Do you ever use the "tunible" option in your band?

[JTC111]

The point is that because your own personal experience of playing whistle in a band that robo-tunes to 440 doesn't call for tuning adjustments, doesn't mean that there aren't situations outside your experience where a tunable whistle is a useful thing.

Do non-tunable whistles always come tuned to A440 or is there some unintentional variety where it was meant to be 440 but wound up flat or sharp for whatever reason?

[rosehebrew]

Sorry I was not more clear but I think you guys had a roaring good time filleting me.

So are you cooked yet?

Yes, very well done, thank you.

Let's say you show up at our session, and we've all decided to tune high to A445, around 20 cents high, because the fiddler likes the brighter sound. How will you handle that?

I would tell the fiddler to get a life if I knew him/her well. I would of course never be there because there are no sessions where I live and if there would I would not be invited back so.....problem solved.

Or you're playing along with a CD recorded on analog tape, and mastered at a lower speed than originally recorded. How will you handle that?

Mmmm I would put it on Audacity and "fix it" or the next time I am in my car playing the CD just chuck it out the window....problem solved.

Or you're recording a film soundtrack in a cold studio, and the score calls for 8 bars of C whistle in the middle of a long passage for D whistle. So you need to grab your C whistle cold and play it perfectly in tune. How will you handle that?

I could refuse to record in the winter or bring a heating pad to lay my whistle on but sense of course I know no studio people, heck I know few musicians, this would never happen....problem solved.

Or you're playing a duet with another whistle player, and a tuning difference of even a couple of cents in the upper octave is going to sound way out of tune with nasty beat frequencies. How will you handle that?

Maybe I would be so ecstatic that I could actually talk to must less play with another whistle player I would just say, "What the heck, I'll tune it any way you want it!" Or maybe I would just ask him to tune his fancy-smancy whistle....problem solved.

The point is that because your own personal experience of playing whistle in a band that robo-tunes to 440 doesn't call for tuning adjustments, doesn't mean that there aren't situations outside your experience where a tunable whistle is a useful thing. If you have it, it's there if you need it.

All were good points that you made. I guess I was thinking about this before playing this morning because I had to play a song that is really just a repeated chorus that modulated from C-D-E. It was annoying me because I was running out of whistle heads so I had to use a non-tunable Susato for the D. No big deal but it isn't my favorite in the first place. I went pretty well but my brain did not like to go from playing the first C round on the C whistle, then the D part on a D whistle, then the E part on a B whistle. My brain did not like that switchover from playing the same melody in the first on the C and D to the last melody in the forth of the B whistle. On top of that I had to wing the entrance to the choruses because of having to change whistles. That is probably why I was so tired when I got home. Sometimes I am not crazy about that kind of pressure sense it was not well rehearsed at practice.

[mutepointe]

I enjoyed the last part of your post. Someone knows what I go through. Not so much the part that you were willing to litter by pitching a CD out the window.

At our church service, I am doing all the things that you are doing, while also playing/wearing a guitar. And because our folk group transposes music for ease of singing, I'm making sure the other instrumentalists are ready to play in the right key, and I'm probably sight transposing the music that I'm playing. All while remembering that the music is all about worshipping and not performing.

Have you ever tried playing a whistle or flute while wearing a guitar? And once you've mastered this with the flute, also take into account that I play the simple flute left-handed and the silver flute right-handed. Actually, playing the whistle is easier and the guitar acts as a kind of shelf.

[MTGuru]

Do non-tunable whistles always come tuned to A440 or is there some unintentional variety where it was meant to be 440 but wound up flat or sharp for whatever reason?

A good point you're getting at, Jim.

I think the only non-tunables I've really played are Clarkes and Overtons/Goldies which work nicely at A440 at STP (standard temperature and pressure).

But I've tried a few whistles that were waaay off in pitch in terms of how the maker thought they'd be played. This can happen when the maker is not really a player but more a noodler used to blowing too softly, and they tune their whistles accordingly. So when you pick it up it plays way too sharp. With a tunable, you can usually back it off to where it's OK again. If it's non-tunable, not so much.

[JTC111]

Do non-tunable whistles always come tuned to A440 or is there some unintentional variety where it was meant to be 440 but wound up flat or sharp for whatever reason?

A good point you're getting at, Jim.

I think the only non-tunables I've really played are Clarkes and Overtons/Goldies which work nicely at A440 at STP (standard temperature and pressure).

But I've tried a few whistles that were waaay off in pitch in terms of how the maker thought they'd be played. This can happen when the maker is not really a player but more a noodler used to blowing too softly, and they tune their whistles accordingly. So when you pick it up it plays way too sharp. With a tunable, you can usually back it off to where it's OK again. If it's non-tunable, not so much.

As I suspected, and that is probably the best reason for the OP to always get tunable whistles.

