I’m thinking of purchasing an Airgead Realta in D. What is the consensus on the quality of these flutes? What can someone tell me about intonation, playability, tone quality, etc?
Thanks!
Not long ago there was a whistle tour for the Airgead. You can review the thread here: https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/airgead-whistle-tour/84986/13
This forum also has a search feature so you can search for “Airgead” and collect all the past comments.
Best wishes.
Steve
Flootoot,
A quick search under Airgead Realta will bring up prior reviews by myself, Pat Plunkett, and Oleoresonator on the whistles you inquire about. We and others were part of a whistle tour of the Airgead Realta conducted by maker Curtis Dashner. You should find the reviews quite comprehensive and of interest as a perspective buyer.
First let me say for the record that Curtis Dashner is one of the finest and most gracious makers you’ll ever deal with in the world of whistlesmithing.
Curt has expanded his line of whistles to include a number of soprano keys and he also is making a low D which I would love to see him offer a tour of.
Curtis makes a very high quality whistle both in terms of materials used, precision workmanship, and from the perspective of intonation and tonal qualities. For their price point, you get an incredible amount of whistle for a very reasonable price.
I would not hesitate to recommend that you consider and follow through with your purchase of an Airgead Realta. 
Also, I see this is a very early post for you. Welcome to C & F, a most enjoyable site with some really nice folks willing to help you out. Enjoy your musical journey into playing whistle and have fun with it. 
Cheers,
Irishwhistler
Two of the people in my group (me included) bought the whistle! The other guy had never purchased a whistle that cost more that $10 (and he’s been playing for a long time). That should tell you something! Great whistle!
Pat
Cayden,
Thanks for the quick overview and the welcome. I’m a NAF player who just decided this week to expand to the whistle. I’ve got a Feadog D and a Generation brass G (It was so little and cute!) that I bought years ago, tooted around on for a little bit, then relegated to my sock drawer as “toys.” I’ve recently gotten them out, because I’m getting more into Irish music now, and learned that the flutes I’m hearing in a lot of those jiggy tunes are the same things I’ve got already! Am looking into some lessons (I’m a degreed musician, but know nothing about the Irish flute), and hopefully will be doing some session playing in the future. I’ve got a pretty discerning ear and, while the Feadog is alright, the Generation lacks a little in responsiveness and intonation. Might as well begin with something decent, eh?
The term “something decent” can be a bit of a puzzle concerning whistles and Irish music. Newer and more expensive does not necesarily mean better. The Generation whistle is viewed by many well known and well respected players as not only decent but the only “true” instrument to be used for the music. I like Gens but I prefer the older Feadogs myself.
A couple things on intonation. Generation whisltes can be made to be somewhat tunable. The head must be gently loosened, usually using a bath in warm water that softens the glue than holds it in place, so that it can be adjusted a bit for tuning. On the main C&F website Dale, our benevolent leader, has provided a description of how to do this - whistle tea. Tune to a note in the middle of the first octave. The G or the A are most used as the note to tune by. The rest of the notes should then line up. And the player has to be able to blow each note into pitch which requires some breath control. That comes with time spent playing. Many issues reported here by new whistlers concerning their inexpensive whistles are easily attributed to “operator error”. Whistles don’t play themselves, nothing automatic about them. They look deceivingly simple but …
Also it is frequently reported by those players that the offending whistle, after being banished to the sock drawer, has magically and dramatically improved upon being rediscovered a year or more down the line. Time spent in the saddle with another whistle can be a good way to repair many inexpensive whistles.
So buy your new whistle, and another and another. Most of us will do that anyway. Put the Gen and the 'dog back in the drawer. Play the new whistle. Listen to a lot of good players. Have fun learning. Then get back to us a year or so down the road on how the Gen and the Feadog play and sound.
Cheers.
Feadoggie
Thanks for the info. The 'dog seems to play the C natural out of tune – a little flat. Other than that, it appears to be well-intonated. I seem to have trouble with the 2nd octave, unless I blow really hard and make the tone quite strident. Not sure if it’s the responsiveness of the flute, or my lack of practice (or both). The Gen is a very small flute (high G), and I’ve noticed that it takes a bit more centered wind to play it up to pitch – unsupported wind tends to make it go flat. (I grew up playing trumpet and french horn – and spent some time building organs and voicing flue pipes, which, as you may know, are identical in sound production to the whistle, so I know all about air columns and steady wind). All in all, they’re good flutes; I think I got one of the good Gens. Bought them both new in, oh, probably somewhere between '04-'06.
