I bought a Killarney high D brass whistle and at first I loved it. I’m having a problem hitting the higher D notes. It makes a sounds like I’m not covering the holes or using enough air but that’s not it. Its buzzing and I have to shake it to get it to sound normal. Anyone heard of this? Also I love the sound of this type. What is another maker of this brass style that is the best? I wanted a Sindt but it looks like that will be impossible.
Thanks!
N
Do you have this problem with other whistles? I have a Killarney and a Sindt and never had the problem you described. But others on this forum may have suggestions.
Maybe it’s clogging with moisture? Di you have a look in the windway?
John Sindt is still making whistles. He made a key of “A” whistle for me which is terrific
I thought it was,moisture at first because it usually sounds fine right when I start playing. I’ve had to clear out moisture that’s in it but this is a buzzing sound on the high D but carries to other notes until I shake or adjust it. It is adjustable and plays better when the mouth piece is all the way down, but then its terribly flat. Here is a dumb question…I live in a loft so I try to play it quite, could that be contributing, or the cause?
find some time when no one is home or just warn the folks within earshot you need to test your whistle and play at full volume for awhile. See if it improves. Keep us posted.
Yes. Being tentative on the second octave, in my experience, makes it sound worse and makes it much more likely to fail. One of the facts about the whistle is that it has very little dynamic range–you can’t really play it quietly, especially the high end, unless you monkey with the windway and partially block it. A whistle has pretty much one volume, and it’s louder in the second octave.
I’m not a great player by any means, but I’ve found that with practice, my second octave sounds much less ouchy than it used to. Part of that in playing with confidence and not being tentative about it, but also maybe finding away to get a nicer tone. I’m not really sure how I did that, but it happened. One thing that helps on the high notes is blending into the notes, half-holing the notes below so you ease into the high notes.
I’ve never experienced a buzzing sound but I used to get a rattle or cracking sound on some notes.
It was more like a rattling as you said but it transferred to other notes until I stopped. I actually kept my fingers in the same place to make sure all the holes recovered. And I tried to play up the scale but it continue to do the same thing. It probably was moisture or just being hesitant to blast my neighbors out. I have one from Erik the flutemaker and I haven’t had that problem with it, but it plays very differently because it’s made of bamboo rather than brass. The other whistles I have are cheap but I haven’t had that problem? At one point I thought it might be because I adjusted the mouthpiece back too far trying to get it in the correct key with what I was playing along with. Thank you for all of that tips with this, I’ll keep you posted.
By the way in your opinions, what is the best brand of whistle? I love my Killarney I’m just wondering about the Sindt, the Clifton and all the other ones that I hear about?
what is the best brand of whistle?
You may as well query the forums about the length of a piece of string.
I don’t think if you have a Killarney, a Sindt would make any significant difference to you. It will have a slightly different voice but the handling would be very similar and you’ll have a finnicky C natural to deal with to boot.
My suggestion would be to learn and play first, worry about buying more whistles later.
Likely it’s down to how you are playing it, a whistle consists of a tube with holes in it, & a fipple head, which is another piece with holes, no moving parts, (unless it’s adjustable, then it just slides one tube along the other).
I’m only recently playing whistles, but when I started, I often made the second octave make peculiar noises, until I just blew them harder. 
(I bought a lot of cheap whistles when I started, then I found that I prefer low whistles, so am spending a little more on the right ones for me.)
The best whistle is the one that you are happiest playing. 
Check if there’s any gunk inside the head, give it a wash with warm (soapy) water. Check if there are any loose bits.
If problem persists, work on breath control.
For what it’s worth I have a bunch of Killarneys now (2Ds, a C, and an Eb) and they all have really good quality control
I found it. 
“A piece of string is twice as long as half its length”.
My Killarney also tended to clog when I 1st got it as I was not blowing it hard enough. It needs some air to sound good. For a more quiet whistle, I think a Feadóg is nice. Not expensive either. Or a Clarke Sweetone.