I’ve found that the voices of different whistles varies greatly. One particular aspect of the voice that interests me, and varies greatly, is something I’ll call “breathiness”.
To me “breathiness” refers to the sound of rushing air, e.g. flowing out of a compressed air hose. Some whistles have none. Some have a lot. This sound is separate from the “tone” being played.
My question is: do listeners a few feet (or more) away notice the breathiness ?
I’ve often wondered if the “breathy” sound of a whistle is more noticeable to the player than someone else listening. Since a) the breathy sounds are higher frequencies (band-limited white noise), and b) higher frequencies are attenuated more per unit distance of air, the breathy sound may not be as “present” for listeners, especially in an acoustic (jam or session) setting.
Does anyone have any experience with this ?
Has anyone tried comparisons ? (i.e. different whistles at different distances).
Many times I have played whistles with slightly different tonal characters to friends, to get their impression. They always noticed if a whistle was a bit more breathy than another. Clearly it could be heard from a few meters away. But it might not be noticed much in a mix with other instruments, or from greater distance. Recording did also show clearly if a whistle was more breathy than another. In fact even if I liked some breathiness when playing, hearing it recorded I found it less desirable than a purer alternative, because wind noise (breathiness) present in every note seemed to mask the real tone. This is different from using some wind noise in some notes as part of expression, when playing a purer sounding whistle. But everyone will have their own personal preferences with this.
I think other people hear it, but not as strongly.
An example would be the MK low whistles. I’d heard them played and noted some bit of breathiness, but then when I got one I was a bit put off at first by the breathiness, until I got used to it. It was much more breathiness than I thought it would have… So, then I’d started playing it a lot, and got around to recording. Magically upon listening to the recordings it started having the same tone as when I’d heard other people playing MK’s.
So, I’d say that other people do hear breathiness, definitely. However, I think breathiness is much more intense for the person playing the whistle, and it lessens the farther away one gets from the player. One of many ways a whistle can sound different to the player than the listener, I’d say.
Edit:
I just read your response Hans. That is really strange. I felt like the breathiness obstructed the sound of the MK when I heard it as I was playing it. However, I noted that it blended much better in recordings or when others played one, and seemed to mesh with the core tone of the instrument better. It was only as I was playing the instrument that I felt two separate sounds were clashing a bit.
Maybe it varies from whistle to whistle and the way the breathiness balances with the other parts of tone in that individual instrument/brand/make/etc.
It may well be the case. Or it may be influenced in the way one prefers a certain tone character.
I just made a quick dirty recording, one whistle, three different distances to the microphone. First close ca 50cm, second from two meters, third from four meters, approx. I adjusted volume levels afterwards. There is some background noise too, my fire crackling and rumble from wind outside. But you clearly can hear the breathiness of the whistle sound, in all three distances. This is the most breathy whistle lying around here, a Shaw A whistle. https://app.box.com/s/7f9ttxse30ic1q8mue3n