As an Indian, who is a huge fan of both Indian bansuri music and Irish trad flute/whistle music, I am so happy and also a bit amused to see Sean playing Irish tunes on a bansuri so effortlessly! :D :D What everyone is saying about the tuning is absolutely correct. In the Indian classical music tradition, the home note (or the 'tonic' or 'Sa' as we call it in our tradition) is obtained with the top three holes closed. So a low D whistle would be a 'G' flute in the Indian tradition and so on.
When I went shopping for these they started listing a “western tuning” label for them probably because people came back confused on tuning. My brand of music study for the last few years is global wind instruments. My first Chinese Dizi was labeled D and plays an A in western tuning. This was attributed to Asian scaling and confused me at first. It’s a brain exercise to pick the right key. My Neys are really hard to gauge as they are a completely different scale and musical system that I’m still trying to figure out.
Tuning knowledge! These insturements are traditionally tuned based on the tone created with the top 3 holes covered, which is vastly different than "European Diatonic" it ends up being that diatonic, only its name is different. That means that when ordering from this creator you will want to order a whistle or flute 3 scale tones higher than the instrument you want. An A whistle for a D root
@@whistletutor I think the sticker on the flute does says A# though, not A. I'm pausing the video around 1:45 in and looks like there's a space next to the "A" and then a sharp sign
Bansuri are named for 3 holes closed. Lucky you! I've been trying to get a Labu but shipping to Hawaii is overly outrageous. The hole at the bottom is a tuning hole. It's why the whistles sound and respond well. As far as I know, Labu also carries a set of Celtic Whistles that are labeled in the western way.
By convention in India: the key of a bansuri is the note produced with first 3 holes closed. So they are not incorrectly labeled just following a different notation system.
They have a nice timbre that in of itself is a tempting reason. Unfortunately though it rather gets cancelled with what appears to be a lottery on which key you would receive. A good honest review, you made them sound great. I have a feeling though that you could make a garden hose with splits in it sound marvellous. 😁
That A whistle has a nice tone. Melikes. My first dive into low / mezzo whistles was a Dixon polymer A whistle and it still remains one of my favourite keys to play in. Not too low, not too high, though I still recall the frustration getting used to the stretch. Bet it would sound lovely played using a decent mic and a touch of reverb. Nice review matey :)
Someone else caught this, not me, but looks like the sticker on the flute says A#, not A. So I think these are all correctly labeled. They're just named for the top hand note, not the bell note.
Oh, yeah, cuz on whistles, they're always spelled with the flat name, not the sharp for some reason?...also, there's like a space or a period or something after the letter A, which definitely makes it take a second more to register what it says
Ha, one of our Irish characteristics is avoiding a blunt ,perhaps cruel answer, instead we say more or less what people want us to say. For instance , paddy is asked by a tourist "how far to the Pub" "sure it's only 10 minutes down the road," a mile and a half later and your still walking.!
Heh, I was waiting for you to realise that they don't use the same names for the differently tuned whistles :-D As others have noted, flutes and whistles in the Indian subcontinent are named after the fourth. It's a bit presumptuous to say that it's wrong, it's just different and makes as much sense. After all, think of how often we play tunes in G on what we call a D whistle. Remember that what we would call a D flute is called a C instrument in classical orchestras. A descant/soprano recorder is at the same pitch as a D whistle, but it is referred to as a C instrument. Of course, they're all correct since it's simply a way for people refer to the different instruments and for other musicians from the same musical tradition to know what they're talking about.
Actually a high c whistle is the same pitch as a descant recorder. The d whistle is one full step above, but since the recorder has more holes you play with almost the same fingerings on a D whistle and a C-recorder.
@@antoniahammer I can see where your confusion comes from since compared to the vast majority of tin whistles, the recorder has an extra hole (or double hole, depending on the instrument) at the bottom. Some soprano D whistles do come with a seventh hole, what is called a leading note, to give a C note at the bottom of the range. They are still called D whistles. If you take a descant/soprano recorder and play a D note in the lower octave, that will be (not counting the thumb), six fingers down. A D soprano whistle plays precisely the same note with the same fingering. Same with three fingers down and the G note. The similarity with large parts of the fingering is because the two instruments are at the same pitch. Try the same with a C whistle and you will get entirely different notes (C and F). The difference in naming the pitch of the two instruments is simply that there are two different conventions on how to do this.
