I’m probably the most immature 65 year old I’ve met..thats just to set the scene…I’ve only been whistling for 6 months, really enjoy it and have a good collection of brass and uluminium whistles in various keys…BUT…wanted a wooden one so sent off for an Allen and Ross black ebony in high D. Ask about this on the C & F site but got no responses…expensive but I took the plunge…bit surprised about the nil response on C&F…it seemed no one had of them and I obviously took a risk. Hand made…when it arrived I could not fault it as far as appearance was concerned…in fact it looks stunning…black..well finished, brass tuning slide and brass fixtures…the mouth peice looking hand made…but this is not bad news ..it gives it a genuine look. Down to playing…the lowe d and e seemd quiet…until the whistle was warmed up…one could then sail up two octaves without any stress. The tone was not as woody as I expected and not as mellow as I would have wished.. needed some playing in. The balance between octaves is good and if one wishes it is possible to play it very fast without missing a note..the fingering works well…it is entirely in tune throughout the two octaves…I’m sure it will easily go higher but I have not tried it. I did want a more mellow tone and looked at the whistle mouth peice. I know nothing about tweaking other than that one can mess up a whistle easily…I saw that the edge of the bit the air travels over was quite a sharp corner…and in perhaps a seemingly foolish act I filed it down to create a more rounded edge. With fear and trepidition I played the whistle…AND…the tone was warmer, sounded more woody…the balance between octaves just as good…perhaps not quite as loud but certainly loud enough and every note remined in tune…it now suites me perfectly. Was I wise…I doubt it but it worked…the bit that baffles me is did I do the right thing technically ? Thoughts please.
Wise? I think the term “intuative” is a better choice and it was a correct one!
A slight rounding of the labium lip edge creates a more stable oscillation with less breath pressure. This reduces a “stutter” between the 1st and second halves of the frequency cycle and eliminates most of the high frequency “chiff” resulting in a warmer, low frequency harmonic tone.
You did good, but some people like the “chiffy” sound between notes. Happy tuning!!!
Thomas Hastay.
I’ve never heard of this whistle. Where are they located?
Robin
I got mine through www.eaglemusicshop.com…hope this helps. The whistles are made in England. Les.