Okay, they’re not super-long, but I think they convey my thoughts fairly.
Dixon Soprano C w/Brass Slide. It is the all plastic model. At a glance, the whistle itself is perfect…well…almost. I am well aware that these whistles are handmade. That being said, there was some leftover PVC on the base of the toneholes. Most people would strongly advice me to send it back to Tony so that he could fix it, but I’ve had a steady success rate with doctoring up my whistles, and this one was no problem at all. There was also much leftover PVC pieces in the mouthpiece of the whistle, which I subsequently cleaned out. I even managed to cut myself on the tuning slide. I guess you could say, I’ve christened this whistle with my blood.
My previous knowledge of tunable whistles was that they are in “perfect” pitch with the mouthpiece pushed all the way in. This is definitely not that case with the Dixon. I have to pull the mouthpiece out at least 1/2 the length of the tuning slide in order for it to be in perfect pitch. Don’t worry though, that tuning slide holds strong.
The sound of the whistle itself it soft, mellow, and clear. I guess you could say, it is somewhat woody. Am I complaining? No, for these are characteristics I look for in a whistle. (I’m not a big fan of chiff.) The whistle has a nice weight to it. Being that I am open to a wide variety of music styles, I tend to use a lot of vibrato, reverb, etc.. I can’t say that ornamentation on the low octave is good, but its just fine in the high octave. The octaves climb smoothly into one another, with little or no stress on the sound. The high C is the clearest C I have ever heard in a whistle. In reference to volume, I would say that this whistle is moderate. Not too loud, but not too quiet. Both Bb’s are in perfect pitch with OXOXXX.
To conclude, on a scale from 1 to 10 (ten being good), I would give this whistle a 9.5. I compared it to the Walton’s Nickel C, which is by far the best whistle I have ever played. It’s also the first whistle I ever played. The craftsmanshp is great, and the sound is suberb. I would recommend this whistle to people looking for an inexpensive professional whistle. I know I’ve been debating getting one over the past few years, and I’m glad that I finally did.
Clare 2-Piece Brass D Whistle: At a glance, the whistle was nicely-constructed. The break-off/tuning slide is quite tight, so no worries of any budging while playing. One thing that struck me odd was that the whistle has a WELL-PLAYED look to it. It wasn’t scratched, but it looked old. I didn’t mind this at all, because it looks like I’ve played it for many years, which is a plus in my book. On the top hole, there is a little piece of brass that must have not come off. I assume that these whistles are machined. This doesn’t effect the tone at all. Nothing a little hammer and chisel couldn’t fix.
You only need to pull the tuning slide out just slightly for the whistle to be in perfect pitch. I have previous experiences with Clares, and I feel that I have mastered the art of playing the Clare with chiff, or without. The 2-piece has almost no chiff at all! Yay! The tone is so sweet, and pure. Surprisingly, it is the exact opposite of my one-piece Clare: it is relatively loud. I like that. The Bb’s are also played the best with OXOXXX.
I have gone through my fair share of D’s: Acorn, Waltons LBW, Oak, Meg, etc…, but this whistle by far is the best D whistle that I have had the privilege to play. The main reason I got it was because I needed a nice portable instrument. I feel that I got that, and so much more. I would definitely give this whistle a 10 (1-Bad; 10-Good).For a beginner instrument, I definitely recommend it.
Walton’s Brass Regular D: This review will be short, simple, and too the point. I am not satisfied with this whistle at all. My Walton’s Nickel C is the best, and I had a Walton’s Mellow D, which is not bad at all. I don’t even know what to say about this whistle. First off, someone went a little crazy with the laquer, or whatever it is. The whistle is blotchy all over, and quite unsightly. I had serious issues with air requirements with this whistle. The sound would squeak, and bend numerous times (Some of you may say this is operator error…I don’t think so). It has more chiff than any Clare I have played. Nonetheless, the whistle is fairly in tune, and quite loud: one of the nice characteristics of Walton’s. So, on my 1-10 scale, I would give this whistle a 4.5. Maybe I just got a bad whistle out of the batch…I don’t know. I don’t discourage the purchase of the whistle, and hope that anyone who does buy it has better luck with it than me.
The Generations’ reviews I have decided to bunch up. (Eb Nickel, Bb Brass). The whistles are constructed quite nicely. It took me a while to break the glue seal on both whistles, but it was done. Oddly enough, there was no leftover bits of plastic in the mouthpiece. The bottom hole on the Eb was bent somewhat, but it doesn’t affect the sound any. The Eb was really loud, and had no problems climbing between octaves. So sweet, and clear is the sound. I did have some trouble getting this whistle in “perfect” tune, but I finally did it. I would call this whistle a “powerful” whistle. It would definitely not be shushed by any other instruments.
The Bb on the other hand, has a story of its own. I feel that I was able to acquire on of those “Good” Generation Bb’s that are so few and far between. The sound is not that bad at all, though it is not a loud whistle, and it was quite mellow. Perfect construction, other than the “scratch”, which I believe to be a laquering error. (If these whistles aren’t laquered, then excuse me please. I am new at this review stuff.)
So, I give these whistles a 9.0 each. However they are a “buy at your own risk”. What I mean is that not all Generations sound the same. I have been fortunate in that mine (my Bb, Eb, and my G) are fine whistles. For odd-key whistles (other than C and D), these whistles are a steal. Not too expensive, and if you get a good one, hooray!
