So I have an upcoming “gig” with a Scottish-oriented group coming up on October 1st. Which would be fine, but more than 1/2 the tunes are in A Ionian, which won’t fit on any of my flutes or whistles.
Since my A-flute won’t arrive within the next two weeks, what type of A whistle can I get in the next week that fulfills the following requirements?
Inexpensive ie < $50 USD
In stock = short shipping times
Sounds decent.
I am not looking for a recital-quality professional instruments with lots of bells and . . . but anyways, something that will perform solidly.
Alternatively I guess I could go with a low E whistle and play as if playing “G” tunes on a D-whistle. . . .any recommendations?
Lots of Chieftains floating around out there, but not all are tunable. Because of so many the prices are low. I sold one like it to a Chiffer for $50, I think…They take more air than Burkes for example, which are a completely different animal.
Maybe a Dixon I know that will not be too far out of your price range I think the Whistle Shop has some of them. Too bad my Syns are gone there was an A in that set but that was not a very good key for that size. Doc Jones has a Water Weasel in A it is a bit more than you want to spend but I just got the Eb that he had (I actually traded for my Syns) and it is one of the best whistles I have ever played if not the very best.
Could you name some of the A Ionian tunes? I primarily play Scots music and find most of the tunes in A are Mixolydian (for which a D whistle works well).
We’re using a pre-fabbed tunebook. It’s primarily for fiddle players- I’m the hood ornament, or something. Many of the tunes are definitely in A Ionian, rather than mix - I suspect it’s because whoever arranged the tunes came from something other than a trad background. I agree with you - it is kind of odd.
My impression is that A major is a common Scottish fiddling key.
Since I got it in July, I’ve had a blast playing A major tunes on my low E O’Riordan, but I don’t think there is such a thing as a readily available cheap low E whistle. Surely your best bet is indeed the A Susato. (Or maybe a high E Susato, but as I recall, those were hard to come by last time I checked.)
Yup. I meant to stand firm, but you made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.
And the non-tunable is great for its purpose - it’s rugged enough I carry it (in a padded pouch) in my briefcase. Gets played at work a lot. I’ve even hauled it to Japan with me a couple of times - I’ve played it in a covered stairwell seven stories up while a typhoon was pouring rain down outside.
Does take more air than some, but doesn’t require the second-octave push needed to keep my old-style Syn D from burbling. Takes a lot of warming up, but after that it’s pretty stable and doesn’t clog much.
I have a Syn set that has an A body (different head - newer style, less push needed). Sounds great, but it’s on the quiet side and due to the small bore (for an A whistle) the 0XX 000 “C-natural” doesn’t work - needs to be half-holed or use the 0XX X0X cross fingering.
Had you the time/money I’d probably recommend a tunable Overton or Chieftain, but since you’ll be replacing it with the A flute fairly soon a Susato or Dixon tunable should do you fine.
In stock? Elderly Instruments (our favorite shop) always listed the E and B Susatos, but when my buddy tried to get an E, they put it on order and it was something like half a year before they finally managed to get ahold of one for him. It seems to me my B was also a long time coming, though not nearly that bad.
BTW, I should add that as a result of that, I’ve never actually tried the Susato E… but if it works as well as the Eb I have, it would seem a good choice.
Upon further review of the setlist, the vast majority are NOT, in fact, in unfriendly keys! Many of the tunes in the souce are in A Ionian and C, but our setlist is apparently OK.
In other words, my WhoA attack was unjustified!
I’m kinda disappointed
Thanks to everybody who offered to sell or loan their whstles my way - turns out it probably will not be necessary.
