http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qWmeGfJX3w
The high D goes “ba-da-da”. What is he doing with his fingers? I’m too slow to figure it out.
crans
Yes. Or more accurately, a closed D pseudo-cran - using the closed xxx xxx D fingering and a double cut on the D with the B1 and B2 fingers.
Maybe oxx xxx with the double cut with the B1 and T3 fingers?
Yes, that’s possible. Would have to slow it down to be sure.
Why do you call it a pseudo-cran? Is it because it only uses 2 cuts instead of the three?
Yes. 
And the timing of a cran is different.
Right. And there are a number of variations, but the basic one’s timing goes something like, “sneeYA-pit-tee GRONK”.
You know, I’ve tried the true crann (peace and let’s all not nitpick about the spelling, please) on whistle and flute over and over. I’ve come to the conclusion that at least for my playing, it doesn’t stand out enough in the same way as on the uilleann pipes (which I used to play) to make a point of doing it as a particular effect for its own sake. YMMV, of course. For me, on flute it’s usually some kind of false crann. BTW, I would love to be able to drop the “false” or “pseudo”. So disempowering. How about “crannlet”? 
I like crannlet. Sounds good. Also, unless I’m mistaken, in the OAIM tutorials, Kevin Crawford says he only ever does the crannlets so I think us crannletters (crannleteers?) are in good company.
This does my heart good.
Could I get a cheese cran with a side order of onion rings to go, please?
… oh, and btw, I’d like to nit-pick about the spelling. 
As soon as you drop the hyphen, have your people call mine.
I would, but I’ve been told that I have a depressed hyphen level and I’m trying to keep it up.
Crannlet. Crannlet. It sounds like little brook, doesn’t it. Crannlet.
Sounds more like a mini-quiche to me.
You bring to mind the school of thought that says (akin to the warning about men and eating quiche!), “Real fluters don’t crann.” I give it its due, and in fact have been moving away from doing cranns just because I can do them. I’m not hardnosed about it, though.
I think that after the pipes, whistle is well-suited for the crann (or crannlet). Flute’s okay, but as time goes on I personally find that more melodic alternatives often suit it better. This depends on the sound you’re going for, though.
[back on track]
I agree - on flute, it depends on what sound you’re going for. On any instrument, I guess. Me, I’m not going for the sort of melismatic approach you describe, so much as rhythmic. If it’s a harder sound with plenty of bounce, then that suits me just fine.
One of the problems with figuring out the particular ornament which was the subject of the OP is that it’s not a particularly clear sound. I’m not sure slowing it down would be definitive (though I haven’t tried). The recording quality is not bad by YouTube standards, but still a bit fluffy. And I get the feeling that yer man is going for a “full, inverted cran”* but is fluffing it just a bit so it’s coming out just slightly indistinct. Or at least, less distinct than the sound I’m aiming for (though quite probably not achieving 
).
*That’s how I’ve got accustomed to describing a cran (of sorts) on the middle D, where the top finger is lifted, venting the D, and then 3 fingers towards the bottom end of the flute or whistle are lifted and replaced in quick succession. It gives a very different sound to the cran (of sorts) that results from lifting those fingers, but without the top finger lifted. I’ve described both of these as “crans (of sorts)” because, to me, they are a very different effect from the true cran, on the bottom D - the fundamental note of the whistle. I think they rely on different acoustic principles as well. But my brain is too mushy at the moment to figure that out clearly enough …
Me, I overblow an unvented middle D if I’m going to crann it. Again, a personal taste thing. I’m one of THOSE PEOPLE.
That’s one thing we whistlers and fluters have that pipers never will: we can crann that note. Not that they care, but pipers have to do something else, usually a rapid and highly coordinated flippity thing with the thumb on the back D hole. Too much work.
BTW, I just want to mention, Ben, that I’m usually a very rhythmic player by nature, so even my more melismatic approaches must still point out the rhythm in no uncertain terms if I’m to be satisfied. I’m not all that flowy, but more punchy. I like punchy.
These two-gracenote-semicrans on D (bottom or middle) can be timed in various ways for different purposes.
You can time them like a roll, and it allows you to play rolls on D, which can be handy if you’re playing with a fiddler who likes to roll that middle D. This would be timed eighthnote(cut)eighthnote(cut)eighthnote just like a roll, but with two cuts instead of cut & pat.
Or you can time them like a triplet, happening sort of explosively at the attack of the note. This would be timed sort of like 32ndnote(cut)32ndnote(cut)quarternote, the timing having to be very even to get the rippling/bubbling effect.
The “rule” about crans is that you can use the upperhand ringfinger, the lowerhand indexfinger, and the lowerhand middlefinger in any order but no single finger twice in a row. Since you only need two cuts for these rolls or triplets (semicrans) there is a very large number of possible finger sequences, no sequence being any more “right” or “traditional” than any other.
I’ve always used this sequence but any other is just as good
xxx xxx (initial D)
xxx oxx (G cut)
xxx xxx (central D)
xxo xxx (A cut)
xxx xxx (final D)
So my cut pattern is G/A but you could do any other such as G/F#, F#/G, A/G, or whatnot.
BTW the semicrans on Middle D have a different sound depending on whether you use a closed D or an open D; if the D is closed the cuts sound above Middle D, if open the cuts sound below Middle D. You can actually start the roll-timed semicran with the whistle closed for the first cut and raise the upperhand indexfinger for the second cut, meaning that you get a cut above Middle D and a pat below Middle D, in other words play a perfectly normal roll on Middle D.
That’s really helpful. Thanks. The sound on the video is very sharp and defined. I think it must be the sound of a vented “cranlet”. When making cuts on a middle D, I’ve not been venting the top hole, so I likewise did not vent the cran. As a result, my crans always sounded soft and muted. Venting totally changes this. I can tell that the sound is now what I was looking for and I just need to figure out the timing.
Why do you start from the bottom notes on a cran and go up?