West’s thread on “What’s your least favorite whistle?” and a recent visit to a recorder-playing friend got me wondering. The more I heard of her alto and bass recorder, the more I disliked the regular soprano one.
Would that be the same for you with whistles? What’s your oppinion?
What are your favorite keys?
What are your least favorite keys?
And of course… why?
i don’t know that i could say that I have a least favorite. two years ago i would have said Bb, and Eb. But now i have a wonderful Bb that is an absolute joy to play so, while i still haven’t tracked down a satisfactory Eb, i’d have to say that i’ve accepted it for what it is because i really just judge the key by what whistle it’s played on.
As for my favorite keys…well I’d have to say D, A, and my low F without doubt. No real reasons for that, they just appeal to me more than the others. I have more fun playing in those keys.
I like low F the best, it has the low whistle sound but also some of the qualities of higher pitched keys. It seems to me like a good balance between high and low keys…
I second that…I absolutely love my Overton Low F
The only non-D whistle I have is my Gonzato alto G, and I like it a lot, for just the reasons mentioned. It has a lovely flute-like sound in the first octave, but still sounds bright and “whistly” in the second octave. The size is such that the fingering is no problem at all.
Interesting, F is my least favorite key. I’ve tried an Overton F; I’ve owned F’s by Burke, Schultz, and Grinter and an F flute by Mark Hoza. I’ve finally decided that there’s just something about a tube tuned to F that I find unappealing. I like playing in F on baroque flute, though.
I like the sound of Eb but it’s too shrill for my taste on the whistle. I especially enjoy listening to Matt Molloy’s early solo recordings on his Eb flute.
On the whistle D and G just feel like home (not a G whistle, but those keys played on a D whistle). I also enjoy the sound of Am and Bm on the D whistle.
I really enjoy the sound of a good C whistle. I also love playing my Gen Bb but rarely have the opportunity to outside of my own musings.
I don’t much care for the sound of low whistles.
Also, some of my favorite piper recordings are played on C, B or Bb chanters.
There seems to be some confusion – at least judging what people have posted – as to whether we’re talking about keys in general or whistles in specific keys…
I was confused the same so I mentioned both. The thread said “favorite/least favorite key” but folks started talking about whistle keys.
My favorite key is B natural. I’m also quite fond of E natural. Quite like F too.
My least favorite is C.
I have several quite excellent C whistles but C just leaves me flat for some reason, which of course is a bit odd as the key of C has no flats. 
Doc
Expressing one’s dis/like of a particular key signature is kind of pointless given that all twelve are musically equivalent in an even temperament context.
Not really. The different keyed whistles sound different because they are higher or lower. I don’t think we’re talking about key sigs, but whistles in different keys.
Me, I’ve never met a low G I didn’t like.
T
So they all sound the same then? All set the same mood?
That’s correct. Even if the title of this thread seems to have caused some confusion, everybody got it right in the end.
I stand by my statement (notice how I had not mentioned the word whistle). Obviously whistles do not all sound (or play) the same. Gotta love value-subtracted responses.
Notice how I said nothing about whistles?
You said that all 12 key sigs are musically equivalent.
I asked you, then, if they all sound the same and set the same mood. It sounds to me like you are suggesting that the key of G has no different sound than the key of A minor, hence my question.
Value-subtracted responses indeed.
Key signature vs Key or Relative Key. Key signatures are a notational convenience (number of sharps or flats) which by themselves do not define the tonic or tonal center of a piece of music. All 15 (I’ll take a hit for that one) diatonic key signatures are musically equivalent. I never suggested the different modes don’t sound different.
My point is the original question was improperly framed and thus PhilO’s subsequent thread.
yes, but putting aside even temperament, for celtic traditions I would prefer a whistle in a just intoned E Dorian …
Rather, I took the direct meaning of what Guinness said, and it distils like this:
every diatonic scale is just that because its interval relationships are the same as every other diatonic scale.
So to fix up your comparison G/Emin key, value wise rather than pitch wise, is the same as C/Amin key etc etc
So, if I were a drinker I’d order more Guinness …
My favorite - Low F. Least favorite - High G