Can a whistle have a split personality?
Not that I have heard any reviews saying that one octave of a whistle is more reedy, breathy, pure, than another, but was just wondering if is it possible?
I will have to check some of mine to see. I do know that as you go up in the scales the notes do tend to get more airy/breathy and loud due to more and faster air required.
Oh, absolutely! That’s one reason we get so excited when we find a whistle that is nicely balanced between octaves. I have a couple of whistles that are distinctly reedy in the upper octave, and several that are considerably louder in the upper octave.
Redwolf
Definitely.
In fact, I would say it’s the nature of a whistle that each octave has its own voicing.
It’s up to the skill of the whistlemaker to get them to work together, either by sounding similar all the way from top to bottom or by making a graduated transition from the voicing of the lowest notes (maybe more earthy, reedy) to the highest notes (maybe brighter, more birdlike), without any sudden shifts in voicing between any notes near each other in pitch (e.g., the top note of the lower register and the lower notes of the upper register.)
Best wishes,
Jerry