Since I joined the board in 2002 and probably well before that, Generations have been much discussed, the consensus being that that if you get a good one, it’s a great whistle, but you may have to buy several to find one that works.
The last several Gens I have bought have all been good ones, so I’m thinking that at some point their quality control has been improved.
That said, I don’t think anyone has ever just put a recording out there of “this is a bad one” and “this is a good one.”
So I decided it was time to do that.
This short MP3 first has what I call a “bad Generation,” and I think you’ll immediately see why, followed immediately (same recording session) by what I call a “good Generation.”
This is an unaltered recording. I thought it might help to have an example of what I consider a “bad” Generation to point to when these discussions arise.
I’m putting the “bad” one back into the drawer where it’s lived for several years. Probably at some point I’ll try to tweak it but I’m not optimistic; I’ve tried to tweak these before and never wound up with something playable.
My own theory: I think there was a problem with some of their molds where the blade and windway didn’t line up properly. Can’t prove it, though.
. . . and even more interesting . . . would it be possible at all to make the bad Generation in the soundclip sound like the good one by using proper playing technique?
There has been quite a lot of discussion on this board on just that topic. Some say it’s all up to the player while others say it’s all up to the instrument.
The rasping sound of the “bad” Gen in the soundclip is the same sound you’d get if the blade is located too high in the airstream. The cause of the rasping sound may very well be a misalignment between the blade and the windway due to a worn mold or perhaps the molds were opened while the plastic was still hot, as this could give the mouthpieces a chance to move out of alignment while cooling.
I can’t make it play well using the modest skillset I have. I can’t tell you what another player might be able to do with it.
I can tell you I have several Generation D whistles that play perfectly fine for me–and I’ve also had several of this kind through the years, but as I said before, the last several I have bought have all been good.
In the recording, I am not doing anything special with either whistle.
Mitch, of Oz Whistles posted a comparison of a bad and good generation a while back, as well. He got his professional playing friend to do the playing (as I recall). Good stuff.
but you do have to dig around a bit through the story to find the links. he’s got recordings of his playing the whistles, and a more experienced fella playing them.
Thank you for taking the time to do this. Your recording is exellent in making your point. You have me motivated to buy a new Gen hi D. The last Bb Gen I bought was very nice; that was about four months ago.
I haven’t seen a bad Generation in a while. I remember in the late 80s early 90s they were pretty touch and go in my opinion, but they seem to have gotten better. Of course, there wasn’t a single bad one from back then that couldn’t have been fixed with a good tweaking…I just suck at tweaking whistles.
I still say my Bb Generation is flawless though, and I’ve had it for about 15 years.
I can’t honestly say I’ve played a “bad” Generation. Now if you were talking to me 3 years ago, that would be a totally different statement…
For example, the first Generation D I bought (brass) I thought was a raspy piece of junk, and after playing it a few hours, I put it away for good, but me being a pack rat I kept it anyways despite my negative feelings for the instrument. But then somewhere, somehow along the way my playing technique improved… So I decided one day to pick up that raspy piece of junk, and wow, all of sudden I’m in love with this whistle, it plays great and you can get a fair amount of expression out of the little bugger I thought. The only thing I ever did to that whistle was the simple poster tack in the fipple cavity treatment, which only made the bell note a little stronger and cured some it’s buzzing.
So I guess the moral of that story is, as far as I’m concerned with Generation whistles, it’s up to the player’s ability to play the thing. However, I’m not saying that a mass produced whistle can’t be made poorly and have untowardly affects because they can, I just haven’t ran into a Generation that did, personally.
I may be totally wrong, but I doubt that the bad Gen in the soundclip could be made to play as well as the good one by technique alone. If it is possible to make the rasping sound to go away I would be very happy if someone could explain the technique involved in doing so. Maybe this bad Gen should be sendt on a tour to highly competent players so that they could post soundclips in order to end the “bad Gen/good Gen”-discussion once and for all?
I consider myself to have fairly decent playing abilities, and I have definitely had goes on virtually useless Generations - squeaked, buzzed, wouldn’t overblow properly, nasty over second break, uneven between octaves, barely spoke at all, etc., (like Overtons!) though I haven’t bought any at all recently. In the past I have bought boxes of twenty that have included two or three gems and ditto total duds, the rest being acceptable starter instruments. I have never tweaked my own select Gens, and when recently I tried the blutack under the windway thing on my “best” D I couldnt tell any difference, or at least not to advantage, so I took it out again. It does sometimes make a noticeable difference swapping heads and tubes around - I’ve got my best ones by doing that and putting the best head with the tube that worked best when tried with several different heads. (Does that count as “tweaking”?) I’d also add that apart from some of the Waltons Little Black (when they cut the tube foot in the right place!) I’ve never played another basic whistle I thought was as good as a decent Gen - the Oaks, Soodlums, Feadogs etc. are all inferior IMO.
What I’ve noticed is that most Generations, in comparison to other whistles, are still pretty panicky about how much air they will take in without going squeak-tastic.
. . . but what do I know.
However, I’m not knocking the Generations at all, they are fantastic whistles but they just aren’t as careless as the high-end models. I think that’s actually what makes them special as a beginner whistle. If you learn on one of those you’ll feel like a god the first time you set lips to an Overton or whatever.
