Made a few D whistles for my grandchildren this week and they turned out so well that I thought I would try my hand at a Low D. I like it better than my Susato. Much cleaner attack, not as much breaking to the higher octave, sounds like a flute to me. Made from CPVC pipe because it was closer to the hardwood dowel rod diameter and required less sanding. I’m new to whistling and all I own are a few Susatos. Have a Howard Low D on order. Also new to the C&F forums. Is there a place to upload sound files? I would really appreciate an experienced opinion of this Low D whistle. Which by the way, turned out pitched a little too high. That’s another story. Won’t bother you with it unless someone asks.
…Thanks
We would like to see some pictures also please!
Below is the link for pasting some tunes,
well you send them as e-mail attachments to
Tony Higgins for approval and pasting.
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/index.htm#postyours
Welcome to this realm!
From an avid grampa, whistle enthusiast and occassional poster here, but constant observer.
Best wishes in your whistlemaking!
Email me if you want to chat, because that’s pretty much my only “chat room”.
Mack
Tony Higgins posted my sound clip on the Slow Airs page. At the top of the list the tune is De Bharr na gCnoc. Have mercy on me, I’m a new player. http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/slowairs.html
I have no idea how to add a link correctly.
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/slowairs.html
There you go, just needed a bit of a haircut 
Slan,
D.
That was lovely!
Wow. Did you add the reverb artificially, or were you actually playing in a huge church?
I think you made a nice sounding whistle.
I like the sound of your whistle very much!
I added some reverb. The whistle sounds a little too breathy, was trying to take some of it out. Does anybody know what makes a whistle sound either breathy or more of a pure tone? I’ve made several whistles this week in 3 different keys, they all sound this way. Material is CPVC. Does a metal whistle sound cleaner?
Both the whistle and the playing sounded good.
The piece you played? De Bharr na gCnoc - I am
not familiar with this piece at all. I did a search and
found that the title is a line in the song
“Mo Gile Mear”
There is also a polka by a similar title which
translates as “over the hills and far away”
This polka doesn’t sound anything like
your piece.
Your whistles chiffy - breathy sound is not to be
considered altogether undesirable. I
happen to like this sound.
At some stage Jerry Freeman, Daniel Bingamon
or some of the other experts might chiff in and advise you.
But AFAIK some factors contributing to this sound.
- The fipple blade shape and sharpmess.
- The windway size and placement to the blade.
- The PVC tube resonance also.
On the matter of tube resonance, I have an aluminium
Low D from Daniel Bingamon. He finished the one I have
by coating it with varnish. I recently took the notion
to remove the finish and polish the whistle to
a high finish. I am pleased with the aesthetics -
but more interestingly, I found the resonance of the
whistle changed for the better, as least I liked
the tonal difference I found.
BTW You wouldn’t happen to have a link to
a site with notation or MP3 etc of “De bharr na
gCnoc”
Keep up the making and the playing.
AND give us a sconce at the handiwork.
De Bharr na gCnoc. Page 57 in “Ireland’s Best Slow Airs”, published by Waltons Publishing. Bought the book online from The Whistle Shop, $15.20. The book has 64 tunes, some I like, some don’t hold my interest. Some of the tunes are best played on another instrument in my opinion.
Tony McGinley, I appreciate your suggestions about whistle sound. I just made a soprano D (5/8" O.D. CPVC) with a tapered windway and I believe it has taken a considerable amount of the breath sound out. If I keep plugging away, maybe I’ll finally make a whistle with the sound that suits me. Thanks to everyone for their comments. You all are way too kind, but I appreciate it.
If you’re trying to take out the ‘airy’ sound, here are few steps.
-
Cutting a little bit of ramp on the underside of the ramp.
Many forget to do this, out of sight - out of mind. -
Making the ramp edge too sharp. Too sharp is bad, too dull is bad.
Try making the ramp using a file. There are many ways of doing this, there is NO one perfect method. The windway, window opening position, duct height, window dimension all interact with each other.
One ramp method is with angles. A very sharp angle on the edge and a very gradual angle rest of the way for the ramp. -
A little bit of chamfer cut on the block.
-
A tiny-tiny bit of chamfer on the roof of the windway.
The two chamfers can help aim the ‘windsheet’ in relation to the blade and ramp.
Also, keep in mind that this ‘windsheet’ that comes out of the air duct and interacts with the window and blade changes shape in the upper octave. It gets wider and sometimes changes it’s trajectory because the cuts in the chamfer or scratches in the pathway and other forms of interference.
I’ve heard improperly voiced whistles that would sound like they’re playing two notes at the same time because of something interfering with the windway opening.