new Feadog pro d

Whistle
1

I’ve been watching, but haven’t posted for quite a while. A while back, I got out my old Feadog, and suddenly, it sounded real good! (a common story . . . the whistler changes, not the whistle). Anyway, I decided that I wanted one of those new “Feadog Pro D’s”. I finally found one on the net, and ordered it.

Upon its arrival, I noticed that it was almost exactly my old whistle, but in nickle and with a black head (I knew this already!), but also . . . though the hole placement was identical, the pro d was 1/4 inch longer. Using an electronic tuner, the pro D was a tad flat (sometimes as much as 20 cents) but still, it sounded good.

A little thinking has made me realize that a whistle could be prefectly 100% in tune at one barometric pressure, and off in another . . . in tune at sea level, and flat in Denver, Colorado. So, I don’t think it is that much of a big deal. I play to entertain myself, and I like the sound of the whistle.

Good is never enough. Since the head came off easily, I did the poster putty number in the head. I like the result, though maybe unnecessary. It is loud, but sweet, and fun in the second octave.

I’m wondering if others have notice the longer barrel? . . . and one more question: Why was it so hard to find? In internet music stores, the Feadog seems to not be carried by many of them, and the Pro D was very hard to find. I found this one on eBay from a store in California. Made my first purchase on eBay.

Any other comments of the pro D?

2

My experience of the standard Faedog D is that its a bit sharp on the bottom C (concert D).
Its also slightly shorter than some other D whistles.
Maybe they are just correcting this?

Whistle tuning does vary greatly with temperature, but I am don’t know about barometric pressure.
Brass instrument tuning (trumpets, horns etc) varies with humidity.
I have no way of testing humidity other than taking a whistle in the shower with me!
Maybe someone wants to volunteer that or take it into a sauna?

You could maybe test barometric pressure by playing it in a pressurised aircraft (usually pressurised at the equivalent of 5000 feet).
If anyone on here is a pilot they might want to volunteer to try it.

3

I have both nickel tubes here - Feadóg and Feadóg Pro, and mine are exactly the same length, with the same hole layout. So maybe yours is just a batch variation (mine were bought together at the same time).

If you line up the holes, can you tell if the extra length is at the head end or bell end? If the bell, maybe Gordon is right and they’ve lengthened the tube slightly. I’ve noticed the slightly sharp bell D on Feadógs, and sometimes insert a small blob of blue tack into the bell end to cure that.

In any case, you should have plenty of room to push the head in to bring it up to pitch. All Feadógs can be pushed in a quarter tone or more over concert pitch. And I never assume that the head is set properly at the factory for my local temperature and playing. That’s what moveable heads are for. :wink:

As for barometric pressure … In a given material, the speed of sound decreases with density. So high barometric pressure (denser air) should, in theory, lengthen the effective tube length and flatten the whistle. At the same temperature, a whistle should play sharper in Denver than in Little Rock!

The Feadóg Pro is nice. I like the heftier tube, which is really the only difference apart from the sharper-edged finger holes. I’d guess they’re made in smaller numbers and less widely distributed, since the standard Feadóg is cheaper and more than up the task of tootling tunes.

4

Thanks for the replys.

Upon examining the whistle tube a bit, it appears that the extra length is on the head end. It also appears that the tube is pushed all the way into the head, so I can make the whistle flatter, but not sharper.

I guess if I were really a stickler, and insisted that my whistle (of which I am usually a solo player) must be in perfect concert pitch, I could get out my trusty dremmel tool and shorten the head end of the whistle . . . . I don’t think I want to do this right now. I like the whistle very much, and think I’ll leave good enough alone. I think Lao Tzu said something like “knowing when to stop is the beginning of wisdom.” Since it was a bit hard to come by, it may be hard to replace if my efforts at perfection ruin the whistle.

I have made a few low tech whistles . . . three or four high whistles (of which one is playable, and the rest of which have gone to the trash can), and two low d’s, a G, and an A (which is very, very quiet). I like all the low whistles I’ve made. (I don’t like CPVC dust, and may not be making many more.) Using a good tuner has resulted in whistles that have better intonation than most I can buy. I really like the low tech low whistles, but I am not thrilled with the high one . . . it has way too much “edge” for lack of a better word.