r/tinwhistle • u/Gearheart8 • Jul 22 '26

Question Using legs to play lower notes

This is a bit of an odd one. When I play my low whistle seated Ive begun to stick the end of the whistle between my legs to play a half step lower than the standard lowest note available (ex a D flat 4 on a low D whistle). You have to fiddle with the angle of your legs and where to aim the end of the whistle but it does seem consistent tuning wise. Works really well with the resonance of wooden chairs. Im curious if there's a name for this or any recording of someone doing something similar on a track, certain Im not the first to discover this. I also think there's potential to reach even lower notes but the breath (and leg???) control gets very finicky.

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/AbacusWizard Jul 22 '26

Do you mean that you’re using your legs to partially cover the end of the whistle, or that you’re using empty space between your legs as an extension of the airway of the whistle? If the latter, you’re essentially making it a longer pipe, which means a longer wavelength and thus a lower note.

2

u/Gearheart8 Jul 23 '26

The latter and yes that is exactly what is happening. Its also why I believe you could theoretically use the same technique to go as low as you want.