[Jaime]

take into account that I play the simple flute left-handed and the silver flute right-handed.

Why is that, mutepointe? you got me curious.

I once thought (half jokingly) that I should learn to play left-handed flute just to vary the physical demands and make them more symmetrical. Get tired of playing right-handed, pick up the other flute and use some different muscles... but it seemed pretty pricey to buy two silver flutes...

I haven't played a simple system flute yet so I guess I could follow your lead...

[mutepointe]

I accidently learned the whistle left-handed and then the simple flute left-handed. I didn't even know I was playing left-handed until I received a silver flute and tried to play it. It took me well over an extra year to learn to play because holding it was excrutiating painful. I can actually play the simple flute left or right handed but with different techniques and prefer to play the simple flute left-handed with a full piper's grip. I wouldn't encourage anyone to do this just for the fun of it, although I have to admit it, not only do my friends who play wind instruments find it difficult to watch me play the simple flute left-handed it freaks them out even more when I'll switch to right-handed mid song just to mess with them.

My brain has no problems with the left-hand right-hand thing with the flute but I've never been able to get my brain to figure out playing the whistle right-handed. Bummer too, every time someone hands me a recorder, I can only play a bit on it. I never run into people who have whistles or flutes.

[MTGuru]

Seamus Egan is another switch-hitter. Plays flute RH, whistle LH.

[KittyR]

Have you ever tried playing a whistle or flute while wearing a guitar?

That's an unusual outfit.

[rosehebrew]

I enjoyed the last part of your post. Someone knows what I go through. Not so much the part that you were willing to litter by pitching a CD out the window.

Pitching the CD was just hypothetical drama.

At our church service, I am doing all the things that you are doing, while also playing/wearing a guitar. And because our folk group transposes music for ease of singing, I'm making sure the other instrumentalists are ready to play in the right key, and I'm probably sight transposing the music that I'm playing. All while remembering that the music is all about worshipping and not performing.

Sounds like you could benefit by having eight arms like an octopus. I think playing on a worship team is like the NFL of group music performance even though it should not be a "performance". It can have all kind of strange group dynamics that would just never happen in the secular world. I vacillate between total frustration to ecstatic triumph when it is anointed and spiritual battles are won in the process. It is really hard to deal with at times but at the same time I would not want to do anything else. Where else can you have a producer that is God?

Have you ever tried playing a whistle or flute while wearing a guitar? And once you've mastered this with the flute, also take into account that I play the simple flute left-handed and the silver flute right-handed. Actually, playing the whistle is easier and the guitar acts as a kind of shelf.

No I haven't but I would like to. I don't play the flute but I do play the piano and electric guitar. The team boss likes the whistle so much I never get to play guitar. He doesn't know if I can play it well or not because I never get the opportunity to do it. Sometimes I would love to play piano but we have a keyboard player and no piano on the platform so I don't get to do that either. I have played my digital piano when my husband and I played a couple of special events for them but that is it. I don't want to cart that to church every week and there is not enough room on the platform so that can be frustrating at times too.
To all you worship team members......you have my respect!

[Belgian_Waffle]

As for the left-right thing, my teacher plays with four fingers left hand and two of his right (that's why his nick is Fourfingered Fré). First lesson he taught me : "never look at my hands, just listen to me play".

Actually his first lesson was : "Get yer rithm right !"...

[woodfluter]

Ummm...back at the original topic ranch...

My take is that a tuning slide only gets you part way there. It's super helpful when playing with a piano player on a house piano. Or trying to play very tight with a fiddler who has new strings, or when the band has just come into a vastly different indoor climate. Or maybe the cited situation where everyone decides to tune high.

But if everyone is spot on at 440, I'm not convinced it's all that important. The remainder has to come from breath pressure and your ears. I can (and must) push a high-D Overton harder in the upper register than my usual Burke, and much more than a Copeland. I can start off seriously out of pitch when I decide to play a different whistle and forget about that.

As for whistles warming up...usually not feasible for me to tune on the fly in a band situation unless I drop out for a part. And then still hit and miss. Better is to get it in tune when warmed up, then keep it warm just before switching (for me, often from flute). I usually tuck it into the back of my trousers so the head stays warm, drop the flute onto the stand and whip out the whistle (but gently so the tuning slide doesn't move). It works!

- Bill

[MTGuru]

I usually tuck it into the back of my trousers so the head stays warm ... and whip out the whistle

Oh my ... So that's how they describe it in your part of the world.

And welcome to the Chiffboard!

[woodfluter]

I usually tuck it into the back of my trousers so the head stays warm ... and whip out the whistle

Oh my ... So that's how they describe it in your part of the world.

And welcome to the Chiffboard!

Thanks MT!

And yeah, I knew that sounded vaguely salacious...

[JTC111]

No sheep were harmed during the making of this thread.