Greetings and Happy Holidays. I play on a Howard low D. I find it most satisfying. I recently bought an Overton low D. I am really having trouble making it work for me.It has ajustable pitch. When I got the whistle it was opened about 1-8 inch. What would be a good starting place? Could any one offer info. for changing from one whistle to another. I am in no way finding fault with the Overton. Just hard for me to get started. Thanks in advance. Sandey
It’s out abit so you can sharpen the whistle by sliding it in or flatten it by sliding it out. Use a tuner to slide it into true pitch and of course tune it to the instruments your playing with.
All my Overtons are non tunable so I don’t know what the effect would be on the tone of the whistle.
What are you finding difficult about the whistle?
Enjoy, Jack Orion
Sandy,
I have a couple of Overtons Low-F, Low-D. I haven’t owned a Howard; but, have played a couple of them. If I remember right, the holes are smaller on the Howard, this made it easier to get good seals but detracted from being able to do slurs, half-holing, bends, and vibrato. So if you having problems with squeaks and not getting a good strong tone in the lower octave, check to make sure your fingers are sealing the holes.
The other characteristic of the Overton is it has a kind of back pressure in blowing it. The result is that you can’t play it tentatively, be bold and practice where your not concerned with how loud it will be. Once you get the hang of the breathing required, you’ll find that you can vary the volume a little. In fact I find I can vary the volume more on my overton than on any other whistle, especially in the lower octave. You can also do a fade-away which can sound really cool at the end of phrase in a slow air. To do a fade-away establish a strong tone with a steady breath and then just let the breath run out. The pitch slide a little down but usually stays close to the same note (as opposed to dropping into the first octave).
Overtons aren’t the easiest to play, but they are expressive and versatile. My Overton and Melbay’s 110 Irelands Best Slow Airs Book has brought my play to life.
It’s weird that you would post this because just yesterday I was doing a side-by-side comparison of my Howard and my Overton. I have confessed before that I like Howards and I think my Overton is overall my favorite Low D. There really is a very sharp contrast, however, between the 2 instruments. If you are used to a Howard, I could see how the transition to a Overton would be tough. As Lee points out, the big difference is the way you have to assert yourself when playing the Overton. Once you get the hang of the higher half of the 2nd octave, it’s a really satisfying instrument and the tone if classic.
Merry Christmas.
[ This Message was edited by: DaleWisely on 2001-12-23 08:44 ]
What follows is not so much a criticism
of the Overton low D as a cry for help.
I have had for well over a year a nontunable
Overton low D, I can play it well enough,
but I don’t like it very well. Aluminum
has a sort of dead sound, it seems to
me, I find it hard to be expressive on
that whistle. I conclude that I’m missing something that the rest of you all find in it (as virtually everybody else
likes it very much). I have other low Ds (a Howard and
a Copeland) that I like fine. Maybe
for every whistle, however good, there
are some people who it will leave
unmoved–and maybe that’s my fate with
this whistle–but anything you’all
can do to point me in the right direction
is welcome. I prefer not to give it
up without a fight.
Jim,
Hmm, I thought you’d gotten the hang of the Overtons after your last bout at the Hogan…
Oh well, perhaps they simply aren’t the whistles for you. Why not just focus your efforts on the Copeland and master that? A good Copeland is a mighty fine whistle, no shame in settling down with one Low D.
Loren
I agree with Loren. Even more than with high whistles, I think preference in Low whistles are very much an individual thing. They all really have very different characters.
Dale
Thanks to every one who replyed to my request. I really take to heart your kind words. Strangley my lower octave was good. Middle D and above [ second octave ] sounded to me washed out maybe a little thin. Now the good news. By closing the whistle to make it play sharper there was a great improvment, as you all suggested. But like some of you said there is a big differece in low D whistles. I needed to hear that to. Guess Ill just spend the next few weeks on my Major scales and 3rd and 5ths. Best of every thing to you all as we head into this new year.
I wanted to tell everyone and have you all celebrate with me: My wife took me to a place in Shipshewana, Indiana (USA). The place is called “Simple Sounds”; http://www.simplesounds.com It is a wonderful place to gain whistles and just about anything else acoustic that would fit into the “simple sounds” catagory. Christmas is a great time to get a shopping spree kind of gift! I now have a Susato low D, and G! I also obtained a Hall Crystal flute in D. When you would prefer to toot rather than eat, ya know that you have WHOA Disorder! My children are now telling me I have too many tooters! They just don’t understand! Now that I have these low whistles I need to learn how to play them. My fingers have not been very good for the last few years and I find the reach for the third finger right hand to get to the D hole dificult. Does anyone else have this problem and can offer a solution?
I absolutely want to let everyone know that I have one of the best wives in the known universe!
Chris Miller
christopher.miller2@us.pilkington.com
On 2001-12-31 12:55, cmiller2 wrote:
I wanted to tell everyone and have you all celebrate with me: My wife took me to a place in Shipshewana, Indiana (USA).
Chris! Where do you live??? I love that store - when I'm in the States I practically live there. Not only is the whistle content good, but they occassionally offer hammered dulcimer and harp tutorials, in store, for free. Great stuff.
Incidentally, I ask where you live because I'm in Warsaw, which is only about 30-45 minutes away from Shipshewana.
~Firefly
On 2001-12-31 12:55, cmiller2 wrote:
. . . I now have a Susato low D, and G! I also obtained a Hall Crystal flute in D . . . My fingers have not been very good for the last few years and I find the reach for the third finger right hand to get to the D hole dificult. Does anyone else have this problem and can offer a solution?I absolutely want to let everyone know that I have one of the best wives in the known universe!
I’m glad you said “one of,” else I’d have a bone to pick with you. My wife worked near the House of Musical Traditions (HMT) for several years. Probably quite a bit like Simple Sounds. We lived only six miles from there, and did our part to keep the local economy out of recession. Everything from whistles to harps, I swear one guy used to start salivating when we walked in. It was a lot more fun than supporting our local contractors, which is our current money sink. Last weekend’s trip to HMT only resulted in a SweeTone and a Clare, although I was able to make a side-by-side test of the Susato and Dixon low-D’s.
The thing you’ll have to do to be able to play the low whistles is find the right grip for yourself. I would recommend getting comfortable with the G and moving to the D afterward, but that may just be because I played a G Water Weasel before moving on to the low-D. I find that beginning with the low-G, a piper’s grip, or modified piper’s grip is much more comfortable. I use the pads in the middle of my left hand and the middle pads of the first two fingers of my right, and the last pad of my right to cover the holes. I think some people use all middle pads for some whistles, and some use the last pad for the left ring finger too. It all depends on what’s comfortable. It will take some getting used to, but it’s likely the only way you’ll ever be able to play for long periods on a low whistle.
Charlie