You will have heard this before but I’m new here so I have rights:-)
I am thinking of splashing out on a more expensive whistle ( I currently play a generation, sweetone and a walton which by the way I am more than delighted with) and have decided to buy one of Alba Aerophonics since they are relatively local. Question is tuneable or standard, whats the pros and cons.
Hi Billymac from a fellow Scot! There was a recent thread on Alba whistles to which I contributed being an owner of a tuneable D. It might be worth a look before you commit any hard earned cash. Just do a search and it should come up.
Gerry Thompson
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In general, it depends on who you play with… for example, I play out a lot but always with folks who are dead on A440. Tunable becomes an issue where the overall pitch of the band is a little iffy, or if the whistle itself is made slightly off pitch by mistake (not something which should happen on a good whistle).
So, for example, if you end up playing in a session where everyone tuned against a piano that was a little flat, tunable is a must. If you play with folks who all use electronic tuners, it’s much less of an issue. Of course, this is just my $0.02 - your mileage may vary 
Richard
On 2002-02-18 17:13, billymac wrote:
You will have heard this before but I’m new here so I have rights:-)
I am thinking of splashing out on a more expensive whistle ( I currently play a generation, sweetone and a walton which by the way I am more than delighted with) and have decided to buy one of Alba Aerophonics since they are relatively local. Question is tuneable or standard, whats the pros and cons.
I almost always go for the tunable when I can…but for some reason I prefer the non-tunable Susatos (though I usually buy both a tunable and non-tunable for WhOA purposes).
The cons with a tuneable:
- it’ll cost a little more.
b) there’s a miniscule chance of actually pushing/pulling it out of tune while playing heartily.
iii) It will usually be a bit bulkier & heavier than a non-tuneable, to accomodate the tuning slide. This sometimes spoils the clean lines of a nice model.
z) It may require greasing of the slide occasionally to keep a good air-seal.
The pro is you can tune it to match other out-of tune players, as mentioned above.
cheers, Martin
p.s. You did know you can tune your Generation-like whistles? See the tweaking section of this site.
I think Tunable whistles are a good idea.
All my Overtons are non tunable though for the fact that I don’t play my whistles with many people. The price is less so I can purchase more keys. Plus the Overtons don’t have a tunning problem so when I do play with someone else or along with a CD it’s usualy not a problem. I also like having a one piece solid whistle.
An interesting note, I just saw Lunasa and Cillian had his tunable chieftan F taped up so it couldn’t be tuned.
Just the same, when I have purchased all the keys I want from Colin, I plan on ordering a tuanble Low D and F, just to have.
My oh my Whoa Whoa Whoa.
On 2002-02-25 21:48, jackorion wrote:
An interesting note, I just saw Lunasa and Cillian had his tunable chieftan F taped up so it couldn’t be tuned.
I recently bought a tunable Chieftan low G (WhOA) and I’ve had to stick a piece a paper between the head and the body as the joint is way too loose and makes it hard to play. Anyone else have this problem?
I have Cheiftain Soprano D and the joint is a bit loose. I use a few wraps of good quality Teflon tape - its cheap and works lkie a charm
I have a Silkstone non-tunable PVC..since it’s spot on 440, and everyone around here plays 440, it’s easy to just pick up and play…since it’s PVC, it reacts very little to changes in temperature.. I have an alloy tunable silkstone for when we tune to a concertina or something that’s just a wee bit out of tune.
I have a Chieftain low D non-tuneable I’ve had for years..the thing sounds great, but it’s all one big alloy whistle that’s highly variable in regards to temperature. I have some recordings where you can actually hear the whistle sharpening up as I play it. This makes it pretty hard to play it with other musicians, and I’d prefer a tunable whistle for this function.
Just some of the pros/cons I’ve personally run into for tunable/nontunable. The big difference for the maker I would assume is that the non-tunables are probably a bit easier to make, and thus, can be had for a bit less.
Greg
I recently bought a tunable Chieftan low G (WhOA) and I’ve had to stick a piece a paper between the head and the body as the joint is way too loose and makes it hard to play. Anyone else have this problem?
I had this problem with a Kerry Pro Low D and I used dental floss wrapped around the inner piece - worked like a charm.