Lir A Whistle Review & Comparison with Humphrey/Labu Alto A
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- The folks at Lir were kind enough to send over this A whistle out of the blue as a thank you for a previous video I did. No thanks necessary, but it was really fun to blast away on this whistle for a while. Here it is stacked up against my go-to A whistle (from Gary Humphrey) and also vs the Labu whistle I reviewed a few weeks ago.
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"A" whistles are, IMHO, very underrated. An "A" was my regular busking whistle as it was loud enough to be heard but not shrill enough to be annoying to innocent passers-by in the street. Nice review matey :)
P.S. One thing that reviewers of whistles almost NEVER mention ( besides how much air requirement is needed ) is the fingering required to get the "crossed note". ( i.e. C# / CNat on a D whistle ) It's a very important point ( to me at least ) to consider as I own a couple of whistles I paid quite a lot of money for but my usual 0XX000 doesn't suffice and I am unable to play anything "at speed" that requires the crossed note. If I could go back I'd have never bought them in the first place! ( Yes. I am too lazy and set in my ways to practice alternate crossed fingerings. My bad :) ) P.P.S. This is in no way intended as a criticism of your review(s) as I am very grateful for the time and effort you put into your wonderful videos matey. Just thought I'd mention that :)
Great comment Jim. I agree. Cnat is one of the most relevant notes on the whistle, and it would be good, if it worked clean and strong on any whistle.
Another handy use for an A Whistle is it transposes you one key clockwise on the circle of fifths.
So if you learned the Kesh in G major on the D whistle, but your band wants to play the Kesh in D (for example), you can just play it with the same fingerings you already know, but on the A whistle instead, and now you're in playing the kesh in D major. You learned the swallowtail in Am, your session group plays it in Em, no problem, just play it on the A whistle and you're in Em now too.
A whistles takes whatever key the tune is in "up a fifth", aka, one step clockwise on the circle of fifths. If you want to take it one step counterclockwise ("down" a key), use a G whistle instead
cor blimey mate, I'm still on F. A .C .E !
PS, I will remember, useful.
A thing for people to keep in mind on tuning, being able to blow it into tune is not as good as one perfectly made to play in tune smoothly and easily. If one notes randomly sharp or flat and needs to be blown differently it will throw off the general breath curve from note to note. I have a couple Burkes which have amazing tuning, and you'd have to try to blow them out of tune because the breath needed to play each note in tune feels right, making it a smooth transition in breath pressure from note to note. I'm not a pro, just my 2 cents for any newer players who don't know a lot about whistle tuning.
Thanks for the review
Some interesting comments, I spent some time thinking about the various tunings mentioned below, I am too long in the tooth to begin learning Music notation, but I realised that I am doing the shifts in key automatically. if I "know" a tune which I like then I can quite quickly work it out, starting on that part of the whistle which sounds right and if that does not work I switch to the A or low G. However I regret not knowing how to read music because on some tunes which I know and like, but which are not so simply constructed, I do need musical knowledge, which is why I have had my children and grand children given at least some musical knowledge, enough to play what they wish. Good Channel, take care.
I have a Tony Dixon A, it is not my favourite by any means, I will play it at times because it is mellower and quieter, BUT unlike my Killarney D which provides clarity of tone, the Dixon seems " mushy, and I will probably decide, eventually , to change it, it looks similar to your Humphry, but that is as far as it goes in that direction. Your info is always helpful, thank you.
I also have a Tony Dixon A whistle that I bought with the head separated, it wasn't tuneable, I think that the previous owner thought that it was and while trying to separate it snapped it off. I managed to rebuild it with cocktail sticks,glue and ptfe tape, it's now tuneable, I paid £5 for it and I love it, how lucky was that? 😁
H is better in tune, better "C" on OXXOOO and better sound. Great whistle.
A nice comparison, they all sound great, I would think that there will be more of a distinction in sound if I was in the room without the UA-cam compression. Through headphones though the labu pips it for me, what a shame that they are untuneable, pubs should be forced to keep the same temperature 😂🤣.
Apropos of nothing, I wonder what whistles Sèan Potts played in the early days or indeed Spider Stacy? I wouldn't be surprised to be told that they were £10 affairs.
Do you have a video on articulation and tonguing? Hou seem to use it quite a bit. I thought a hallmark of Irish whistle-playing was its flowing nature and lack of tonguing ( because it is not possible with pipes) but I know little!
Are you able to compare the current 3 models of Humphrey D tin whistles, what is the difference in sound, the metals Brass-Aluminum, wall thickness etc. no comparison reviews on UA-cam, thanks
Hi Sean - Could you do an expanded video about key changing which you touch on here? Example - I play Swallowtail jig in D. If I wanted to play in G I'd have to get the dots and relearn it. Is there aa more expedient way to learn key changes? Thanks!
I thought I had but I searched back through and couldn't find anything - that's an interesting concept to work on, I'll see what I can do!
What is the thickness of the body? I can never find videos that show if the whistles look durable enough.
When you tune to an electronic tuner, how many cents off do you allow and still consider a note in tune? I have several whistle that have a spot on bell and third note* but the other notes are off, sharp or flat, but some cents. I posted this question on thesession and the discussion of even temperament and just intonation was a bit much. *On a D whistle this would be the D and G. I have taken this tuning check from a post by Grey Larson.
Good question, even my killarney would not register "perfectly" and th cheaper whistles I have for the van are often a wee bit iffy. So what is acceptable and do different tuners work better or worse., The Boss here would know.!
@@bhgardeners Let's hope The Boss replies!
The tuner app I use has a needle and a light which can be green or red. If it's green I consider that close enough for the 1-3 seconds of time I want to commit to the process in a noisy pub or on a stage. If it's off relative to someone else then I'll either blow it in tune while I'm playing or stop and re-adjust. To me it's more important to be in tune with the folks around me than it is with the tuner.
How would you compared Lir whistle with a Killarney whistle? Thanks in advance
Very similar as they're both based on the John Sindt design, but I rather prefer the balance of the Lir. That's definitely down to preference, not to say one is inherently better than the other but to my hands the Killarneys always felt very top-heavy (like John Sindt's whistles.)
@@whistletutor Thank you so much for getting back with me. I really respect you and I appreciate your advice. I'm a big fan of yours and I've followed you on UA-cam for a few years now. Since I've gotten into Irish music and learning the tin whistle. I have bought the Killarney whistle and have been very pleased with it. Yes it is a little top heavy but I have since gotten use to it. It is very sensitive in the lower octive requires little breath. Of course I am still quite an amateur. I have a few tutorial books that I've bought, perhaps someday I'll purchase a Lir tin whistle when I get the money.Ok well thank again for your tips and advice have a good evening and I look forward to listening and learning more beautiful music and tutorials from you and I hope to keep in touch.Have a good evening and may God bless you...
hello, kilarney [brass] has more harmonics and smoother soft voice, and lir more round and a bit louder voice . [ for me at first octave kilarney is nicer and in second the lir is more full and shiny. both are very nice]
@@johnramos2442