@@andrewwigglesworth3030 They both follow he same naming convention. Which is naming the key by the lowest note, aka with all holes closed. Flutes (they come in c, or g) , whistles, recorders (they come in c, or f), Ocarinas and other western wood wind instruments follow that naming convention, regardless off the number of holes, or keys. That gives you the basic key you can play. A C whistle plays C major, a D whistle plays D major. A C recorder plays C major. The only exeption I can think of are extended range recorders, they have additional keys at the bottom to give you one full step more range, but they are still called c, or f respectively, because the basic key doesn't change. It's still c major and f major. I'll have to look into those leading tone whistles, but I am sure there is again the same naming convention as with the extended range recorders. We don't consider fingerings when naming the the keys of instruments in western tradition.
@@antoniahammer I know, it's 2 years later, but for the sake of completeness, I have to point out that you are wrong. The equivalent recorder to a D whistle (in the notation I use as a player in England) is a Soprano/Descant recorder. Put the top three fingers down (and thumb) on a Descant recorder and you get a G: the same G as on a D whistle with the top three fingers down. Put six fingers down (and thumb of course) on a Descant recorder and you get a D; same as on a D whistle with six fingers down. You seem to be a bit confused by the addition of a C hole on recorder, but this does not change the unassailable fact that a Descant/Soprano recorder plays in the same range as a D whistle, and in that sense they are "equivalent." PS. The D whistles with an extra seventh hole (ie for a C note) are *always* listed as D whistles with a "leading note" and never ever as C instruments since this would lead to confusion. Remember that whistles are played as diatonic instruments.
As an Indian, who is a huge fan of both Indian bansuri music and Irish trad flute/whistle music, I am so happy and also a bit amused to see Sean playing Irish tunes on a bansuri so effortlessly! :D :D What everyone is saying about the tuning is absolutely correct. In the Indian classical music tradition, the home note (or the 'tonic' or 'Sa' as we call it in our tradition) is obtained with the top three holes closed. So a low D whistle would be a 'G' flute in the Indian tradition and so on.
Chinese flutes key measures from three closed holes. G flute would be a D in European tradition.
So if I want one where the lowest note is C, should I get an F?
When I went shopping for these they started listing a “western tuning” label for them probably because people came back confused on tuning. My brand of music study for the last few years is global wind instruments. My first Chinese Dizi was labeled D and plays an A in western tuning. This was attributed to Asian scaling and confused me at first. It’s a brain exercise to pick the right key. My Neys are really hard to gauge as they are a completely different scale and musical system that I’m still trying to figure out.
Tuning knowledge! These insturements are traditionally tuned based on the tone created with the top 3 holes covered, which is vastly different than "European Diatonic" it ends up being that diatonic, only its name is different. That means that when ordering from this creator you will want to order a whistle or flute 3 scale tones higher than the instrument you want. An A whistle for a D root
I wondered if that was the case as that would explain the low D and A whistle - but not the F flute (which was marked as A, rather than Bb)
@@whistletutor oh, thats true! Maybe the scales are different? I can't be perfectly sure about that one.
@@whistletutor I think the sticker on the flute does says A# though, not A.
I'm pausing the video around 1:45 in and looks like there's a space next to the "A" and then a sharp sign
Bansuri are named for 3 holes closed. Lucky you! I've been trying to get a Labu but shipping to Hawaii is overly outrageous. The hole at the bottom is a tuning hole. It's why the whistles sound and respond well. As far as I know, Labu also carries a set of Celtic Whistles that are labeled in the western way.
Ornamentation sounds GREAT on that A whistle!
By convention in India: the key of a bansuri is the note produced with first 3 holes closed. So they are not incorrectly labeled just following a different notation system.
They have a nice timbre that in of itself is a tempting reason. Unfortunately though it rather gets cancelled with what appears to be a lottery on which key you would receive.
A good honest review, you made them sound great. I have a feeling though that you could make a garden hose with splits in it sound marvellous. 😁
@@DanWhalen ta, that's important knowledge to have, thanks for sharing. 👍
That A whistle has a nice tone. Melikes. My first dive into low / mezzo whistles was a Dixon polymer A whistle and it still remains one of my favourite keys to play in. Not too low, not too high, though I still recall the frustration getting used to the stretch. Bet it would sound lovely played using a decent mic and a touch of reverb. Nice review matey :)
Dear Whistle Tutor i play indian bamboo flute for 2 or 3 Irish tunes! i think the best flute maker in india is Punam flute.
