A few months ago I was browsing in the Song of the Sea  website (Note:  This review is entirely that of a hobbyist.  I have no business arrangement with the makers or dealers of any instruments) and found an entry for "Cane Whistles," in the keys of C, Low A, and Low G.  The website indicated that these were, in fact, made from cane and listed a price of $10 for C and $14 for the Low A or Low G.  I phoned Anne Damm at Song of the Sea and spoke to her about them.   She told me that they are made in India, she thinks, and she gets them from a U.S. importer.  I was a bit skeptical, thinking of cane whistles I had seen in various novelty and gift shops which were randomly tuned and fairly worthless as instruments.  But I reckoned that it was worth the modest investment and had Anne ship me one.

What arrived was in fact a whistle made entirely of single node of cane with the fipple hole cut directly into the cane.  The cane is very light, somewhat thin-walled, and dry.  I rubbed a little oil in it which helped.  I've since put a tung oil coating on it. The holes are arranged in the tinwhistle configuration.  The mouthpiece has a nice curve for the lower lip and is plugged with...I think...more cane!  It's wrapped with a thin cord material in three places, as you might see a bamboo flute wrapped. The cord appears coated with a waxy material.  My whistle arrived with a little fraying at the bottom end.  I put a little Elmer's glue on my thumb and applied this to the fraying and this fix has worked fine for the six months or so I've owned it.

It has a very nice, mellow sound, not at all breathy.  The folks at Song of the Sea call it "ethereal.").The breath control is not at all tricky and it requires very little wind.   The holes are a little large on my Low G, but quite easy to manage, as opposed to, say, a Howard Low D, and the spacing is not a problem.  I have medium to smallish hands for a man, but have no problem handling this whistle.   The tuning seems accurate to me and if there are any inaccuracies they're pretty subtle.  Anne Damm tells me that they usually find that the tuning on the Low A's is more accurate.

These cane whistles, in C, Low A, and Low G are unconventional, but a fine value at $10 for the C and $14 for the two low keys.  This might be an especially nice way to get introduced to "low" whistles.  The longer I have owned and played mine, the more I've appreciated it.   

I know of only one supplier:   Song of the Sea, a folk music store in Maine.  (see an entry about this and other Internet whistle dealers here).  Please note that this page, like all others within the Tinwhistle Table site are entirely noncommercial. I have no business arrangements with Song of the Sea or any other dealers.

--Dale Wisely
 

If you have comments or suggestions, email me at dwisely@wwisp.com

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