Hello, I’m new here and I have tiny hands. My middle finger is about 2.5 inches long… that sounds respectable but get out a ruler and you’ll see what I mean. Well, it’s not that tiny, but I am pretty sure they are full grown 'cause I’ve been wearing the same size shoes for years now. It’s all relative.
POINT:
My C whistle is so big it annoys me. My D whistle is tolerable, but It’s a conic sweetone and if it werent for that it would be much worse. Besides the size issues, I like high and loud things. (I play flute and sax.)
I was looking around at F and G whistles… and the only very attainable ones I found were Generations. I haven’t been whistling long or strong, but I have caught on to the fact that generations are very much like the state lottery.
Is there anything higher than an E that I could get on a budget and might be a better alternitive to combining fipples and sandpaper?
I’m thinking about buying a nickel g and f and hoping I can file one down into an okay instrument. My definition of “okay” is very loose… I play a sax that is older than my grandfather and hasnt been worked on for 43 years. It is better than okay.
Basically, I want a high whistle that will be loud, small, and has a quality that doesnt have to be good, as long as it plays without tedium. Are the standard Generations REALLY so bad they wouldn’t count as that? Are there any alternitives? Would I have a good chance of making a generation more playable with one of the numerous guides? (I’m great at following instructions… and Reed College has a nuclear reactor just 20 miles away!)
I double-doggy dare you all to read this and give me a good reply!!!
I have a high G Generation that I love, though nobody likes to be around me when I play it… very high, very shrill and very loud… you’d love it! LOL
It also could beat up your tin whistle, with both my hands tied behind its back. And it looks like it has been in a few knowck down, drag outs, let me tell ya. I’m sure that the actual tuning has been altered somewhat, but since noone sticks around long enough to play with me and it, who cares?
The smallish gens I’ve had any experience with (only about three) were are pretty good, and I only saw fit to do much tweaking on one. I really like gens, though, so I’m a bit biased.
Several others make whistles in those keys and still stay very reasonably priced. Jubilee and susato come to mind. But I can’t vouch for them. The only whistles in f and g I’ve played are gens.
I remember a thread not long ago discussing the quality of the very high whistles from generation, and I believe it was decided that they were above average.
I’ve got a G I can’t hardly get my fingers on, and an F I like pretty good that I tweaked a bit. Both are red tops, and I would like to try them in the blue tops. (nickle). My favorite gens that I have are in nickle. (but could just be luck)
I think Freeman tweaks the high g and f’s too, and would probably be worth looking into, if your not into learning whistle tweaking.
No, mine is a redheaded brass, from waaaay back in the late 70s or early 80s
Not yet, though I am in negotiations with Jerry Freeman to tweek it if he doesn’t think it is too beat up (late night jams, under questionable influence, at many a fiddle festival - think big feet and little care about where I put it down… sigh)
Tweet small whistles are a lot of fun to tweet play. If you tweet can get your tweet fingers on tweet them. The only tweet problem is that it is tweet dangerous to walk around tweet playing such a small whistle. It’s too tweet easy to trip and tweet accidentally swallow the tweet whistle. The tweet doctor says the tweet tweet sound will tweet go away in a few days, but tweet will start tweet again a day or two later befor it’s tweet gone for good.
Just my impression, but I think the Generation F and G whistles are fun to play. I have both in brass and in nickel plated. Since I have large hands, the G requires me to use the finger tips and I must be very careful, but the good sound surprises me. If I am in a sour mood, just playing the “Star of County Down” on my nickel F will always cheer me. For the cost,(about the same as a pint of Guinness), they are a blast.
As another point, I found that learning to do the fingering on different whistles helps me with the fingering on all whistles. It helps weed out the sloppiness.
S’ funny, I’m not a fan of Gens from D down, but from Eb up they’re great. F would be a good one to go for. G just hurts too much to play in polite company or near expensive glassware…
Okay, so you have small hands. Without trying to sound flippant. it sounds like you’ve got the same problem on a C or Bb that the rest of us have on a low D. Sooooo… have you thought of trying a piper’s grip?
I actually liked the Generation high G - until I got lucky on eBay and picked op an old solid brass (lead fipple plug) high G. If you ever get a chance at one, it’s worth grabbing. Now I’ve sold all of my plastic-ended Gens.
They can be piercing - although I think some folks tend to overreact and/or overstate this factor a bit. I’ve yet to shatter a window or wineglass and my dogs don’t react any more to a high G than any other whistle.
I have one of the old lead fipple jobs, but the badge has come off so I can’t be 100% sure it’s a Gen - although the patch where the badge was is the right shape. Actually it’s somewhere between F and F#, but it’s a sweet whistle.
Personally the high G literally does hurt my ears - it’s that certain pitch (also the bark of some small dogs!) that just hits me wrong.