In India key of the whistle is when you close three upper holes.
just casually starts playing these crazy tunes with an instrument hes never used before lol
Thanks!
It's my understanding that the binding on the outside of the flute is to keep the bamboo under compression. The goal is to prevent it from splitting.
Love From Bangladesh 🇧🇩
Someone else caught this, not me, but looks like the sticker on the flute says A#, not A. So I think these are all correctly labeled. They're just named for the top hand note, not the bell note.
Ahh! Never even noticed that - my brain isn't trained to look for a note called A# I guess!
Oh, yeah, cuz on whistles, they're always spelled with the flat name, not the sharp for some reason?...also, there's like a space or a period or something after the letter A, which definitely makes it take a second more to register what it says
It was @Pholaxxx that caught the A# not me, so credit to them
Ha, one of our Irish characteristics is avoiding a blunt ,perhaps cruel answer, instead we say more or less what people want us to say. For instance , paddy is asked by a tourist "how far to the Pub" "sure it's only 10 minutes down the road," a mile and a half later and your still walking.!
Labu flutes are well known flute makers of Bangladesh.
They measure the key from the third finger I believe as opposed to the way we do it.
Not sure what I'd use the G for but I like the sound
it’s not that they are labeling the flutes wrongly,it's just the notes are named differently in classical music of Bangladesh and india...
Heh, I was waiting for you to realise that they don't use the same names for the differently tuned whistles :-D
As others have noted, flutes and whistles in the Indian subcontinent are named after the fourth. It's a bit presumptuous to say that it's wrong, it's just different and makes as much sense. After all, think of how often we play tunes in G on what we call a D whistle.
Remember that what we would call a D flute is called a C instrument in classical orchestras. A descant/soprano recorder is at the same pitch as a D whistle, but it is referred to as a C instrument.
Of course, they're all correct since it's simply a way for people refer to the different instruments and for other musicians from the same musical tradition to know what they're talking about.
You’re right, “wrong” was the wrong word for it.
Actually a high c whistle is the same pitch as a descant recorder. The d whistle is one full step above, but since the recorder has more holes you play with almost the same fingerings on a D whistle and a C-recorder.
@@antoniahammer I can see where your confusion comes from since compared to the vast majority of tin whistles, the recorder has an extra hole (or double hole, depending on the instrument) at the bottom. Some soprano D whistles do come with a seventh hole, what is called a leading note, to give a C note at the bottom of the range. They are still called D whistles.
If you take a descant/soprano recorder and play a D note in the lower octave, that will be (not counting the thumb), six fingers down. A D soprano whistle plays precisely the same note with the same fingering. Same with three fingers down and the G note. The similarity with large parts of the fingering is because the two instruments are at the same pitch.
Try the same with a C whistle and you will get entirely different notes (C and F).
The difference in naming the pitch of the two instruments is simply that there are two different conventions on how to do this.
@@andrewwigglesworth3030 They both follow he same naming convention. Which is naming the key by the lowest note, aka with all holes closed. Flutes (they come in c, or g) , whistles, recorders (they come in c, or f), Ocarinas and other western wood wind instruments follow that naming convention, regardless off the number of holes, or keys. That gives you the basic key you can play. A C whistle plays C major, a D whistle plays D major. A C recorder plays C major. The only exeption I can think of are extended range recorders, they have additional keys at the bottom to give you one full step more range, but they are still called c, or f respectively, because the basic key doesn't change. It's still c major and f major. I'll have to look into those leading tone whistles, but I am sure there is again the same naming convention as with the extended range recorders. We don't consider fingerings when naming the the keys of instruments in western tradition.
@@antoniahammer I know, it's 2 years later, but for the sake of completeness, I have to point out that you are wrong.
The equivalent recorder to a D whistle (in the notation I use as a player in England) is a Soprano/Descant recorder. Put the top three fingers down (and thumb) on a Descant recorder and you get a G: the same G as on a D whistle with the top three fingers down. Put six fingers down (and thumb of course) on a Descant recorder and you get a D; same as on a D whistle with six fingers down.
You seem to be a bit confused by the addition of a C hole on recorder, but this does not change the unassailable fact that a Descant/Soprano recorder plays in the same range as a D whistle, and in that sense they are "equivalent."
PS. The D whistles with an extra seventh hole (ie for a C note) are *always* listed as D whistles with a "leading note" and never ever as C instruments since this would lead to confusion. Remember that whistles are played as diatonic instruments.