Yippee.. the much anticipated Acetal Busman D+ that Paul made for me arrived recently, and I am loving it more and more everyday… At first it was difficult (and I thought impossible) for my pinky to reach that 7th hole (the +), but after some practice I got the hang of it. It will be a while before I master it, but it comes handy from time to time and you don’t give anything up to get it (except an extra $15 perhaps).
Here a tune that almost span the complet range of the Busman D+ going from a low C nat, to C nat and high C nat demonstrating the beautiful sound of the Busman D+.
Great sound and great workmanship, a beautiful whistle…
NOTE: I updated the sound file as Paul graciously pointed out that my low C didn’t sound right and was concerned that his whistle may be out of tune … but the problem was me, not the whistle… ; now that’s outstanding after sale service, tx Paul…
I am certain that you’ll enjoy it. A word of caution: if you’re going to play Ashokan Farewell… wear some earplugs… it will damage your earing if you practice this over and over…
Congrats on the purchase! Amazing how the D+ delrin/acetal projects outward, isn’t it? I wonder if the delrin D is as loud or if the D+ design adds more volume to the sound.
Tx, I find the upper octave a challenge. It takes breath control, and not being too timid (the earplugs help very much in that regard) I find. This tune was a great exercise in that regard and the Busman D+ can certainly take it. I think the end of the second part still needs work, it sounds a bit too staccato to my taste, but I never heard it on a whistle, so I have nothing to compare it with.
I also find that the D+ can take quite a bit of variation of loudness (and breath) in the lower octave and I always tend to play it a bit too quiet (you can be pretty quiet actually with very little breath in the lower octave). You can push it closer to the threshold to close the gap between the two octaves in loudness with the proper breath control.
An F natural thumb hole would be helpful for playing tunes like Ashokan Farewell on a D whistle… maybe Paul will try making a ‘modal’ whistle next!
Nice playing… that’s one of my favorite airs.
I don’t usually reply to posts about my whistles but I’ll make an exception here…
Ashokan Farewell is one of the reasons I made the first D+. I LOVE that tune and hated to have to fake that low C note if you’re playing in the key of G on a D whistle. Eventually, another customer asked about adding that hole so between Ashokan (which btw is only about 1.5 hr from where I live) and the customer I started experimenting.
I met Jay Ungar who wrote that tune at a Borders Books musical event. I brought up my sheet music afterwards for an autograph and told him I played the tune on a whistle. He said “Hmmm, I never heard it that way”. Now, maybe this is a cooincidence but I’d rather think it wasnt : about 2 years later I heard the Albany Symphony play an arrangement of Ashokan Farewell with Jay and Molly and guess what? They had recruited a whistle player for a solo within the piece!!
No kidding, I live in Orleans too. Look at the City Guide, I posted some there. I believe the big ones are Paddy’s on Sunday (?), Rasputin’s on Thursday, which I believe is a closed session, and there is a slow session at the Glebe community centre, but don’t hold me to any of that.
the much anticipated Acetal Busman D+ that Paul made for me arrived recently, and I am loving it more and more everyday… At first it was difficult (and I thought impossible) for my pinky to reach that 7th hole (the +), but after some practice I got the hang of it. It will be a while before I master it, but it comes handy from time to time and you don’t give anything up to get it (except an extra $15 perhaps).
; now that’s outstanding after sale service, tx Paul…
Doc
: about 2 years later I heard the Albany Symphony play an arrangement of Ashokan Farewell with Jay and Molly and guess what? They had recruited a whistle player for a solo within the piece!!
. Thanks for sharing that tidbit of information.