The current Large Bore and Impure Thoughts threads have me wondering if there are others who would be interested in what one might call a ‘Jim Donoghue Whistle.’
Here’s the sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOLIJUq9Lg0
Basically, the ‘Jim Donoghue Whistle’ would sacrifice the quality of the second octave in favor of a strong, hard first octave, with the aim of playing tunes pretty much exclusively in the first octave. It could be an interesting alternative to the wide bore/‘session’ whistle design–sort of taking the concept to the extreme, since most of the second octave wouldn’t be used.
How would one go about creating this whistle–simply widen the windway on a Clarke? And/or is there a whistle maker who might be interested in developing this type of whistle?
Stick your top lip about a millimeter over the window opening on any whistle and you’ll get that effect.
You’ll get the hard D sound that flute players
get too.
Tommy
Interesting–so it’s a technique. Would shortening the beak of a whistle be advisable?
Not really.
It’s all about shortening the window opening so it’s less square (like a generation) and more rectangular.
What you’re proposing is kind of an Overton high D whistle. Rock solid first octave but window shattering second octave.
My impempe this sound quite well without any lip acrobatics and still has a nice second octave. It is however, very shall we say assertive.
I’m confused by the suggestion. Shortening the window has the effect of making the second octave easier at the expense of the first octave. I’ve just bought a Goldie Low D with a shortened window designed to create that very effect.