I would like to hear if someone could explain me what means that you have to “lean in” on those overtons and that they have “backpressure”.
this is new to me but I am saving up for an CG overton and wondering if that would cause me any problems.
maybe more getting used to?
what were your experiences when you got your overton…any suggestions wnen trying to play one?
berti
hiya, backpressure, that’s the resistance you will feel when you blow into the whistle. Imagine releasing air thru your wide-open mouth, there is no resistance, no backpressure, now gradually close your mouth, the resistance will increase.
Same with whistles, depending on the type of fipple, the resistance, or backpressure will be high, or low.
“leaning in” when plaxying a whistle with high backpressure means to make an effort, blow harder, to get the notes you want, especially in the upper octave.
Please, anyone correct me if that was total BS.
Not BS, Amar, but unless the questioner is already a musician you may not have answered understandably.
Let an amateur try…
On any whistle, there is a transition from lower to higher ranges where you have to blow HARDER to get the higher note. On some whistles like the Sweetone or Silkstone, that transition is easy and more or less unnoticeable, although in the Sweetone you sacrifice some tone strength in the upper octave to get the easier transition. This, in a very simplistic way, is backpressure.
On an Overton, the transition is sharp - there is a very distinct extra effort needed to move up an octave. If you aren’t ready for it, the note (for me the higher E and above on a D whistle) just sort of flubs out into a horrible sound somewhere between the octaves.
“Lean into it” means to anticipate the transition and consciously BLOW HARDER for the upper octave. Some folks apparently find it a lot easier - for me it demands a conscious effort.
Does that help any more?
I like the “backpressure” and “lean” of the Overon. I think for anyone who has played a clarinet or sax we almost need that extra pressure - not a requirement but something we’re used to. When I switch from the Overton to the Burke I have to change my entire blow pattern or I’m playing to Pluto or Mars. When I’m in a lazy sort of mood, I guess, the Burke gets the attention but when I’m feeling a little more musically aggressive I “lean” on the Overton.
I’ve just sent for Copeland so it’ll be interesting to see what the difference is among these three “top” whistles (Low D, in my case.)
BillG
Ok billG, when you are feeling musically agressive you “lean” on your overton.
when you do NOT feel agressive, what then with the overton.
do you always "lean"in.
if you don’t (overton) what difference does it make…might sound silly hehe, thats because I have no experience with having to do this ‘lean’ thingy
from the discussion I have understood you ALWAYS have to “lean” to get to the upper octaves or am I mistaken?
is “lean” the SAME as backpressure?
so what is the opposite of this all? (also, what whistles do NOT require backpressure)?
gets me curious.
berti
Burkes. You just breathe into them, almost, not really blow.
Carol
Carol hit it pretty well. The Burkes blow real easy and if you are not careful you’re jumping to the second octave - or more! The Overton requires leaning - sustains backpressure - all of the time with the heaviest being as you climb up the second octave. What it really requires is a bit of tightening up on the mouth and throat area and more diaphragm pressure to sustain the second octave notes.
Did this help?
Billg
Here is an easy way to get an idea of backpressure, and how it causes you to lean into a note.
Take any whistle, and play the G note. Now take your right forefinger and half cover the opening where you blow into. Your finger is now in your mouth. Play the same note, and experiment with covering more or less of the hole, but keeping the same tone. What you feel is backpressure. How you have to breathe into the whistle is ‘lean’.
Do the same thing while you jump from low to high G.
Now imagine EVERY note having backpressure. I haven’t tried it, but you may be able to take a cheap whistle and tape or block off this opening and get more of a feel for the whole scale. If you’re an aggressive player and like that ‘lean’ you’ll like a whistle described as having backpressure. If you don’t like pushing for notes, you’ll want something that has less backpressure. This is strictly a personal feel…not ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
great! you all explained it so well that I now have the idea.
means that when I have saved enough for my overton I think I will go for the easy blower…hmmm maybe.
thanks,
berti
I would like to add that some whistles, like Overtons and Harpers, require you to lean into them. Others, such as Burkes will flip into the upper octave at the blink of an eye.
However, there are some that allow]/i] you to lean in but don’t require it. That is, you can get into the upper register with a quick puff of air or a tongue, but you can stay there with much less flow. Or you can stay in the lower octave with quite a bit of flow and thus volume if you’re careful. I have a few Weasels that are like this; their tuning is also pretty insensitive to pressure. They’re really remarkable whistles.
Just thought I’d point out that if you’d like to experiement with whistles with moderately high backpressure, Susato whistles are a fairly inexpensive way to do that.
Now it’s true that some folks don’t like the sound, but that’s a different issue.
Also the Syn is another moderately inexpensive whistle that has some backpressure, although the older Syns did have more resistance than the newer ones. It has a purer sound.
Edited to add a last comment: my Burke whistles, especially the AlPro session, can be played aggressively–even though they don’t have high backpressure, they can be “leaned into” a bit. There’s a lot to a Burke that you don’t discover with just your first few playings–they are amazingly good whistles.
–James
I wrote a bit about how to play Overtons once (not that I am qualified, but I did anyway), and it mentions backpressure, breath support, and “leaning in.” Maybe it’s helpful.