I like to play along with CD’s and find that my present brand of whistle (7 different key’s) doesn’t seem to be in tune real well with most songs. Granted some of this may be my playing but to many times I think the whistle is really off key on some of the holes. My question, which brand of whistle seems to be in true key/tune with most of the music industry? TKS
For the most part, I’ve found that CDs play slightly flat, whether on my CD player on the computer, or on my kids’ CD players. My slightly flat Water Weasel non-tunable hits the mark nearly every time. For the ‘need to tune’ moments, though, I like using a slow-downer program, which allows you to adjust the pitch of the playback.
Now, of course, I have several tunable whistles, and so can adjust as needed.
Well, I take from that post that you have seven different whistles of the same brand, but in different keys. (Is that right?)
Your best bet is to play them against an electronic tuner, or even against a piano or a pitchfork, to find out if they are properly tuned. My suspicion is that they’re pretty close. If not, you might be able to tune them a bit by loosening the head and moving it a bit up or down the tube.
Short answer: most commercially-available whistles are pretty darn near to being in perfect tune. And most commercial recordings are played at the standard concert pitch in which A = 440Hz.
I like to play along with CD’s as well. When I can’t play with a D whistle then I use my Susatos (I have a high C, Eb, F, G as well as a high D). They are very in tune. I really love them.
Hi LA and welcome to to c and f board…
I would never have believed this was possible but I once had a CD player (nothing expensive) that I had the same problem trying to match a whistle key to. I found a song with a long held note and broke out the tuner after I figured out which note it was with a whistle. I could not believe that the note was off of the correct pitch (I can’t remember sharp or flat) about 20 cents as I recall. I think the CD player was off…
Most likely though it’s either you or the whistles which are off. Or you aren’t playing one in the right key. Whistles vary greatly as to the range which they can be adjusted for pitch. The Syn whistles for instance have a quite usable range both sharp or flat. Many others also do. Most of the cheapies come a little sharp and can be adjusted flat further than they can be made sharper. (Tube bottoms out in the fipple)
Of course you could also be blowing too hard or soft and playing off pitch. Usually your tone quality would also suffer if you were doing that to a large extent. Some people here have the opinion that using an electronic tuner is an evil thing. For thier modest cost I think that one might be usufull just to get a feel for the range of pitch control available to you with breath modulation. Mostly though one should try and develop your musical “ear” and pitch sensitivity while playing.
As far as brands that I have personally had which are well in tune are the:
Humphreys, Susatos, and even Feadogs. Burkes are also known for good tuning but are more $$$. There are others … best of luck
DreamOgreen
I find a lot of music is pitch-shifted upwards so that it sounds “brighter”. For that reason, my Eb and Bb whistles are used quite frequently to play along.
Last night at our session, where the fiddlers all compulsively tune to absolute perfection 20 times a night, using their electronic tuners and then tuning to each other, it ends up being that the ordinary (non-tunable) whistle is quite out of tune in comparison.