Hans Bracker Low G

[PiperPaul]

Hi there, recently I have bought a low G from Hans and I'd like to share with you my experience.

The whistle is well made: the aluminum tube has been well preserved by dent, chip or anything else during the handwork. The hole edges are made with care, without rough finishes and they are quite comfortable for a small hand too (using the piper grip, of course!). If anything there, the back hole is a little bit downwards compared to the upper hand holes, but using it I found a very pleasant natural F tone without force fingering!

Using the "line mark" on tubing slide as reference, all the notes are in tune (Korg CA-30 tuner) to A=440Hz.

The bottom side mouthpiece is smooth and without bumps. The fipple is clear, no "sawdust" or Delrin bits left inside the mouthpiece.

The sound volume is "strong", probably due to the special "box ears" head. I like it because I can blow softer having volume and tone. The finger holes size are perfect to have a clear semi-tones by half covering the hole. The low register is rich. The high register requires a bit more blowing to reach a clear and full sound.

The tone is not really like the traditional low whistles are, or as we are used to be familiar with; it's half way between flute/recorder and irish whistle.

All in all, it is a good choice to be added to a irish low whitle kits.
Cheers

[krabben]

Pleased to read this. I'm waiting for a few whistles from Hans, or rather one whistle head and three bodies. One in F# and one in G# + a G "gypsy scale" body. The odd choice of keys is me trying to acquire a full chromatic range of whistles . Then its just C, C# and B-natural left!

I will probably post some sort of review/video when I get the bracker whistles.

[hans]

@krabben: on it's way now!
Hope you like it, and perhaps I can make you a C, C#, B combo set sometime!

Here is a pic, low G whistle with F# and G# bodies underneath, plus G Gypsy body (top).
The G body stays here for the next low g to be made.
The green parts are plastic sleeves protecting the greased cork tenons.


Here is a pic of the head before assembly, showing the parts.
From left: Delrin plug, fipple sleeve with "box ears2 underneath,
head sleeve with slot forming the windway and the sounding edge,
and to the right the tuning slide sleeve:

[Peter Duggan]

Paid a visit to Hans and his whistles yesterday with orders for a low E and Eb in mind, but spent some considerable time trying and discussing just about everything he had available alongside a Burke Session high D in brass and Viper low D he also owns. So here are some (mostly very favourable) impressions, and I hope none of what I'm going to say is news to Hans because there's nothing I didn't say while I was there...

Have to say that every whistle I tried was nicely made and all of them (from his narrowest to widest bore variants) produced the good two octave scale (NB some go *much* higher) first go that's quite simply got to be there if the whistle's going to interest me. But the ones that really caught my fancy were his 'standard bore' models (think Hans has chosen his standards for good reasons!), which I'd describe as medium volume with a sweetly focused tone and exceptionally smooth slurred octave transitions... by which I mean that they blow instantly and easily up or down the octave (without any intermediate 'growls', lurching breath pressure changes etc.) on demand and never by accident. With all this matched by generally excellent tuning and just the right level of resistance to sustain long phrases under tight breath control, I thought some of them (especially the high C and Eb, when he didn't have a standard bore D to hand) amongst the nicest whistles I've tried and genuinely preferred the best to his Burke Session D.

That said, I didn't like the two low Ds and one low C I tried quite so much, with just a hint of middle octave note I'd want cleaned out colouring the top (of the second octave) B, C# and D on the low Ds and the low C also (through no fault of its maker!) putting my digitally-challenged left hand under unnecessary strain. So here I thought the Burke Viper had the clear advantage (in fact being so stunned by it I told Hans I'd be ordering one if he made those!) and was left pondering my low Eb (which I wasn't able to try, but Hans normally makes on his 'low D' bore).

Regarding (nominal) C fingerings, thumb hole options etc., my preferred OXXOOO and OXOXXX were never sharp on anything I tried but (perhaps surprisingly) tending slightly to flatness on a couple of instruments that Hans might even now be tweaking. The thumb hole Cs (where available) were always bang on, though I found myself preferring their feel on the larger instruments to the small, where I felt myself having to make more of a conscious effort to keep them covered and maybe needed a little more time to consider their effect on my natural hand position. Tuning was otherwise (as stated above) generally excellent, with the best and/or sweetest (nominal) two-octave D occasionally varying between OXXOOO, OXXXXX or partially-vented versions of the same, but absolutely no trickery required anywhere else and very manageable half-holing for all kinds of accidentals.

