Oxygen Deprivation

I’m a new whistle player. I’ve gotten fairly used to my first whistle, a wooden soprano D, and thought I’d try out a Low D (love the sound, you know?). I got one from Jubilee Music, made from PVC, and I’m not sure what to think. I can’t seem to get more than four notes out of it without getting light headed. Is it my inexperience and improper breathing, or do all low D whistles demand this much air? It seems well made, but I’m probably NOT the best judge.

Low whistles definitely take more air. Play yours only until you feel light headed, then switch back to your high D. As time goes on, you will be able to play for longer and longer periods on the low whistle.

Hard to say if it’s you or the whistle, since Low D’s can vary wildly in the amount of air required to play them. Keep at it with the one you’ve got, and try to check other Low D’s as the opportunities arise.

A really good beginner’s Low D is the Tony Dixon; If you can afford another inexpensive Low D give the Dixon a try, it has a low wind requirement for a Low D and is a great deal.

Loren

On 2001-11-17 07:46, Loren wrote:
A really good beginner’s Low D is the Tony Dixon; If you can afford another inexpensive Low D give the Dixon a try, it has a low wind requirement for a Low D and is a great deal.

I agree 100%, the Dixon low D has very low wind requirements and is a great bargain.
The finger stretch and hole size are also quite comfortable even for someone with hands as small as mine.

lightheaded–ness is a common problem for beginning flute players, so if your low D requires as much air as a low D flute, you will grow out of getting dizzy and into creating subtle nuances of tone that I believe the whistles requiring more air are capable of. I’m surprised I haven’t seen this question before from beginning players on this board–and on a more lightheaded note, fluting and whistling made me an oxygen junkie!

by the way, I believe it is hyper and not hypo ventilation that is causing your dizziness–but I could be wrong because I get dizzy sometimes from playing whistles that require almost no air . . .

Face it–this is the last legal high!
Enjoy it while you can. If it goes
on after another month or so, maybe you
should get another low D whistle. Right
now it’s probably par for the course.

A lot of whistle’s I’ve seen are advertised as having a low air requirement. Is there any standard “test” to determine if a whistle really has a low air requirement?

Regards,
Roger

I have a Jubilee low-D, and it does have very high air requirements. The windway is half-moon shape, and the breath requirements are similar to a Shaw low-D. I agree with the other posters, try one with a curved windway. I haven’t played a Dixon, but my Susato has about half the breath requirement of the Jubilee.

Charlie

Charlie,

Good information you provided regarding the jubilee compared to a susato. I have to correct you on the other thing though:

The shape of the windway (strait, curved, half moon) doesn’t determine the amount of air required to play a whistle. There are plenty of whistles with curved windways, like certain Copelands and Burkes, that require more air than some “half moon” whistles I’ve played, like the O’Riordan. Many flat windway whistles like the Dixon and Overton Low D’s take very little air, but others like the Shaw take a monumental amount.

So in regards to breath requirements, it really boils down to the particular brand and key of whistle that one is looking at, rather than the shape of the windway.

Cheers,

Loren




[ This Message was edited by: Loren on 2001-11-18 13:40 ]

Peter,

Daniel Bingamon from Jubilee Music Instrument Co.
Whistles made during year 2000 have curved windways at the fipple opening, the earlier ones had a half-moon shape. This was changed because it is easier to voice the curved windway for clearer tone than it is for half-moon version.

Low Whistles do have a different playing characteristics than high whistles, usually people get used to the changes and learn to breathe differently.

For those switching from high-d to low-d, a smoother transition, it is recommended to play a Low-G whistle for while instead of dropping straight down to Low-D.