Can we take a quick poll? I don’t want to be the one to change centuries of Irish musical tradition, but how many would be in favor of moving standard pitch down so that the cherished bottom D cran is actually a B?
That’s right, just make the B natural below middle C the new bottom D on a whistle, thereby shifting pitch and fingering for several tens of thousands of airs, dance tunes, ballads. Would that be too much of an inconvenience for the global mass of ceoltoiri?
This modest proposal rises from a totally selfish motive. . . my most favorite tinwhistle for the last few years has been a B Natural Composite made by Michael Burke. The official brochure description of “mellow and smooth and ultralight weight in black Bakelite Composite” hardly suffices to convey how satisfying this whistle is to play and to hear.
It is indeed lightweight but with a strong, solid timbre with a sort of inherent resonance, especially in the bottom D (B, actually). No, I don’t know what “inherent resonance” is, but it’s the only thing I can think of to describe the fullness of sound that dwells somewhere between the standard wooden whistle and a wooden flute. The Burke B Natural Composite projects a tonal quality all its own. It sings, nicely.
And when you hit the upper octave, it’s smooth and even more rich, with an extremely powerful, achingly pure high C natural that just wails when you slide into it.
If Irish music were pitched a minor third lower, I could play it a lot more than I do.
Anyone want to start a revolution? Or at least a whistle flash mob? Round up a couple dozen players armed with B naturals and we’ll meet at random sessions, take them over and change the course of musical history.
Is ar mhaithe leis féin a dheineann an cat crónán. It’s for his own benefit the cat purrs.
Mr. McCullough, Giraldus Cambrensis states a strong case for you:
“It is remarkable that, with such rapid fingerwork, the musical rhythm is maintained and that, by unfailingly disciplined art, the integrity of the tune is fully preserved throughout the ornate rhythms and the profusely intricate polyphony—and with such smooth rapidity, such ‘unequal equality’, such ‘discordant concord’. Whether the strings strike together a fourth or a fifth, [the players] nevertheless always start from B flat and return to the same, so that everything is rounded off in a pleasant general sonority. They introduce and leave rhythmic motifs so subtly, they play the tinkling sounds on the thinner strings above the sustained sound of the thicker string so freely, they take such secret delight and caress [the strings] so sensuously, that the greatest part of their art seems to lie in veiling it, as if ‘That which is concealed is bettered—art revealed is art shamed’.”
Okay, so it was Bb back in the day, but hey, how much more traditional can you get?
I’m just as happy as I can be with my Burke B whistle. It’s become my favorite since I picked it up at the St. Louis Tionol recently. I bought it just in case I ran into a B piping session. Now I’ve got a B set of my own and I don’t particularly care if I never play in D again.
I have only played a year, and therefore do not speak with much authority, but I have a Burke in D, and I love it in all the notes but the high A and B, which I have to “approach” very carefully to keep from blowing my ears out. The “quiet whistles” in D aren’t really much better. Even my own loving family tells me that they don’t like it when I hit a high A–in ANOTHER ROOM! So I’m all for this.
Imagine Irish music without pain!! [/i]
I have far too much cash invested in the key of D to submit to this tamely. On the other hand, if we were to move to Bb and its relative keys, Generation Bb’s being as good as they are, we could all save a lot of cash.
This will get much better with practice. Burkes are some of the easiest whistles out there, and they can actually play the high B and high A softly after you get some control.
Just use the old notation you’re used to. Fingering’s the same on a B whistle as on a D, or a Q, after all.
Many pipers do this all the time in their own way. Whether you’ve got an Eb, D, C#, C, B, or Bb (or, God help us, an A or G) set, in conversation the notes tend to get referenced from D. It’s a shop-talk expedient that saves a lot of time and headache, as being clear about the intervals is more important than being able to recite the “correct” name of the note. But that’s probably because most pipers don’t play with orchestras and such. My set’s in C, but when I use notation, for example, I read a D tune and play it so fingeringwise. It just happens to come out in C. I don’t think much about that. The thing is to play.
‘B’ would be OK, ‘Bb’ may be historical, so how about ‘A’? A flute in ‘A’ is still a managable beast (and more effective at fending off rabid teenaged ITM groupies), ‘A’ whistles are divine (still loving my Burke Blacktip), ‘D’ whistles wouldn’t be obsolete, and there would be opportunities for high ‘E’ whistle (the Kawasaki Ninja of tooters), as well as Low E. The Box and string players wouldn’t revolt much, and somebody could make a penny or two selling ‘A’ tubes for Gen Bb’s (gotta have cheapies).
Very OT: One time, at Songwriters Camp (yesterday, actually) a student wanted some R&B sax in B. It’s always nice to keep some capos handy!!
James, are you saying I’m, like, “out of control?”
Actually, I have learned to hit the A and B just hard enough, and use a tighter embrochure, and it definitely helps. Still, it can be loud.
I bought my first whistles in D because all the books said, “Irish music is usually played on a D whistle.” How nice it would be if all the books said, “Irish music is played on a D and B whistle; if you like a higher sound, get a D, and if you like a lower sound, get a B.”
Just a newbie’s viewpoint on this.
Mike Burke worked on my “quiet” D whistle to bring back the A and B that I couldn’t control and it’s much better now. The A is as easy as the G, and the B takes just a little more push. Neither clear the room anymore. The element of surprise is gone - will I hit the B or will it be an overblown low B - that’s the part that makes me happiest.
OK by me.
