Well, I’ve been watching this message board for a while but not yet till now found anything worth posting about (or maybe just avoided it due to my to resistance to technology!). Yesterday I paid a visit to see Misha Somerville - who is the local whistle maker here in glasgow. He obviously makes fantastic instruments - certainly the best I’ve played in the few decades I’ve been playing - and it’s fantastic to see a new young maker at the the top of the game. By his own admission he tends to keep things under his hat (and he’s certainly working on some interesting projects), but he did let out that he has a personal blog under the pseudonym red light ray (http://www.redlightray.com) on which he occassionally posts ‘behind the scenes’ info from mk music. Might be of interest to some of you on here.
BTW, do you happen to know if Misha is related to Glasgow accordionist John Somerville, also of Croft No. 5? I assumed so, but John’s name came up the other day in a different context, and I’m just curious.
bobkat…
Welcome aboard.
You’ve sent me into a daydream.
I’m alone in Misha’s workshop, and can play, at will, in the whistle-stash.
Feels like a kid on Christmas morning!
The mention of “the demise of 40 whistles due to schoolboy errors” is very interesting…
That putting keys on a Low D is fantastic. I want one! At least I’d like an Fnat and G sharp.
By the way, for whatever reason it’s much easier to hit an in-tune Fnat on my MK Low D than on any other Low D I’ve tried.
I’m quite jealous of your access to Misha there in Glasgow! In 2007 I spent a couple weeks staying in Glasgow and well before the trip I sent emails to Misha, inquiring about the possibility of a visit and my desire to order one of his whistles, which went unanswered.
I ended up getting a used MK from a fellow forumite here.
yes John and Misha are brothers, possibly twins. They both live and work from Glasgow.
Misha’s whistle stash might not be quite as large as you imagine! He says it feels more like a whistle graveyard because all the good instruments get snapped up by people desparate to get ahold of them. There’s also some interesting new ideas lying around.
