I’m looking for a low D but I’m not sure which one.
I have a Howard low C which can produce lovely, flute-like tones. I thought the Howard low D would be similar but it wasn’t. I’ve also tried Chieftain (original model), Burke (Viper) and Dixon (DX012) low Ds but none seem to be able to produce the tones I can get from the Howard Low C.
Any suggestions (other than that I learn to play the flute)?
Well, according to Tony Hinnigan’s review http://tonyhinnigan.com/moviedl.php?group=29# and Piper’s Grip’s review http://pipersgrip.50webs.com/HowardC.html it is one unique whistle sound-wise so you may be out of luck finding the same tone in a low D.
Do you know which head you have on your Howard Low C? Did the Howard Low D you tried have the same head as the Low C. Did you exchange the heads or use the same head on both tubes? There have been two designs that I know of.
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/review-howard-low-d-old-new/48018/1
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/howard-low-d-whistle-head/24072/1
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/any-stark-raving-fans-of-howard-low-d-whistles-out-there/39743/24
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/new-howard-low-d-whistle-head/33700/1
You can always make yourself a low D tube for the Howard from a 1" aluminum shower curtain rod too.
I have a couple of the older heads on the shelf here.
Feadoggie
I have the Howard low C and have used it in recording for its unique voice. I am not as fond of the Howard low D, the viper or the Dixon. The closest tone-wise would be the new Reyburn non-edgy model for full flute-like tone. The MK (or Reyburn “edgy” model) is more “edgy”. Either are great whistles. A Copeland also has great tone but are hard to find.
Both Howards (Low C and D) have the new head. I switched heads once and still the C had much more tone.
I’ll keep an eye out for a Reyburn, or maybe I’ll just bite the bullet and buy a flute!!
Ok! That’s good information.
Did both heads sound the same on the C tube? Is the finish on the Howard low C and low D tubes the same? I’ve often wondered if the powder coated tubes had a different effect than the anodized, plated or polished tubes.
This is just speculation … but I wonder if you could get a brass tube similar to the Howard tube and drill it as though it were a D+ whistle where the whistle body would be the same length as the low C but the top six holes would play a D scale and the lowest (seventh) hole would be just where the BH3 hole is on the low C. Could be worth a shot.
That could be tested, to a degree, by extending the tube of the low D with a card stock tube with the extra hole.
Feadoggie
I can’t speak for experience about which Low D is better than others in tone and other areas but I can say that my Goldie Low D plays like a wonderful dream.
The C sounded the same with the D head. I no longer have the D but still have the C.
The C has (and the D had) the black finish.
Thanks. Also good information. So that seems to suggest that the timbre of the low C Howard has to do with the bore and length of the low C tube. Would you agree? I guess the black finish is still a factor to consider.
I sold my Howard with the new head a while back so I’m useless to try my experiment with what I have here. But I’ll try it out on a couple other whistles and see if it has a marked effect on the timbre of the whistle. When I get some time I’ll make a D+ aluminum tube for the older Howard heads I have here and see what results from that.
The Howard is a unique sounding whistle, no doubt about that, probably as “reedy” a whistle as I’ve ever played.
Feadoggie
Reading Howard’s website, he mentions that the tone holes are smaller on the Low C, compared with the Low D. Might this have an impact on the tone?
Well, it could have an effect on overtones. And that may be what we hear as the difference in timbre in the Howard low C. The holes don’t really look particularly small to me in photographs.
It did not make sense to me, at least from my experience, that having two whistles with the same bore and head would result in a markedly different tone from a D scale to a C scale length. So I’m guessing, at this point, that the hole diameters matter quite a bit in this case.
So much for my suggested experiment.
I wonder if Howard would be interested in making you a seven holed tube in black with the low C hole sizing?
The fundamental notes on a low C do not really require large holes to speak in either octave. Higher pitched scales (as on a high D for example) actually benefit from larger holes (relative to the bore of the tube) to speak well and to respond with faster turnover. I’ve always been amused by that tidbit and wondered why some makers (ie Overton, Susato) liked low whistles with big holes. The Howard low D has fairly big holes.
Feadoggie
Thing is, a C uilleann chanter doesn’t sound like a D uilleann chanter. Flutes in C, D, and Eb each have quite distinct playing characteristics. And likewise no D Low Whistle is going to sound like any C Low Whistle.
I used to have a Reviol Low Whistle set, one head with three bodies C, D, and Eb.
What was so very interesting is that, with the same head, using the C body made a Low C whistle that had the typical Low C sound, completely different tonally than what the D body produced.
And, using the Eb body made an Eb whistle that had a typical Eb whistle sound, much brighter, once again competely different tonally than the D.
So, one head, three quite different tone colours, though all three bodies were identical in I.D.
I also have an old keyless Susato Low C which plays great, far better than any Susato Low D I’ve had, though the tubing is the same and the head is the same.
I think you’re just going to have to go back to the drawing board so to speak, and try a number of Low D whistles, and see which you prefer.
But pursuit of the “flat” tone lead to the development (or rediscovery) of the narrow bore D chanter.
I intend to keep searching. Either I’ll find the low D with the tone I like or I’ll bite the bullet and get a flute.