r/tinwhistle

Hi! I’m still a beginner on the tin whistle. I’ve been practicing almost every day for about two months now. My whistle is a Generation D whistle (I chose it because I wanted to see if I’d enjoy playing tin whistle before investing in a more expensive one)

I’ve heard that Generation whistles, especially the aluminum ones, can naturally sound a bit sharper or squeakier than some others. But honestly, when I especially hit the high D, it sounds awful! At first, I could tell it was partly a skill issue. As I practiced, I found a better way to control my breath and the notes improved a little. However, I don´t think my playing sounds as smooth as is it supposed to.

One day I came across a tip suggesting that I use Blu Tack to soften the sound of the whistle. I tried it so I could practice while traveling without waking everyone up haha. Strangely enough after slightly altering the whistle that way, the high D actually sounded smoother! I’ve watched tutorials and searched for advice on playing the high D properly, but most tips don’t really help in my case because I like playing fast-paced jigs where I need to jump quickly to the high D without having time to consciously change my blowing technique. Hard to explain, but hopefully that makes sense.

I don’t even know if I’m just tricking myself into believing I’m already good at playing haha but this Generation whistle feels kind of off, like something’s wrong with it because first of all the gold paint is already worn off all around, so it looks cheap, and when I shine a flashlight inside the tube I can see quite a lot of metal debris like it isn’t really a clean, perfectly round whistle at all.

As a beginner, it’s honestly hard to tell whether this whistle is just a bad individual one, or if I simply still need more practice. Either way, it makes playing pretty frustrating, because otherwise I’m already able to play some full-length tunes quite nicely! But then the high notes suddenly sound absolutely terrible. I’ve even started avoiding songs with a lot of high D notes because of it.

Should I start looking into getting a different tin whistle?

Just discovered this thread a few minutes ago so forgive me in advance if this is a post you get all the time. I’ve been playing the tin whistle off and on for years. I’ve sung alkost my entire life and it just feels like an extension of my voice. Every other instrument I’ve tried very challenging and unnatural for me (piano, guitar, etc.).

I only have <$30 whistles. I figure it’s time for me to upgrade in quality, especially since when I do play them, it’s at church. What does my first upgrade in whistle look like? looking for brand and key recommendation, and where to order. thanks!

What does everyone use for tin whistle lessons? I have used apps like Yousician for guitar and loved it - wish there was something like it for tin whistle. Any ideas on structured lessons getting into the tin whistle? Appreciate any feedback!

Bought a Generation B flat whistle, and the actual B flat note is too flat compared to the other notes (whistle is warmed up and double checked it on a tuner). If I try to change my breath to bring the note up, it doesn't sharpen up before popping into the next octave. ​​

I popped off the mouthpiece to see if I could tune it a bit. I figured if I could get the B flat up, I could back off a bit breath-wise on the rest of the notes. But there's no wiggle room to push the mouthpiece further on. ​

I've read about issues with these whistles in general, but I've also read the complete opposite, where people say the whistles are fine. Yes, it was cheap, but I'd hope that "cheap" ≠ "not in tune with itself". ​​​​

Are they, in fact, prone to issues, and I've been hit with a baddie? Is there anything I can do to get it in tune, or should I just try a more "reliable" whistle? ​

Hey,

Quick follow-up to the post I made here a while back asking what you'd want in a free fingering-chart web app. It's out:

https://wind-tones.vercel.app/ (WindTones)

It's not indexed by search engines yet, so the link above is the only way in for now.

Have a look and let me know what you think. Thanks again for all the input on the last post.

You can upload, rate and save songs if you login. (The app sends no emails btw)

Cheers.

Edit:

If any of you have a few minutes to poke around and send me feedback before I let it get indexed, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks again for all the input on the last post.

I have made a n arabic whisle in A but the 7th hole is such a stretch .any ideas how i can change design?

I’ve been playing for a little while but have never seen it before.

My tin whistle has a very staticy shakey sound while playing. When I play my low D I don't have this issue, but the high D just never sounds clear. It's an all metal busker, does anyone have tips on how to get clear notes when experiencing this.