I have just bought my first Low D - a Cillian O’Briain from Steve Power at Shanna Quay - fantastic standard of service Steve gives BTW. I would purchase from him again without hesitation.
I wouldn’t consider the following comments definitive by any means.
I have mainly played high D whistles before now - although these have been of a good standard (Burke, Hoover, Alba, Copeland). I have played a Ronaldo Reyburn, although being left handed this posed a problem - the holes are offset for someone who plays the ‘right’ way. So I had to swap my hands around to play the whistle. Not easy!
I am very impressed with Cillian’s work. The whistle is plain with no decoration - it looks like a real working instrument to me. It plays in tune - although I have a tunable whistle so it would wouldn’t it! The sound is what you’d expect from an aluminium whistle - it has that smoky charm if you know what I mean. I guess you’d have to like aluminium whistles to get it but I do so that’s good. Finger holes are large-ish and it’s not too much of a stretch to cover them. I would say it wasn’t a whistle for small hands - but someone may like to correct me on that.
All in all I am very pleased with my purchase - the whistle has met all my expectations and that’s all you can ask for.
Funny about the left handed thing - I was surprised when I couldn’t play my partner’s Reyburn with my normal left hand at the bottom grip. It is the only whistle I imagine that I would never really be able to play.
Out of interest - why do you play the ‘wrong’ way round if you aren’t a leftie? You some kinda freak or what?!
Funny you should mention Reyburn whistles…Ronaldo is shipping a G whistle off to me tomorrow; I specifically got one tuned to ‘just’ intonation. This should be interesting…
Well done! Another Cillian O Briain convert. I have had one for some time, and it’s my favourite Low D next to my Copeland - I even like the O Briain better than my Overton. Cillian does excellent work and Steve is a great guy to deal with. It’s a match made in heaven: A superior product with a superior businessman to spread the word, and make it easy and painless to own one. I hope you get as much out of your O Briain as I have!
An O’Briain Low C/D combo was my first tunable Low, and more recently I too have a Copeland Low D tunable.
I’ve grown to like the O’Briain very much, but the Copland is a WOW. So, what I’ve gotten in the habit of doing is carrying both whistles but keeping my O’Briain with the C head joint on for those occasions when “C family” tune is played, and I use the Copeland for “D family” tunes. This avoids switching Headjoints where time or tuning constraints exist. I switch whistles instead.
If I’m playing an air, say, where I’m calling the shot on the key signature, I’ll then tend to select the O’Briain where the dominant features are sweet/soft/minimal or no accompanying instrumentation. I’ll select the Copeland where the dominant features are jazzy/power/ significant other accompanying instrumentation.
Gerry1, just thought I’d let you know that I offer “choices” on my whistles and if you should ever want to play one in the off-set pattern for a left hander, I’d be happy to make you one. And of course I still make the standard in-line pattern.
Ronaldo
Tyghress, Just Intonation is a system of tuning based on rational, whole-number frequency intervals as opposed to Equal Temperament where the twelve tones of the chromatic scale are based on twelve equally spaced, constant frequency multiples.
In Just Temperament, a C scale will not sound exactly like a D scale or any other scale. Equal Temperament was a compromise developed so that one could play equally well (or badly) in any key.
On 2002-01-21 13:06, Raymond wrote:
Tyghress, Just Intonation is a system of tuning based on rational, whole-number frequency intervals…
I’d quibble with the use of the word “rational”. I’m not sure there’s anything irrational about equal temperament, Pythagorean temperament, Werckmeister temperament and all the other attempts to fix what I like to call “God’s mistake” - the fact that when you follow the circle of natural mathematical fifths you soon end up out of tune with the sequence of natural mathematical octaves - the so-called “comma”.
These various invented tuning systems are rational attempts to solve this and other quandaries.
BTW I say all this from the perspective of someone who likes the freedom from equal temperament that fiddles and other folk instruments give. But just temperament has its limitations.
To give you an example: the strings of the violin family are tuned in perfect (just) fifths. My cellist sister (who has perfect pitch) tells me that when she plays in a string quartet, she has to tune her bottom string almost a quarter-tone sharp in order to be in tune with the violins, all because of this “comma”.
I think it probably follows that if you made a whole family of whistles from a mythical double-bass to a mythical counter-sopranino, and tuned them to just intervals, each whistle leading on in just intervals from the one below, notes played on the lowest one would be noticeably out of tune with the same notes played on the highest one.
It’s an arcane subject, but if you’re really interested, Tyghress, you can start to delve at this page, which provided me with the answers to a lot of unanswered questions I had about the whole business:
I do hope that you didn’t take my comments as a slight on your whistles. I think that the level of craftsmanship displayed and the beauty of tone they have is unsurpassed. I wish I had the funds to ask you to make a leftie for me!!
Stevie J.: I wonder if the word “rational” in this thread was intended by its writer in its mathematical definition, namely “a real number which can be written as a ratio of two simple numbers - as a simple fraction”
That interpretation seems more consistent with the writer’s mathematically based comments on tuning. To have called any tuning system “irrational” would, as you rightly point out, not account for the very fact that it exists for a purpose.
Gerry, No “slight” perceived. My post was only to bring clarity to my offering. Thank you for your comments regarding my craftsmanship and tone quality. Let me know when your ship comes in and I’ll make you a
leftie.
Ronaldo
Well, I’m right-handed but have always played the whistle left-handed…freak?! Probably! The explanation is that I only took up the whistle recently having played the harp for years, and ALL right-handed harpers play right hand upstairs, left hand (bass) downstairs, so to switch hand positions for me was total anathema! There’s method in the madness…
