Hi everyone, I’m new to this forum and new to the tin whistle.
I just got a Clarke Sweetone in D last week and I enjoy the new challenge tremendously (not sure about the neighbors though ).
After the first few tries I put the whistle against a tuner (I also play the violin so being in tune is a force of habit) and this is where I got confused.
Most of the sheet music I found is written in treble clef and the tin whistle according to wikipedia is not a transposing instrument. So the low D on the whistle should be D4, however my tuner shows D5.
Looking around the internet I found a lot of talk about tuning to A 440 (A4) which made things only worse as the lowest A was A5 on my whistle.
Also I don’t think I’m over-blowing, going any slower would make no sound.
This isn’t a show stopper, but I’m just curios whether me, the whistle or my theory are defective
The standard whistle in most traditional music is known as a “high D” whistle. Its lowest note is the D an octave and a tone above middle C, ie an octave above the D string of a fiddle. It’s the same range, pretty much, as a standard piccolo (though a classical one will have notes above the possible range of a whistle). By convention, whistle music is written an octave lower than it actually sounds on a high D whistle.
Was your violin “in tune” the first time you played it? Remember what that sounded like?
Just like the violin, it is up to you to play the whistle at proper pitch. Since you have the tuner out and handy, play a few notes and vary your breath pressure. You’ll see just how much leeway each note offers you against proper pitch. There are no frets on a whistle - just like a fiddle.
I’ll add one tidbit to what benhall.1 has already offered. The Sweetone head can be moved to tune the whistle to a degree. In most cases you will have to place the head and top of the body into some very warm water to loosen the head. That should allow you to move the head further on or off of the body which adjusts the pitch. Use rubber gloves or other material to get a grip on both parts and simply pull. Twisting isn’t always a good tactic on a Sweetone since there is a seam that sticks out on the backside of the metal tube which can dig into the plastic head. But once you have loosened the head you should be able to move it into place for tuning. Tune the G or A note in the first octave to a tuner and you should be good to go. The rest of the notes are up to your breath control. It’s pretty easy to learn. It will become automatic quickly since you probably have developed good ears playing the violin. The Sweetone is a good whistle to start out on. The Sweetones in D are usually delivered pretty well in tune IME. Sweetones in the key of C are another matter.
OK, so my theory has some issues Good to know that neither me nor the whistle are broken
Getting the Sweetone sounding in tune at this point is most likely my fault: I’m at times too sharp on the low octave (especially the low D) and constantly flat on the high octave. With practice I believe it should even out.
Just as you had to learn how to bow your violin, you will have to learn how to “breathe” your whistle.
Where your finger position tunes the fiddle, your breath pressure tunes your whistle.
With the Clarke Sweetone - you are dealing with a low-maintenance whistle as far as breath is concerned.
The taper angle on the sweetone is actually far greater than is considered effective on a whistle/flute - it tends to make the upper octave quite sharp. This is also why the high-taper Clarke whistles have such small tone-holes - it tends to compensate for the exaggerated taper - and that taper has nothing to do with acoustics - it has to do with getting the rolled cone off of the former around which it has been rolled - if the former has too shallow an angle, then the cone will be very difficult to release. It’s just manufacturing constraints …
The difficulty in perception has to do with how whistles actually work.
A whistle is 10 or more decibels softer on the lowest note compared to the highest note - this confuses the modern mind that has become accustomed to the ultra-homogenisation of music and musical instruments .. it’s a recent thing .. maybe it’s good, maybe it’s bad - but with whistles, you cannot use modern perception - it just doesn’t work with default acoustic reality.
When you get used to the emotional significance of the higher note, you will find it natural to use more energy on your breath .. it is how your voice works .. it is not how modern ideas of homogenisation via technology works.
Just relax into it - allow your excitement to raise with the pitch of your whistle .. and .. it works.
There is no decibel adjuster on a whistle - it is what it is - if you allow yourself to be what you are - then the whistle is perfectly suited to allow your true expression.
After that, you can apply digital technology to “compress” the signal for the sake of recording or sound-stage presentation.
In the natural acoustic environment, it does not matter - the human ear is perfectly capable of doing its own “compression” before subjective perception cuts-in.
Hope this helps .. the Sweetone is a very good whistle (in my opinion) - enjoy it!
I could not find where wikipedia says the whistle is not a transposing instrument. On wikipedia I found “tin whistle” listed under List of musical instruments by transposition , section High (sounding an octave higher than written). Ben points out the same thing. Most often traditional Irish or Scottish music for D whistle was written as music for fiddle.
I would go further and say that whistles are transposing instruments, in as much as players can pick up a whistle in any key to match another player, or to suit one’s mood, and even play with scores written in D or G on such different keyed whistles, thus transposing the music.
Yes, and that is the mark of an individual just starting out on the whistle. So don’t be too concerned at this point. You’ll overcome that very quickly. It is by no means as tough as the violin. Once you are conscious of these facts you will naturally adjust your breath to play in tune very quickly.
The fact that you noticed the tuning and asked about it is a good sign. Many folks , new to music in general, would have either carried on playing out of tune or thrown the whistle in a ditch. You, on the other hand, have exhibited the initial skill necessary to get things right with a little practice. You are way ahead of most.
And just for future reference. It is almost never the whistle’s fault.
As I understand more about how to properly breathe, the Sweetone is sounding better and better especially in the upper octave.
I also like the image of playing the upper octave just as if you speak about something with passion and emphases. It’s a really powerful comparison and quite effective.
I think I have the tin whistle bug, I find myself browsing too much the internet on the topic .
My theories usually relate to becoming Emperor of the Universe or offing unlikeable people, so I can assure you, many theories need a bit more tinkering. Feedback is crucial.
Not much more to add really, I think your main questions have been answered perfectly. The only thing I’ll add is about the whistle being “non transposing”
Most whistles are keyless and thus considered not to be chromatic for all intensive purposes. That doesn’t however make them non transposing. It is possible to play a tune in G and then play the same tune on the same whistle in A. This might not be easy or all times practical, but can be done. For some tunes this is easy, Cuz Teehan’s for example can just as easily be played in G or A on a D whistle. I sometimes like to try playing tunes in a different key on the same whistle when I’m practicing, it makes you think about the notes you’re playing and then what that note that then becomes when you change the key of the tune. It’ll help learn the keys a bit better too, especially if you’ve had no classical traning, and can help with general dexterity. A good bit of fun.
But that, while transposing the tune, is not what’s meant by transposing or non-transposing instrument. Which are defined by their sounding pitch… as fingered/notated for non-transposing and in some other key (or arguably, as Hans suggests above, another octave) for transposing.
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