Is it just me? I’ve got a couple of Clark Original D whistles-one tweaked by the Whistle Shop and one that hasn’t been altered. I love the nice chiffy sound of each, but any attempt to roll that second octave D, particularly on the tweaked whistle, results in a series of ugly squeaks. Doesn’t matter which holes I use to cut, the squeak is there. Overall the tweaked whistle is pretty nice–much nicer on the high B than the other, but if I can’t roll a D without the cat’s complaining, it loses its appeal.
Is there something I might be doing wrong, or some further tweak that might help? Thanks for any help.
2nd octave D roll? Maybe a “crann”? It is done by cutting D twice or thrice with different fingers. So that’s the talk about cuts, as far as I understand.
If you finger that D with xxx xxx, your cuts will sound “as usual”, but will squeak on LH fingerholes. If you finger it with oxx xxx, you can cut with any finger, but the cuts will sound different, as the “cutting” sound has lower pitch than D, not higher.
Yes, I guess it would probably properly be called a crann.
I generally finger that 2nd octave d xxx xxo, as it sounds better that way, and that’s when the squeaking is worst–it doesn’t matter which holes I use to cut, they’re all bad. I just tried fingering it as xxx xxx and find that there’s a little less squeaking, but it’s harder to keep it in the 2nd octave. Maybe I’ll just have to work on fingering it that way.
Whenever I’m going to be cutting a second octave D, I always use the full-closed fingering. I then generally cut with the highest finger on the bottom hand, giving a pleasant little tweet. It stays in the second octave just fine. I have no idea if this is really applicable to your situation, though…
Like Protean posted above…I use the XXXXXX fingering for D (lower and upper) and when I cut, especially the upper D I lift the lower hand pointer finger XXXOXX. It has a nice crisp sound with no squeaks. Works especially well on my Blackbird.
Hmmm … Sometimes I do a second octave d cran, but sometimes I do a proper roll. My normal fingering for second octave d is OXX XXX. When I do a cran I play the d with XXX XXX but when I do a roll I use the ‘open’ fingering OXX XXX and just lift R3 for a milisecond for the upper note. Seems to work OK.
Ooh … just realised that also, following a tip from a friend of mine, sometimes I do the second octave d cran with the open fingering for the d - he called it a ‘reverse cran’. Try it. You’ll see what I mean. It’s quite a nice noise if you get it right. Still, I think it’s to be used sparingly …
I think we respondents are making assumptions, and it’s not 100% clear what fingering you’re describing. Can you be more explicit? Is it a cran or a roll you’re attempting?
Both are possible. But almost no one I know rolls the d. It’s just not worth it. As pointed out here, cranning or double cutting on xxxxxx or oxxxxx is fine and common. The xxoxxx cut is problematic and prone to squeak to the a, so just substitute a different cut. I just tested my Clarke original, and the usual d cuts work just fine.
OK, I’m confused as well. I don’t generally use the x and o notation, so I may well mean oxx xxx. I leave the top hole open (I’m afraid I play right hand over left, contributing to the confusion ) when playing the 2nd octave d.
I’m thinking of written music that uses the “roll” symbol over the 2nd octave d. On other whistles I’ve played it by cutting the e and the f in turn. It seems to work fairly well without squeaks, except on the Clarks. The traditonal crann on the lower d is not a problem. No squeaks at all.
So now I’m wondering, how do others play that “crann” or “roll” on the 2nd octave d? Am I doing it wrong?
To ornament a three-beat d3, I finger xxxxxx and I usually double cut with the f# and e fingers (B1 and B2), in that order: d{g}d{^f}d. It’s a pseudo-cran, since a cran involves at least a third cut. I sometimes delay the timing a bit, which gives: dg/d/{^f}d i.e. dum-digga-dum. All these notations are approximations.
If your fingers are moving quickly enough and cleanly enough, there’s no way the Clarke will squeak. Don’t overblow, and make sure your fingers are not moving too far off the holes - just enough to “blip” the cuts.
Aha! That’s what I was looking for! I suspected it was something mechanical on my part, but didn’t know what. I’m going to work on this until I get it right.
I guess you meant oxxxxx ?
) when playing the 2nd octave d.