Yesterday I was into town (south east netherlands) and walked along a music shop…through the window I suddenly saw tinwhistles on the counter!!
Ah really I thought…and went in.
Once in, I found out these were called flageolets but WERE generation whistles in brass/ nickel.
I picked up a B-flat in brass and liked it, decided to take it home.
As these are the only ones available I will now further practice …and lots of practice I will need…
If I ever want to play an actual low whistle, I find this whistle already a challenge because of the bigger holes and especially have problems with playing the E notes…
So, the next few months it will be practice practice practice and after that maybe visit the person in Hasselt who has offered me to try out the whistles if I wanted.
Now I have seen how big a B-flat is, I am no longer sure if a low D will be for me, maybe a low F or a low G but thats for later.
I would like to hear if any of you has experiences (whatever kind of) with generation B-flat then post me privately I am interested to hear.
Seems some artists do choose this one too so it cannot be a bad choice.
I do like the warm sound it has from the brass, but now already know I would like to go a tad bigger later on.
but as to b flats in general, they are popular (i think) because:
they are lower, and warmer, than the usual high d.
yet, they are still small enough to play with fingertips rather than the pipers grip, and they are as responsive as high d whistles.
you are right that below the b flat, you sort of rapidly transition into the playing challenges of low whistles- more air, more breath control, harder to get the bell note, and pipers grip necessary.
the Low Whistle Book says that historically, the generation b flat was the lowest whistle available before the lower ones were “invented”, in part by Mr. Overton.
I have Bb flat whistles by Generation, Susato, and Dixon, all of which I love. I agree with Meir about the key of Bb having a warmer sound, not as shrill as high D can sometimes be. I also have an A whistle, which I can play easily, but my low G starts getting a bit tough to play well. If you choose to play a low D, you may have to use the piper’s grip. I haven’t done well with low Ds, even though my fingers are fairly long, but then I haven’t made it a goal. Like any new skill, it will take dedication and practice, but you can do it.
The Bb is the one Generation whistle that is more likely to be good “out of the box” than bad. All of the others tend to have very spotty quality in my experience, but every Generation Bb I’ve seen was at least playable without even tweaking it. This is curious because the Generation C (the next size) seems to be the worst of the line!
The Generation Bb typically takes quite a bit more air than other Bb whistles, but I guess you could simply consider that practice for moving to low whistles. In fact, my Generation Bb and my Burke composite Low F take very close to the same amount of air.
On Lunasa’s CD “Redwood” (track 3) is a piece called Harp and Shamrock. It is played on a Bb flute and sounds good. I don’t like the instrument generally because I find it rather sad sounding.
berti, owning a b-flat key is truly cool in terms of learning to pick up
tunes from other recordings!! if you take note. its used by joannie
madden as well as michael mc’goldrick. and many others! this key
is extremely popular!!! personally, i cannot read any music at all.
i play by ear! so, if you do not have the whistle that the tunes are being played in, then you cannot obviously pick the music up. the b-flat is
truly special! i actually enjoy it because it has that"lonely sound" that
i tend to go for! on the other hand, it’s great for slow-reels as well!
its one of my personal favorites. all the best! -talbert
hi peter! enjoyed your comment!!! ofcourse, many things are
possible. ofcourse, i could have addressed that issue as well. but i do not like to take up too much space when commenting on the board. so many others like yourself have sound advice as well!! cant cover all the basis
at once. thats why it’s great meeting people like yourself! p.s. i really
miss clare! hope ireland is treating you well these day’s! how’s
doolin? all the best. -talbert
In fact, my Generation Bb and my Burke composite Low F take very close to the same amount of air.
ofcourse, many things are