it a “Baritone A.” It has a wonderful low sound. I do take it to sessions and play it on several tunes (at regular session speed - whatever that is ;^). It does get noticed, visually and audibly - its sound comes in lower than other instruments and is easy to hear. One friend says he almost feels it as much as hears it! I usually only play it on tunes that fit between an A and an A two octaves up (actually I usually only play it on tunes where I can “feature” its lowest notes :^) The tunes I play the A on during a session I play in the “standard” session key meaning that I use different fingerings than I would use if I were playing a D whistle. I play these by ear - reading the sheet music you have to transpose the notes, which is not too hard though with a little practice. A few tunes I play it on are:
Kerry Polka
Micky Chewing Bubblegum (also a polka)
The Fairy Dance (?)
The Lark in the Morning (has one “bottom” G that I think I just do some kind of ornament on a B note (?))
The Atholl Highlanders (this tune is actually easier on an A whistle!)
Ashokan Farewell (a waltz that fits very well on its range!)
Any other tunes you’all have found that fit nicely on an A whistle?
Playing the Low-Low A also makes playing a regular Low D a “piece of cake!”
Mike