I have stated before that I am a student of the recorder and I’m trying to make the migration to tinwhistle. The main point I’m getting at is that I’m just a beginner–please use your kid gloves on me!
I have this problem trying to play a Cnatural on my whistle. Clarke’s fingering chart shows the L1 hole half covered. Ok… no problem except that it is flat as heck and sounds like dookie! I can “dial-in” a reasonable facsimile of a Cnatural by moving my finger around and finding the exact spot, but there is no way I can do it in while I’m playing. Also, when I try I sometimes “fumble” with my whistle and almost drop it because I “pinch” it out from between my thumb and forefinger. I found out by researching that I can also finger a Cnatural like this: oxx xox. This alternative is closer in pitch, but when I do it on my Clarke Meg I get this awful metallic sounding resonance or reverberation. It literally sounds like my whistle has a screw loose somewhere! Hah hah hah! Has anybody else ever had that happen?
I would just point out to you recorder playa hataz that my $3.00 Angel recorder has no problem playing a Cnatural and my Korg chromatic tuner says it’s right on the money! Hah hah hah! Just messin’ around!!
Yes, common problem so don’t panic! I have not played this particular whistle and different whistles can need different fingering for C nat. One other fingering that can work is oxx ooo—we would be very happy if this worked. Sometimes you need to blow a bit harder or sort of change the pressure of the air to correct the pitch. I didn’t get to the point of half-holing but I believe it would be considered difficult, but not impossible, to do when playing fast. For a note as commonly encountered as Cnat, I think people find another way and maybe half-hole to get certain effects. I have experienced that reverb, but I can’t remember when.
Some other people will be along to help you who actually know something. I think the recorder is sounding more appealing all the time!
oxx ooo works as near as damn it on all my whistles except my feadog.
Personally i have no desire to play Cnat in any other way than oxx ooo. It’s very quick, clean sounding and easy.
If the whistle doesn’t conform then that whistle can be used for playing tunes without Cnat. There’s certainly plenty to chose from - whistles and tunes.
You should prbably buy more. I use OXX OOO on all my Whistles it is slightly out of tune on my Burke but I play fast tunes so you can’t really hear it being out of tune. My Flute takes a OOO XXX C# just be happy you don’t have that problem it is annoying but I just forget it because it is not that bad.
And on my piano, I can play three harmonious notes at the same time. Different instrument, different features
The whistle, due to the nature of it’s construction, is an instrument of compromises. Different makers make different compromises. There is no one true way to play c-natural (though OXXOOO is pretty close). Half-holing allows the most precision. As with anything, it’s a skill to be learned that gets better with time. I can half-hole with reasonable speed an accuracy on f-natural and d-sharp on the three tunes I know that require one of these notes. If you want to learn the skill, you can…after all, how is it that good violinists and other fretless instruments can hit their fingers in just the right spot to make the right notes in tune? Just takes practice.
C nat is a bit week on Megs and ST’s. Try oxxxox or oxxxx or oxxoxx.
On most tube whistles, oxxxox is strongest, but the Megs and St’s are conical so are a bit different.
Well, my Cnatural is sorta on-pitch when I finger it oxx ooo but it sounds like total crap. It sounds like my whistle is “rattling” inside or something! Hah hah hah!! I’ve been working on it today and i’m getting more frustrated with it. As well as “rattling” it also becomes overly “breathy” or “airy” and sort of “scratchy” too. All of the other notes sound really sweet to me. I’m just wondering now after all the feedback from you guys if it is a quality issue with my whistle. I got a Meg becasue it seemed to be universally regarded as a good beginners whistle–however, I also realize that it is just about the cheapest whistle known to man. What would be a good step up to a whistle that would be able to blow a freaking Cnatural? I’m not wanting to regress this thread to a “which whistle is best” thread. There seem to be enough of them to go around. I just wonder if anybody knows of whistle that can blow a really nice Cnatural.
I can finally play a passible Cnatural with no scratchy, rattly, metallic sound. It is actually within 40 cents on my tuner! Hey! Not perfect but a huge step in the right direction! LOL!
When I play Cnat or high D, the sound is always a little breathy compared to notes that I close the top hole on. I don’t know about the rattly part—that’s not spit in the mouthpiece is it?
You have probably messed with that note enough today. Do something else. You’ve made some progress, learned some stuff, made some headway with pitch.
Work on it a bit tomorrow. Try holding the whistle at different angles, just slightly different. Try doing things inside your mouth with your throat, tongue, cheeks, lip to see if you can alter the tone while maintaining the pitch.
Cnat has never sounded quite right on any of my whistles. Not like the other tones. I guess I got my second whistle after a couple months. Some people don’t wait that long. If all the other notes sound sweet, it seems like there might be some potential there and it would be a shame to just toss it. We’ll see what the people who know something have to say.
I think that sounds better on the whistle I have right here too. Hmmm. Now I am confused. But thanks for the idea. And glad S.B.O’Gill has gotten through first crisis okay.!
I have not played this particular whistle and different whistles can need different fingering for C nat. One other fingering that can work is oxx ooo—we would be very happy if this worked. Sometimes you need to blow a bit harder or sort of change the pressure of the air to correct the pitch. I didn’t get to the point of half-holing but I believe it would be considered difficult, but not impossible, to do when playing fast. For a note as commonly encountered as Cnat, I think people find another way and maybe half-hole to get certain effects. I have experienced that reverb, but I can’t remember when.
