Most of the whistle and pipes duets I get to play are really whistle and cd, so something inexpensive will have to do. I’m really over the moon about the Kitty Lie Over recording and Jimmy O’Brien-Moran and now just received 2 with Ronan Browne.. all these have at least some B pipes.
So, if a piper were to play a whistle duet with B pipes, which B whistle would you recommend? Thanks for any suggestions.
Susato makes a Bnat whistle, which was the first one I found, but since that time I have fallen totally for the sound of Michael Burke’s whistles, which also include Bnat.
s1m0n wrote:
“Or you could download a copy of the amazing slowdowner and shift the recording …”
Tell you the truth for the ones I’m listening to, I dont’ want to slowdown (the way I do it is a pn) but I have been trying to slide out my Sindt C to hit B.. works ok in the bottom octave only..
Thank you folks. you guys are great!
Any other suggestions welcome too of course.
As it happens, you can take a Bflat Generation and remove metal from both the top and bottom so that the top note is sharpened a semitone and the bottom note (all holes closed) is also sharpened a semitone. By some weird quirk of Generation’s tuning, the resulting notes in the middle are well within range as well, and the resulting scale is an acceptable B scale. At least, it works for me.
Total length of the doctored Generation (metal part, without fipple):
316 mm
Distance from the top end of the whistle to the top hole:
132 mm
(Of course you know you can tune Generations by removing the fipple, if yours is stuck, try soaking it in hot water for a few minutes, it should let go).
I’d try moving the fipple first, it isn’t as permanent a modification as cutting. I have an old Generation Bb whistle that I have loosened the fipple for playing in B.
loosening the fipple alone probably isn’t going to do the trick for going up a half-step - though it’s worth a try of course. Joseph, are you sure you didn’t try this with a C whistle instead of Bflat? I tried it with a C as well - didn’t work for me, but of course different people blow whistles differently.
I expected to have to tape the heck out of the toneholes when I tried this the first time, but amazingly, once I cut top and bottom, everything seemed to be in tune, maybe better than it had been in B-flat!
A cheap tubing cutter will work, you should be able to find them at the hardware store. Of course a hacksaw will work too, but then you’ll spend a fair bit of time cleaning up the result with a file, so I recommend the tubing cutter.
Hi Bill, thanks for providing the numbers. I turned a Waltons D into an Eb using a similar method. On my Gen Bb, I use a piper’s grip, and the place where my pinkie rests has worn away the finish. Rather than trim the bell end, maybe I could put a new finger hole slightly below the worn spot. Then, I could play a low A#.
From a theoretical standpoint, it seems like using a C whistle, pulling out the mouthpiece, and taking a file to the top-hand notes should work better because the result would be (relatively) sharper at the top of the second octave, where it’s usually flat. My Waltons Eb sounds sweet in the second octave, though. I don’t know what’s going on. I’d like to try and turn a Gen Bb into an A, by pulling out the mouthpiece and putting a little sticky tack in the bell end.
