Question for aluminum Burke players

[Zoe]

My style of whistle playing is not to use a fourth anchor point, and so I rely on balance, sometimes keeping my 6th finger down or putting the pinky down to stabilize when I'm playing C-sharp.

But on my Burke, which has been my favorite lately at sessions, even those methods aren't good enough for the slippery aluminum. I've tried beeswax and that helps a bit with grip. Michael Burke suggested rubber cement or latex glove piece on the thumb -- but I don't think I could endure the laughter that would cause at a session

What have you guys tried that works well?

Zoe

[rh]

i use a couple of small pieces of masking tape (the blue stuff) on the underside of the DAN where my thumbs go. works fine for me. i usually anchor the pinky on my bottom hand, though.

[motombo]

Zoe -

I have a Burke low D in aluminum, and have been having the same problems with slippage. Others in this forum have generously made some helpful suggestions, though I haven't completely solved things, yet.

This probably is not applicable to a high whistle, but I've been trying out a non-piper's grip on the low whistle with my left hand, only. Sort of a flute grip with the left hand, combined with the piper's grip for the right hand. Seems to be working OK so far.

Good luck

[peeplj]

Ok, here's what I've done with my Burke AlPro D.

Disclaimer 1: it works for me. Can't swear it'll work for you. Might not even make a difference, but...well...it works for me.

Disclaimer 2: it doesn't sound like it would make much difference, and maybe it doesn't, but ... it works for me.

Take a polishing cloth, and instead of polishing up and down the whistle, on the body go round and round, never up and down.

This doesn't make any real difference in the appearance of the whistle, but it seem so make it slightly less slippery to me.

--James

[Celtic983]

Take double sided tape or perhaps better some blue tac. Cut a thin strip of sand paper and attatch the sand paper to the whistle with the sticky substance of your choice................works well..the double side tape does tend to come off fairly easily, but somthing similiar would work

[dfernandez77]

I had the same challenge when I bought an aluminum Burke whistle.

I started playing with pinky down. With smallish hands and a short pinky I could barely get the end of my pinky on the whistle. This was ok on the Sweetone and Shaw which were my first whistles. When I got my third whistle, a Burke aluminum narrow bore, it became a challenge because the finish is so smooth.

I read a couple threads on the board about pinky up vs. pinky down and couldn't make up my mind. Finally I watched some video tutorials (like Brian Finnegan) to see how the players I like manage the situation. I started playing with my finger down covering the bottom hole on C# and sometimes B depending on the note before or after. With a little practice the problem was solved.

[Congratulations]

I play my Burke DAN every session. I've never had a problem with slippage.

[Ostekjeks]

I play my Burke DAN every session. I've never had a problem with slippage.

Neither have I.

[vomitbunny]

Ibba you tweet use-a da suber glube, ebba carfub tweet to nodda gep it onna youra tweet mouthpieth or lipth. Ak leastht idda tweet workth goodth tweet.

[chrysophylax]

ha ha ha, nice one

[mutepointe]

i don't have this problem, i also don't have an aluminum whistle. this is just theoretical but i would think applying some rubber cement to the whistle would give your fingers some good traction. the rubber cement is removable too and wouldn't damage the whistle any. i have used rubber cement for a lot of different applications over the years. and now since you've made me think about this, i am going to put some rubber cement on some slippery guitar picks to see if that helps matters. long ago, i moved solely to nylon guitar picks but may try out the other materials if this works.

you might even try applying a great big dawb of rubber cement at the foot of the whistle and let it dangle. that would look like snot hanging from your whistle and truly gross out everyone.

[shadeclan]

. . . This probably is not applicable to a high whistle, but I've been trying out a non-piper's grip on the low whistle with my left hand, only. Sort of a flute grip with the left hand, combined with the piper's grip for the right hand. . .

You know, I've been a member of this forum for several months now and I still have absolutely NO idea what the heck a piper's grip is. On the other hand, I probably have no idea what a proper whistle grip is either, so what the hey.

If somebody would please post some pictures, showing a piper's grip and a proper whistle grip (or even a flute grip - I'm easy) I would be content

Currently, to play my whistle, I hold the thing in the "Neuman" grip.

[Zoe]

Thanks everyone for the, uh, colorful suggestions (mutepointe and vomitbunny). I actually tried out rh's suggestion of painter's tape and it worked great for me. Though I happened to have only purple painter's tape in the basement, and it made it look quite girlie, like I was trying to make my whistle look really pretty Maybe I'll start a trend of decorating our whistles -- I see sequins and ,oooh, maybe those bicycle streamers hanging off the end

In my first post I forgot to add that I had tried rubber cement and it worked well. I just didn't like making my fingers sticky as well. Then they stick to the Guiness in between tunes . . .

Zoe

oh, and by "style", in my earlier post, I actually meant my newbie inability to anchor with my pinky and still lift my fifth finger

[Ostekjeks]

. . . This probably is not applicable to a high whistle, but I've been trying out a non-piper's grip on the low whistle with my left hand, only. Sort of a flute grip with the left hand, combined with the piper's grip for the right hand. . .

You know, I've been a member of this forum for several months now and I still have absolutely NO idea what the heck a piper's grip is. On the other hand, I probably have no idea what a proper whistle grip is either, so what the hey.

If somebody would please post some pictures, showing a piper's grip and a proper whistle grip (or even a flute grip - I'm easy) I would be content

Currently, to play my whistle, I hold the thing in the "Neuman" grip.

(From the Chiff and Fipple website). Do you get the idea? You just can't use your fingertips when the distance between the holes get too great (our the hole sizes too large, for that matter). Chiff and Fipple will tell you about everything you need to know (and much more you surely really never need to know!)

[shadeclan]

(From the Chiff and Fipple website). Do you get the idea? You just can't use your fingertips when the distance between the holes get too great (our the hole sizes too large, for that matter).

OK, from the picture URL, I assume that you are showing me the piper's grip in this photo.

According to what I have read about playing whistles, you are never supposed to use the tips of your fingers to cover the holes in a whistle, but the fingertip pads. I see from the picture that the piper's grip involves placing other sections of your fingers over the holes, some fingers actually curling around the pipe in doing so.
Am I getting this correctly?
I am assuming that the picture is of an alto whistle of some indeterminate key, that there are six holes on this instrument and that the player's fingers are covering all of them. Is that correct?

Thanks for finding the picture. I think that I saw this once, while I was wandering around Chiff & Fipple, but I was not sure what I was seeing.

I think that I will take a picture of my own "Neuman" grip and post it on the forum for the amusement of the masses.

As always, I am constantly in debt to the forum for my continual education. . .