Questions on whistle design for the experts

Whistle
1

Hi

Can anyone tell me how hole placement and bore affect C nat fingering? Is there a magic formula out there somewhere?

I just built a Low A whistle from aluminium tubing. It started out life as the inner part of a telescopic bathroom curtain rail. The bore is approximately 16mm and wall thickness something like 0.7mm. I don’t have calipers here, so I can’t give any more exact measurements. I actually went to the hardware store to buy calipers, but they didn’t have any, so I came home with a Dremel instead…

I’m very happy with the whistle which has a nice mellow low whistle sound without any of the finger stretching problems of a Low D and works great for playing longside instruments tuned in D. I would recommend a low A whistle to anyone whether you build it yourself or buy it.

However, the new whistle turned out with totally different fingering for the C nat, or rather G nat in this case than any other whistle I own or have built. The fingering on this one is 0XXXX0. The CPVC Low Tech Whistles I built are all 0XX000. I suppose I should just learn to half-hole it which will work with all whistles.

The one place I did mess up a bit was that the fifth hole ended up too far down the body and therefore much too large. The next time I find that the expected hole size is too small, I must remember to only expand the hole upwards and not down. Well, it’s not a problem when playing the whistle and it is in tune, but I wonder whether this could be a contributing factor in the unusaul C nat (G nat) fingering.

(PS. is the whistle called a Low A when there is no such thing as a high A)

Happy Whistlebuilding

Regards,

Owen Morgan

Yacht Magic
Anchored in the lagoon, St Maarten

My new blog.
Click here for my latest reported position. (Use the satellite view.)

2

The Size of each tonehole and its depth/thickness will affect the pitch of the next 2 higher toneholes most, but it will “shift” the C nat a little too. All tonehole sizes, tonehole placements and internal bore diameter are interactive…Try to reduce the bore end hole a little with putty/etc. It may help to restore the C nat fingering. You can also reduce the oversize hole with clear nail polish.

Bore Diameter: As the bore ratio (diameter/length) increases, the spacing between the toneholes will spread out. The reverse is also true. If you taper the bore Recorder style, you shift/adjust the spacing of the upper registers to correct for flattening. More amateur research on your part will result in more satisfaction! BEWARE!!! this is addictive!

I suggest the amateur book “Secrets of the Flute” by Lew Paxton Price(one source/left frame/craft manuals)
http://www.shakuhachi.com.

…Or, you can play with the 8 hole version of Pete Kosel’s “Flutomat” and make the bottom/8th hole full diameter.
http://www.cwo.com/~ph_kosel/Flutomat-8.html
(note: Average the whistle window measurements to plug into the embouchure diameter [lower L X W + upper L X W divided by 2])

Thomas Hastay.

3

Very cool. I just bought some 1/2" PVC to make an end-blown whistle. This should help a lot.

…john