After viewing the Inexpensive Whistle Poll Results, I decided to give the cheaper whistles another chance. So I purchased a Clare D, a Sweetone D, and a Sweetone C. I currently own a Susato VSB D and Chieftain D.
I wanted to find a tune that would give the whistles a good workout. I picked out the tune Harvest Home. Out of all the D whistles I mentioned, the Clare D past the test. I found it to be very responsive to the tune and IMHO… a very refreshing whistle to play. Light weight, really comfy in my hands. The only drawback is the C natural. Looks like it’s time for me to seriously consider learning half holing.
What tunes do you folks use to test out your whistles?
And on a higher ended whistle what ones compare to the clare whistle in lightweight and responsiveness?
I don’t normally use a specific tune to test out whistles. Normally I would just start of with a scale to check for no screachy top notes or weak/sensitive bottom notes, test out the ornaments that I usually use to see if the whistle lends itself well to these (response-wise), and probably play any tune that comes to mind to get an overall feel of the whistle.
However if I were to pick a specific tune to test whistles on, I’d probably choose a tune with octave jumps, “rocking pedal” phrases and preferably one that I play with more ornamentation. Something like “The Gravel Walk” or “The Morning Dew”.
On 2002-04-26 08:29, hillfolk22 wrote:
And on a higher ended whistle what ones compare to the clare whistle in lightweight and responsiveness?
Laura, is this another way of saying “Is there a whistle that costs a lot of money that will play as well as the one I have which costs almost nothing?”
Interesting question. I haven’t found one, by the way, and if I did I’d have to ask myself what I was gaining from the deal.
With regard to specific tunes for testing whistles, I find that the top end of the whistle’s range is what sorts out the sheep from the goats.
If a whistle is otherwise satisfactory, I always try the third part of the tune “The Longford Tinker”. Four bars of that tell me what I want to know.
On 2002-04-26 08:29, hillfolk22 wrote:
And on a higher ended whistle what ones compare to the clare whistle in lightweight and responsiveness?
Laura, is this another way of saying “Is there a whistle that costs a lot of money that will play as well as the one I have which costs almost nothing?”
ROFLMBO!!! Yeah! That is a goofy question! What can I write to top that? WHOA? I guess. Actually I was just curious. Please correct me if I am wrong. (which no problem, someone will ) On the high ended ones, are the tubes made from just the heavier weight materials? Like aluminum and heavier brass? I have only been exposed to the cheaper ones, the plastic ones, and then the alumiunum chieftain. Is the Sindt whistles of the lightweight tubular class?
I know, 80 v. 12 dollars…
As I mentioned before the C natural is a little off on the clare that I have. Is it like the generations, one out every so many is the one for you?
C Naturals are -always- off, in my experience, which isn’t all that great, but I do have a severe case of WhOA, so I have bunches of low-end whistles… anyway, try finger your
C natural as:
OXO OOO
OXX OOO
OXX XOO
and the highly-recommended by some teachers
‘forked’ fingering,
OXX XOX
and its alternate:
OXO XOX
and if none of those are close, try checking
out the tinwhistle fingerings research institute diagram for more options…
Oh, and breath control can vary a note a good quarter-step in either direction, generally, so you could try to change your breathing patterns, but I find that really hard to do… there’s a kind of natural increase as you go up and changing that is hard.
–Chris
EditPS: Of late, I’ve been using foxhunter’s jig to test instruments, because it spends lots of time in both octaves and hits pretty well every note. Of course, I play a few scales and another tune or two also, but it’s a good exercise.
[ This Message was edited by: ChrisA on 2002-04-26 15:17 ]
On 2002-04-26 16:23, StevePower wrote:
I ALWAYS test ALL my whistles with cliffs of Dooneen. Because it’s the only one I can play without reading the music >
I often use Banish Misfortune. It has (the way I play it, anyway) both C sharps and C naturals, so it gives a good sense of whether a whistle plays a passable OXX OOO C natural. Plus it’s a good-sounding tune that I’m able to play without embarrassing myself in a crowded folk-music shop.
Re your more recent question, I haven’t played a high-end whistle that both sounds like a Clare and is as light. I have a Sindt coming in late summer – they’re supposed to be very light and have a pretty faithful Gen-style sound. The Burke wide-bore brass has a sound not unlike the Clare, but is quite a bit heavier. The Burke AlPro is a little clearer sounding, but is about the same mass as the Clare. They both have very good two-fingered C naturals.
On 2002-04-26 16:23, StevePower wrote:
I ALWAYS test ALL my whistles with cliffs of Dooneen. It’s the only tune I EVER use to tell me what I need to know about ANY whistle.
Why? Because it’s the only one I can play without reading the music >
Steve
I think he’s got a good point there. If you test a whistle with a song that you know very well, (memorized) then it’s more likely that you are “listening” to the whistle itself. I think that makes it easier to evaluate. I have a small collection of test tunes, actually (in fact, Harvest Home is one of them) and if a whistle has trouble with any of them, that’s when I do the scales thing.
Mary
I’m surprised nobody has suggestetd Carrickfergus. In the version I have (key of G), it ranges all the way from low E to the second-octave C-natural with “drops” from C-natural to low E, which demonstrated irrefutably how poorly my Gen D responded in the low register. It’s also my “practice till you hit those high notes” piece.
) On the high ended ones, are the tubes made from just the heavier weight materials? Like aluminum and heavier brass? I have only been exposed to the cheaper ones, the plastic ones, and then the alumiunum chieftain. Is the Sindt whistles of the lightweight tubular class?