Hey everyone, I’m currently in the process of building my own Low - G tin whistle. Though, this is made out of brass with an acrylic resin plug and copper cap. It’s all the same though, right?
At any rate, I got the base tone (G4) properly tuned, layed out my holes, and proceeded to drill the lowest hole. My problem is that while I have the lower octave A in tune, the second octave rings in at a very flat (almost G natural) G#. I have read that tuning between the lower and upper octaves often needs to arrive at a compromise, but the second octave for my first hole is around 3/4 of a step too low. Does anyone have any advice here? I have included some pictures just so that everyone can see where I’m at. Note that I’m saving polishing and buffing for the very last, so there are definitely some cosmetic aspects that need attention.
By the way, I’m using dental-technician grade tools here to drill out the holes. Basically a dremel on steroids…
I know that the hole there looks a bit oblong, or asymmetrical, and that’s mainly because I was experimenting with widening the hole to either side, or closer to the fipple in order to get my desired pitch.
Diameter = 17mm = 0.669 inches because it is the recommended diameter for a low G whistle, according to the “Low-Tech Whistle” guide.
What size hole did you start with (when it was still round) and why did you choose that size?
I started simply working my way up to a 5mm hole, again, by way of the same guide. He recommends 7mm, but I started small to work my way up, and as you will note, my low A is in tune at just past 5mm. I could continue up to 6 or 7 in hopes of compromising, but I just wanted some advice first.
Where did you position the hole in question, and why did you choose that location?
Position: according to TWCalc. The center of the hole is at the proscribed measurement
Do one or more of variables listed above influence one another with regards to tuning and octaves?
I’ve recently tried the blu tack fix over the window to allow me to play quietly. I did this on a sweetone and covered half the window left to right (from the whistlers perspective).
This did drastically reduce the volume but left me with an identical flat problem across the whole upper octave compared to the lower.
Moreover, because it’s so small, it’s very difficult to play the low octave, and so I just thought that it was some type of pedal tone. Those trumpet players among us will know what I’m talking about.
At any rate, I’m going to knock out that fipple plug and make a taller wind channel. Does anyone have any suggestions…possibly 2mm? Low-Tech whistles are about 1.5mm due to the thickness of that size PVC. Does anyone have any other common measurements that work for them?
