Well, As you can probably all guess from the title I want to drill a 7th hole on my old Susato High D so that I will be able to play that low C# which I keep coming across on many of the tunes and songs I play with my group.
So, have any of you done this before? What distance should I leave between the last hole and the new one I want to make? Is this a good idea at all?
Why not just buy a lower whistle?
I would think you’d have to know EXACTLY where to drill and EXACTLY the size, and the experimentation would cost you several dozen whistles to get it right.
Wink, there are far easier, less destructive ways to get a C# out of a D whistle. Press the edge of the bottom of the whistle along your leg; wrap your pinkie around and cover a bit of the bottom of the whistle; don’t insist on the C# and play an E instead; buy a cheap recorder (just kidding); play that pesky tune on an A whistle instead; hold the D and just drop out the C#; jump UP to C# (cool jaunty sound). Do a search on this topic, or the Matrix may have the old listings on this topic.
Tyghress
…And I go on, pursuing through the hours,
Another tiger, the one not found in verse.
Jorge Luis Borges
[ This Message was edited by: tyghress on 2002-07-06 10:21 ]
Well, I’ll display my ignorance here. How can another hole lower the pitch of a whistle? Seems like you’d have to make the whistle longer somehow.
To be honest just after I posted the original topic I did say “how does that work?” But I definately seen it done and it works (Well it was a Dixon but the theory is exactly the same).
Why do you want to play a C# on a D whistle? Wouldn’t it be easier to replace the C# by another note of the chord, maybe E?
If you make another hole, you would probably get +/_ D#, but not anything lower than D.
[ This Message was edited by: claudine on 2002-07-06 10:42 ]
It would be much easier…and in most cases that is what I’m doing at the moment. But, I would still like to be able to do it.
buy a clarinet - hm?
The next thing I want to buy is a Sax…I’ll be waiting a while before I can afford a clarinet!
Really? I was just joking about the clarinet. Sax can certainly be nice. I’m thinking about a bouzouki now.
To get a C# on a D whistle you would have to make the whistle’s body longer to get below the bell tone. Drilling and extra hole into a D body could maybe get you a D# but nothing lower that a D.
On a side note I’ve always wanted to see a Susato C revoiced with 7 holes to play a D scale with a low C added on the bottom. Much like the Silkstone D+ or Overton Modal whistles but greatly more affordable. Comments?
Dz
Tyghress is right–‘half-holing’ the bottom of the whistle with pinky or whatever produces a C#. This has the effect of slightly lengthening the tube. I hope you don’t need this C# for ornaments.
Get an A whistle?
[ This Message was edited by: ysgwd on 2002-07-06 13:30 ]
Well, I still have the susato D my dog chewed and it plays but I prefer my dixon but am haoppy to drill an extra hole in the Susato and see what happens. As I have ulnar nerve damage my pinky doesn’t get round the hole at bottom of whistle. I think I shall do it. Any suggestions as to how large a hole and how far from the d?
Selkie, if I remember my physics right, you’ll have a note somewhere above a D, or in conjunction with other open holes you’ll sharpen them too, by some undefined amount.