I have been playing whistles for about a year now, mostly by myself or playing along with a CD. Just recently I have played with other musicians in a session type setting. I own a few low key nontuneable Chieftains. I have always thought they sounded great and never out of tune.So my question is, why get tuneables? Do they ever go out of tune ? Is it for professionals who need instant tune and can’t wait for them to warm up? I have a second question also. What is back pressure? Ok, I have a third question. Maybe this one should go separate. What low whistle tutor book would you recommend? Thanks for the replys.
Sooner or later someone will come to your session with an accordion that’s out of tune… I also think tuneable whistles are nice because they allow to compensate for your blowing style. Or to adjust the tuning as the whistle warms up.
If you’re trying to learn a tune from an older recording, a tuneable can be nice.
Tunables are good for two purposes.
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If someone in your group is playing a non-tunable instrument (concertina, non-tunable whistle, etc) everyone has to tune to them. Even for good “in tune” instruments, subtle adjustments usually need to be made when musicians come together to play. So, in that instance, it’s easier to have a tunable instrument.
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Whistles (especially Chieftains, Albas, and other aluminum ones) are affected by temperature. What may be “in tune” in my 72 degree living room is likely to be out of tune in a warmer or colder pub or other location. Tuning slides help bring these things under control.
When I was a couple of years into the whistle, I never bought tunables..non-tunables were cheaper, and i didn’t think I’d ever play with anyone else. As I started going to session, and developing the skill of recognizing if I was in tune with others, I started really appreciating the tuning slide. This was especially hammered home one session when I started a tune I knew everyone knew. A couple of folks tried to play along, looked pained, and stopped. I knew I wasn’t so drunk that I was butchering the tune, so I asked what I was doing wrong. “You’re flat” was the response, and was quite embarrassing to me. Since then, I’d like to think I’ve gotten better at recognizing when I’m out of tune with others 
When I (much later) played in a band, I found myself using my tuning slide a lot less. I wasn’t playing in session as much, so I pretty much set it to A=440 and let our guitar player tune to me (which was her preference anyway). I found that I didn’t change the tuning as often in that situation as when playing in a session.
I’ve only ever experienced one episode of a whistle “going out of tune” over time. I had a non-tunable Silkstone PVC (back before Paul made tunable versions of the PVC whistle). I had it for 18 months or more, and then one day when I went to session, I realized I was out of tune with everyone. I thought maybe everyone was tuned to someone who was flat, but when I got home and checked my whistle against a tuner, it had gone sharp. I sent it to Paul for adjustment, and he cleaned it out, but otherwise was at a loss as to what had happened to it–cleaning it didn’t improve the utning. So he sent me a new one.
As for back pressure: To me, this is the equivalent of wind resistance when blowing into a whistle. For example, blow air into a straw as hard as you can. then blow air into a coffee stirrer as hard as you can. The coffee stirrer (wich has a much smaller opening) will seem to resist your blowing, and you’ll have to really push to get the same amount of air through it. Others may have a differenet definition, but to me, this is back pressure. Some whistles have a decent amount (the Alba SE, Kerry Songbird Low D, Silkstone Alloy, as examples), and others have very little (Clarke originals, Shaws, Copeland low D).
I can’t help you with the low whistling tutor question, though..never read one.
tutor book? hmm the only I know is the low whistle book by steaphan hannigan…
berti
I strongly feel that if playing in a session its almost a must to have a tunable whistle. Someone is always out of tune…that perosn is usually me, but with a twist I’m good to go. 
Tuneable, absolutely.
I like the tunables so I can twist the body to better match my hands since I play the thing out the side of my mouth.
Why do you do that?
I use tunable whistles. That way, I don’t have to ask the piano player to retune to me. 
Ah, so your whistle is in Equal Temperament, then?
Don’t know of any Low D whistle tutors other than the Low D book that Berti already mentioned, but Phil Hardy has some very good tutorials on his site www.kerrywhistles.com
Click “movies” and then “tutorials” on the bottom of the page.
Oh and about the soundclips you were asking for:
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/index.htm
Many Burke and Overton soundclips.
Goodluck!
I got into the habit early on of playing out the right side. More importantly, it looks cool.
I’m sure you’ve heard enough to go with tuneable - but to add my ten cents - I have a non-tuneable low whistle and have found that although it is a nice instrument in other ways, I would love for it to be tuneable for two reasons:
a) When playing it in a band where I am using on and off during a gig, I find that it is often cold and therefore flat. It only really seems to stay in tune when it is being played constantly such as in a session, and particularly in a warmish room. For a gig situation where you can’t be constantly nursing it, blowing through it etc to keep it warm it can be a real problem.
b) Low whistles don’t sound great when overblown and it would be nice to be able to sharpen it a little and then be able to back off and not blow it too hard - having to really pump the air into it to keep it up to pitch means that I can lose subtelty in playing (well - the little amount of subtelty that was there in the first place anyway…).
Cheers,
Ben.
I too will join this caucus by adding “Indian harmonium” and “old baroque instruments” to the above list. 