So what am I actually going to order after all that? Well, a low E for sure... on the 20mm tube (same as the low F) Hans now seems to be regarding as standard for that pitch, with his offset L3 (which fell completely naturally under my 'non-standard' hand) but inline R3 (which I preferred for RH piper's grip) and thumb hole (which I liked in that size of instrument). It's a lovely whistle, and I have no qualms at all about commissioning that. As for the low Eb, I'm not quite sure because I'm really not wanting to commit to the bigger bore without testing, but Hans is talking about experimenting with the same 20mm bore (getting 'narrow' for the Eb) and I'm interested in *trying* that because I don't exactly need a low Eb 'cannon' now I've got my deliciously vibrant Copley Eb flute. As for some of those lovely standard bore high whistles, while I'd have taken them home if I could, I'm resisting ordering what I don't really need till we've at least resolved the low Eb issue one way or the other (ie buying or not), but would recommend them wholeheartedly to anyone looking for nice, handmade instruments that look good, feel good, sound good and do what they're told!

[Tonehole]

Those look really good Hans.

I can't play whistle properly due to my small hands - can't seal the middle right finger properly.

Are they all piper's grip?

[hans]

Those look really good Hans.

I can't play whistle properly due to my small hands - can't seal the middle right finger properly.

Are they all piper's grip?

Thanks! The fifth hole (R2 hole) on the low whistles is large, and has to be large in order to get a comfortable spacing for the right hand. It is 10mm on my low G. This can be a problem for someone with thin fingers. OTOH even with small hands the low G should be comfortably manageable. I offset the sixth hole a little to make it even more comfortable when playing with one's finger tips. If you prefer using piper's grip for the right hand I could put all holes inline. For small hands I could move the sixth hole up a little and so reduce the gap between hole 5 and 6. I have to make it a little smaller to preserve the tuning, so the 2nd note (E in D whistle terminology) will become a bit weaker. This may be an acceptable compromise for a small handed person.

[hans]

Paid a visit to Hans and his whistles yesterday .....

Peter, it was great to have you here! It was pretty scary too as you took each whistle through your very rigorous testing paces, playing it both fast and furious with great ornamentations, and slow and soulful, and checking the octave behaviour extensively, and going stratospheric checking third octave notes. At the same time you could verbalise pretty precisely your impression about each whistle. I was sitting there thinking that you were describing whistles like a wine connoisseur testing wines, very enjoyable! You have a very valuable talent there!

I said scary, because the whistles were pushed to breaking point, to reveal their weaknesses and qualities, and their relative differences. But generally you confirmed what other players told me before, that I can offer whistles of very high quality, in a large range of keys, and with customisations as needed, and that they can be ranked amongst the best whistles out there.

So thank you for your visit, your order, and above all your words! I am passionate about making whistles, but I am fairly new in the business, and can make only small quantities in my tiny workshop, with a huge amount of hand work. So to get my whistles known it is vital that word about them spreads.

Sorry you could not test my standard high D whistle (only the wide bore and narrow bore high Ds)! The only one I had (my personal one) I sold just the day before to a visitor, who wanted to learn the whistle. I am making a small batch right now, and I may send you one for testing together with the low E very shortly.

[janmarie]

Love my Bb and A whistles you made Hans! Still working on the Dancing Dragons tune .

[Peter Duggan]

just a hint of middle octave note I'd want cleaned out colouring the top (of the second octave) B, C# and D on the low Ds

Might add (to be fair to Hans) that the same notes on my original (Bernard) Overton are coloured the same way, but I'd still prefer they weren't...

[hans]

Peter, the Burke low D Aluminium Viper I have is particularly sweet in the top octave. I also did some gentle tweaking on it, softening the tone hole edges and window edges a bit more, to enhance it's expressiveness.

You rightly pointed out a weak spot on my low D whistles, but I am addressing it, and will shortly send you a low D, plus Eb body, for you to test, which will have an improved design, similar to what I have used lately for all my whistles, but did not yet had time to transfer to my older low D and C whistles you've seen. I just did the improvement modifications on one low D head, and it works great, I am thrilled!