I’m wondering whether players (that’s you) generally prefer tunable or non-tunable whistles in several categories, and why:
I’d also be curious, if you prefer a metal whistle, whether or not your instrument of choice is conical or cylindrical bore.
thanks for your time.
Robert
Hi Robert,
I have a tuneable and a non-tuneable Susato D, of which I prefer the non-tuneable but only because of the looks.
Both my High and Low D Dixons are tuneable, and I’m very happy with them. Can’t see the point of a non-tuneable except for price.
All my other whistles are made tuneable only by loosening the heads. Clarke’s Original and Shaw are non-tunable, and the only conical bore whistles I have. The Sweetone is supposedly tuneable, but I’ve nevr tried.
What do I prefer? Depends on my mood, but if I could only have one whistle it would be the Dixon High D. Slightly breathy but not requiring a lot of air, very forgiving, easy to play.
I have a tuneable wood whistle and a lot of non tunable in brass and nickle. I prefer the tunable so I play in tune with other people I play with.
Lady Whistler
The good news about non-tunable
whistles is that–supposing they are
in tune to begin with–they can’t
go out of tune. A whistle with
a real tuning slide can need tuning.
The Sindt has a mark
that tells you where to put the
slide so that the whistle is in
tune, but generally tunable’s don’t.
So often
I’m not sure my tunable
whistles are in tune.
I play a lot with other instruments,
especially banjo, guitar, and fiddle.
These fellows often go out of
tune, so they tune to me. I’m the
pitchpipe. Or, as I mentioned elsewhere,
they take out electronic
tuners and tune to them–but then,
as I’m in tune on my non-tunable
whistle–we end up together.
The principal trouble happens
when I have a tunable whistle
and it’s out of tune.
Sometimes when it’s very cold on
the street my whistles shrink, the
tuning shifts,
and a tuning slide
comes in handy.
On balance I’ve never derived
much practical advantage
from a tuning slide–though if
I had a choice I think I would
opt for one.
On 2002-01-10 10:03, Lady Whistler wrote:
I have a tuneable wood whistle and a lot of non tunable in brass and nickle. I prefer the tunable so I play in tune with other people I play with.Lady Whistler
My principal whistles for playing with others are a Sindt C and D, and although they’re tunable I almost never have to adjust them.
That said, as a practical matter I wouldn’t plan to use a non-tunable whistle with other players unless I knew everyone else had a tunable instrument. We have two or three box players at most of our sessions and their instruments are not user-tunable. Sometimes we have whistlers with non-tunable instruments too, and there’s an irremediable unpleasant pulsing interference sound on high notes if we’re not all in tune.
John
What a dilemma!
Non-tunable for ease of construction.
Tunable for concerned clients.
My guess is …
Tunable!
always tunable whistles for me
On 2002-01-10 10:50, jim stone wrote:
Sometimes when it’s very cold on
the street my whistles shrink
I know the feeling!
Definitely tuneable. Frequency of sound is affected by temperature, humidity and pressure and these are factors that are constantly changing. So if a person wants to play in concert pitch (so everyone is on the same page) adjustments are necessary. So I’ll take a tuning slide any day.
Ronaldo
Martin, Are you playing on the
street? Jim
My vote is for tuneable whistles. Even if you are not playing with others on a regular basis, you may want to do so at a later point.
Even if others tune to a non-tuneable whistle, temperature changes in a room, or instruments coming to room temperature will create tuning difficulties. In general, cold will make strings go sharp, and woodwinds to flat. Heat will have the reverse effect.
Tuneable whistles will give you your very best odds overall.
All the best,
Mark Sackett
At one session where I play, the boxes are in tune and I can use my cherished non-tunable Overton soprano D, no problem.
At the other session the alpha box is sharp and can’t use the Overton. I use my Susato or Sindt instead.
On 2002-01-10 10:50, jim stone wrote:
The good news about non-tunable
whistles is that–supposing they are
in tune to begin with–they can’t
go out of tune.
Assuming, of course, that you always play with people who play at A440. Doesn’t happen for me, so it’s all tunable whistles here.
(In any case, there’s no perfect material that will stay in tune like that – if itexpands and contracts with heat or humidity, it goes out of tune.)
Well I guess it’s my tin ear! I find
the whistles I play pretty constant
indoors. I have mostly tunable
whistles and play in various places,
but the whistles are functioning
as non-tunables because I virtually
never touch the tuning slide (except
when they’re out of tune on
account of the slide). These points
about temperature changes and
materials make sense to me,
but I don’t seem to be
running into the variations–for
what that’s worth. (Perhaps these
remarks explain why I am universally
reviled by musicians who play with me.)
I’ve never had any trouble playing
with box players or other whistles.
But if you are playing along with
out of tune untunable instruments,
the tuning slide must come in handy.
On the street my whistles are also
pretty constant, except when it
gets down into the 30s and low
40s. I switch to PVC instruments then.
Of course we are mad to be out there
at all–the guitarist’s strings start
snapping, etc. People give us
money out of pity.
One time the banjo player showed up
late and explained that he had just
tuned his instrument at home and we
should all tune to him. He was, of course,
quite sharp and the tuning slide
on my whistle was helpful.
So I think that tunable whistles
are better–but perhaps not so much
better as some of you think.
As to conical vs. non-conical,
brass v. nickle, I vote for them
all! But I haven’t much liked the
composite whistles I’ve played
so far.
Tuneable wood is my favorite ever since I got my first Weasel many years ago. I’m a bit prejudiced, since I have started making whistles of this type ( watch this space…).Someone mentioned that Sindt puts a mark on the whistle where it “should” play in tune, and that is a terrific idea which I think I will add to my own whistles. However, this can only be an approximation since the way a player blows his/her horn can affect the pitch.
Here’s another vote for tuneable whistle. The club I was in put out a tape of tunes for the whistle players (and others) to practice along with. Unfortunately, my tape player was slow, so I had to make my whistle substantially flatter. Another advantage of a tuneable whistle!
thank you for all of your great comments to this post. I myself have a tendency to prefer tunable whistles, but I’ve noticed that instruments that are NOT made out of metal, such as the Hoover or Water Weasel PVC seem to be in tune as soon as they are picked up, and there are certainly lots of non tunable whistles available, so naturally, I was curious. Thanks again.
Robert