I’m having that “need to try something new” whistle feeling. I’d welcome thoughts, opinions, guidance, warnings etc about conical whistles. I picked up my first working whistle the other day - a sweetone. It’s still fun to play. I also realized that all the better whistles I’ve acquired in the past year are cylndrical. My current favorite is a Burke narrow bore D in brass.
So if my next whistle will be conical, what should I be considering. Any thoughts on Shaws, tweaked Shaws, Sweethearts, Copeland? What else is out there? I noticed a lot of Copelands in the 3 favorite whistle thread.
I am an admitted cheap whistle freak, but one of my favorites is the Clarke traditional whistle in black. They tend to be breathy and take too much air out of the box, but a gentle windway-mashing with the thumb has rendered a couple of them into extremely nice-sounding whistles.
I have one that I play so often that the much-maligned gold diamonds and logo are worn away with use. It’s at least 10 years old, and gets more play than anything else that I have.
I have a Bleazey high D in blackwood. (Now ask Steven exactly how many Bleazeys he has.)
The tone is complex, but not raspy or breathy.
It has fairly high volume and good backpressure, and can handle quite a bit of blowing in the lower octave without jumping to the upper, making it good for bending notes.
It does require a bit more force toward the top half of the second octave, and I’d rather not play the second-octave C# indoors.
It’s a very attractive whistle, with silver rings at the tuning slide. The workmaship is superb.
I haven’t tried any wooden conical whistles. I do have a Sweetone and a Shaw and a Clarke. But my favorite is my Copeland.
Definitely find a place to try these out if you can, especially if you’re thinking of spending lots of money! I like the Copeland because I think it sounds more complex and flutey than other whistles I’d played before. It’s more challenging to play, but gives a lot back.
Of all the conicals I’ve played, I’d order them something like this in terms of desirability:
Copeland
Sweetheart Pro in Dymondwood
Freeman Tweaked Shaw
Freeman Tweaked Sweetone
Sweetone (or meg…the ones I’ve tried have been identical)
Clarke Original
Shaw
Now, I’m arranging them like this for a variety of reasons. The Copeland up top because the nickel Copeland D i have (which used to be Mick Woodruff’s) is just a dream. Easy to play, and very sweet sounding in both octaves.
The Sweetheart next because it’s a strong-toned instrument, and very stable. Plus, I can take it to places like Renaissance Faires and it’ll fit right in. It’s nice and wind resistant, and should be somewhat more moisture/temperature resistant than natural wood, so it’ll make a good travelling whistle.
The tweaked Shaw is next, because of the cheapie conicals I’ve played, I just like the way it sounds best, even if I have to push it a little with the breath pressure.
Tweaked Sweetone after that, due to the improvements Jerry makes to them, followed by the regular sweetone.
The Clarke original is down there, because, untweaked, it takes a lot more air than I care to push through an instrument.
And the untweaked Shaw is last, because it takes even more air than a Clarke, and is a little too breathy for my tastes.
The only thing I notice about conicals is that I was able to get a bwaaah sound out of them transitioning from A-B-Cnat (oxxooo) that I cant seem to get from cylindricals. This is true on both a Copeland I gave away and the Freeman tweaked Shaw I have.
The Copeland had probably the sweetest sound I have heard on a hi D but it never had playability for me. I never could adapt to it personally.
At the end of the day Stewy,everyone of us knows what we like and what we don’t,that’s what makes us such a diverse and complex species…long may it continue
Renee and I were playing Bleazey/Overton duets in parts yesterday. POWERFUL stuff! The Overton Bass A (alto part) with Bleazey Low D (soprano part) was particularly wonderful.
