thanks to all for the great advice on my first whistle. re:plaese help. one more question.
tunable or nontunable?
99% of the time will be solo in my home.
not sure if i’ll ever play with anyone else.
Tuneable…you may very well want to play with recordings, and they may or may not be precisely in tune…if they’re even in the key of D.
Really, buy the whistles you like best. I only have two tuneable high whistles (a Tully and a Susato). All of my others are non-tuneable. This is not really that much of a disadvantage if you are playing solo.
For me, I really don’t like having to tune the whistle when I pick it up. If you can store it in the already-tuned position, that’s not a big deal, but I like being able to put the whistles away neatly, which means breaking them down. So I have to tune again when I pick them up later. Urg. My ear is not that good and I hate tuning to the little electronic gizmo.
-Patrick
Why do you have to break them down to store them? My Elfsong is tuneable, and I just put it back in my gig bag with the head joint where it was when I was playing it.
Redwolf
Have you been able to try any whistles?
My point being if you’re not planning on playing with others most of the time, get whatever whistle you like best. I play whistle solo, and the few times I play with others they tune to me. My whistle preference is the Clarke style conical whistle which means everyone always has to tune to me since I’ve yet to see a tunable conical whistle. If I was playing sessions with the whistle, I’d probably need a tuneable whistle or a big stick to force others to tune with me…
On 2003-01-06 23:26, Jayhawk wrote:
If I was playing sessions with the whistle, I’d probably need a tuneable whistle or a big stick to force others to tune with me…
Well, you could get a tuneable low D, and then you’d have both! 
Redwolf
I don’t know…
IMHO:
- most high-end whistles are well in tune when warm.
- Is perfect tuning together a real avantage in ITM sessions ? To my ear, some slight off-tuning in a unisson does give some raspiness, some village colour which makes it trad. It ain’t fancy sholarly music after all. Or should it?
- can a session be globally atuned ? What with the piper (and most fiddlers) playing just, not equal temperament?
Well, I’ve got a tunable burke brass pro d, and i think i’ve been cured of whoa. It’s perfect for me, and it even has a little engraving to show where the head should be.
-just a thought
Redwolf - some person on this board much wiser than me once said “my favorite low D whistle is the flute”.
I’m of the same opinion, and I have a Dixon 3 piece polymer on order right now. Previous posts have extolled the virtue of this flute for it’s weight, heft, and usability as a personal safety device.
When the Dixon arrives, it, myself and my Clarke will be coming to a session near you… Prepare to tune your weapons!
(edited for severe grammar issues 
)
[ This Message was edited by: Jayhawk on 2003-01-07 14:42 ]