Is it possible to make a soprano D with a 3/4 in. or 1 in. bore? Have any of the whistle makers tried? If so, what was the tone like?
I once tried to make a low F from 7/8 aluminum tubing. It wouldn’t do the upper half of the second octave. I suspect a soprano D from 1 inch tubing would have trouble with the whole second octave.
Totally possible, but I doubt it would get far into the second octave or play the D’s in tune. 3/4 inch is even a bit big for low G, IMHO.
I tried 20 mm pipe (3/4’) and yes, I made it. Sounds mellow, not bad really, but I prefer 16 mm for sopranos. 3/4 is good for tenor A-low G/F.
I have only seen one whistler who can accurately play a large bore high D ( 0.6 inches) and he is a Scottish bagpiper who understands breath support in a big way. 1 inch might be nice for someone used to playing tunes on the smallpipes or some instrument where the second octave is no-go.
That said, the octave you do get will be big and LOUD and mellow.
Best of luck!
This isn’t going to be very helpful but there is a ratio for optimum performance between the length and diameter of the bore. Hence the fact that the bore of a whistle tends to get bigger the longer it gets. A Bass A for example closely resembles a SAM launcher!
I have tried to make an F whistle using 15mm pipe and it doesnt work. I have also made a Sop D from 19mm tube and as already alluded to here, 1st octave is fine but there was no way it was going to blow in tune into the 2nd.
The reason this is not going to be very helpful is that I have no idea what the ratio is and where I discovered it. Sorry!
The largest bore soprano d whistle I have made is 9/16’'. I used a Generation Bb fipple, and K&S tubing. It played very smooth through both octaves. There is a picture of it somewhere in my past threads.
The widest bore soprano D I have is 5/8" (Serpent Dreadnaught) and it is an extremely difficult player, especially in the upper end. That’s almost 1/8" greater than a Serpent Viper, for example, and the Viper plays easily.
Philo
I think it is recommended that the length to bore ratio is between 20 and 30 to one. I could be wrong but I believe the ideal ratio is about 23:1?