Hey all, so I am looking into purchasing a low D whistle…and had a question. I have relatively small hands…large enough to play the bari-sax for 18 years, but still small…and I want to buy a Low D Whistle.
I have been looking at the Susato Low D whistle, and have noticed there are versions with keys…to help if you have smaller hands. My question is this, part of the reason I love the whistle is the ability to roll off of notes and slide into the next…would the key kill that ability for those specific notes? Has anyone used keys before, does it change playing drasticaly?
Also, would I notice a MAJOR difference between a susato low D and a burke low D viper?
Try contacting Colin Goldie. He can make whistles according to your wishes. He’s a very nice guy to deal with. And the Overton whistle is a very, very beautiful sounding whistle, and perfectly crafted.
Frist about the difference between a Susato and a Burke Viper, I have both and the Burke is considerably louder. The Burke has something else I can’t quantify, it just seems more like an instument. It’s more flexible than most low D’s in my opinion.
As has been discussed on several threads in the past, the problem with hole spacing on low D’s is always going to be with us.
Were the holes spaced so that every hole was in its acoustically correct postion, so that all notes were equally strong (all “breaking the octave” at the same pressure), the low E hole (the 6th or lowest hole) would be so far down the tube that few could reach it.
Space the holes ergonomically, and low E is feeble and tends to overblow.
No one can solve it: it’s simple physics.
I played an Overton which had ergonomically placed holes and a couple of the notes were unacceptably weak.
The Burke Viper, to me, is comfortable enough to play and all the notes are strong enough: an admirable compromise.
Of course the solution is to have keys. (Imagine trying to play a keyless bari sax!)
Then each hole can be in its correct position, and the entire scale can be equally strong.
But you can’t half-hole the holes governed by keys, and it’s trickier to bend those notes.
I have a keyless Susato low D, and a keyless Susato low C, and they’re both quite comfortable to play.
Burke does make an “easy reach” Viper, which has the E hole (the 6th or lowest hole) moved up the tube a bit, making for a smaller stretch with the lower hand. But, as needs be, this comfort comes at the price of a slightly weaker low E, which has a lower “breaking point” than its neighbors (bottom D and F#).
I, too, have had both a Viper and a keyed Susato. The Viper was noticeably “better” in almost all respects. The Susato was OK, too, but the thing that I didn’t like was the noise the key made when I was using it. The constant clicking was noticeable (and irritating) to me. As far as small hands, I think anyone can play a low D if they use the piper’s grip on the lower end (i.e. right hand). It does take a little getting used to, but once you’ve “got it”, you probably won’t go back.
Would it? Slides yes; rolls, cuts taps, not at all. I play boehm flute- closed hole boehm even- and I don’t have any problem. Sometimes the ornaments are alittle muddy, but that has to do with the size of the holes, not the keys.
Possibly, but I don’t think all avenues have been exhausted. There was brief mention in the flute forum of a low Bb flute design with tone holes bored at an angle. However this would require much thicker walls, which is not really practical for metal whistles.
More on topic, I suspect a lot of newcomers to low D incorrectly assume that they have impossibly small hands. It’s all in the style of grip. I used to have a high G Burke. Again, one would assume you’d need child-size hands to play, which is not true at all. All in the grip…
Have you ever played a flute with angled holes?
I have, a reproduction Baroque alto flute.
The resulting notes are weak, unacceptably weak for Irish session playing (imagine a low D whistle with, at best, half the volume of an ordinary metal low D whistle).
Here is a more radical suggestion that I have thought of doing myself (small hands too!). Daniel Bingamon makes whistle heads that fits the body of a concert flute. If you are used to play the sax you would have the benefit of almost the same fingering. Of course, it wouldn´t be a whistle but it would be easy to play and sound like one, and you could play in any key. And if you use a flute with french keyes you could still do slides!
I had a Susato with 1 key as my 1st low whistle. They can be ordered with 2 keys (3rd & 6th holes) or just 1. I didn’t have any problems using the key ohter than no sides to E and it was very comfortable to play.
I sold the Susato after buying a Burke Viper which sounded better to me. The Burke has a joint just above the 6th hole so you can offset it for easier reach. I use my pinky to reach it and it works fine for me. Also I attached a Susato thumb rest and this helps keep with the grip for me. Hope this helps.
I have heard that conical low whistles have a much easier reach - Shaw, Copeland, Bleazey, and Sweet are supposed to very comfortable to play.
I want to try one of those last 3 when I get rich enough - they are a bit pricey.