All good things come in time. So take your time and figure the whistle out. Try not to be too quick to conclude the whistle is faulty. Patience can be helpful. If the Airgead Realta provides you the impetus to play and learn then so be it.
How are you playing the C natural? Half-holing? Cross fingering -OXX OOO or OXX XOO or OXX XOX? There isn’t just one way you know. But half-holing the note is the most reliable method across all whistles. Most of us would use a mix of fingerings depending on the context of the note within a tune.
In concept the organ pipe and whistle do have much in common, true enough. But there is a very large difference between an organ pipe and a whistle. The organ pipe is designed and voiced to play one note well, plain and simple. The whistle is designed and voiced to be capable of two plus octaves. That’s a big difference. So the player has a bit more to do to keep the little beast playing in tune. The wind chest is between your ribs.
If you’ve worked on pipe organs then you should give whistle making a try. That was Michael Copeland’s background before making bagpipes, then flutes and whistles. He has made some terrific whistles. It’s fun and you’ll learn a lot about how the instrument plays as you go.
The high G Generation is a fun little whistle but rarely used much in group play. The tight tone hole spacing is difficult for the fingers of many adults. They are capable of calling dogs and ridding the neighborhood of rodents though. Stick with the Feadog until your Airgead arrives.
Have fun.
Feadoggie
I’m playing the c nat. either 0XX-000, 0XX-X0X, or 0XX-X00; doesn’t seem to make much difference on the 'dog. The note is real breathy, too – and no help for that, I’m afraid. The Gen. is sharp on the C nat. unless I play it 0XX-X0X.
I have very small fingers, so the G Gen is no problem to play – but I do worry if I ever decide to buy a low D, for that very reason: not a big finger spread!
Just a word to bring you into the fold, flootoot: In common parlance, the instrument you’re referring to is known expediently as a “whistle”, not a “flute”. It doesn’t matter that taxonomically a whistle is a fipple flute; in this realm of discourse “flute” is not interchangeable with “whistle” except as an expressly academic reference, and thankfully we don’t have to endure too much of that. Here, and in similar circles, “flute” is an expedient to usually refer specifically to transverse fipple-less woodwind instruments; the accepted colloquial norm is that one doesn’t mix these terms, for that is done at the cost of clarity. 
I knew that!!! Should have typed it that way, but “flute” is simpler to type out than “whistle.” In future, of course I’ll conform to the forum norm. Unless I’m being obtuse… 
P.S. Tnx for the reminder!
Not a super huge deal; I just wan’t sure you had the distinction down, and it is a convenience worth maintaining. Sometimes I think some people are uncomfortable with the word “whistle” as if it makes the instrument less “legitimate”, or something.
Nah. Just didn’t feel like typing out w-h-i-s-t-l-e…
Well, you won’t start sounding like Mary Begin with that attitude… 
I wish! I want to learn to be one of those monster players that can play the reels at about 280 bpm.
You know, speed is only a matter of practice. It doesn’t mean anything. Playing good, tasteful music, that takes heart and personality. I think that’s much more impressive about her (music).
Second that! Two of my favourite albums are ‘The south west wind’ and ‘Touch me if you dare’ featuring Ronan Browne and Peadar O’Loughlin. No breaking the speed limit on any of them, but plenty of brilliant tunes tastefully rendered.
Mr.Gumby is SO right on this. I had the privIlege of both hearing Mary Bergin play at a house concert and meeting her in July. Mary is beyond masterful as a musician, a personified trove of Irish Traditional Music, and was both emotive and genuine in her presentation. Mary Bergin is truly an international treasure in the world of ITM and WHISTLE!
Respectfully,
Cayden
That’s true enough. I’ll need lots of practice on both counts. Musicality’s not a problem for me in general; I’m proficient on other instruments – it’s translating it to the whistle in particular. Methinks some lessons in the mechanics might be in order…
That’s true enough. I’ll need lots of practice on both counts. Musicality’s not a problem for me in general; I’m proficient on other instruments – it’s translating it to the whistle in particular. Methinks some lessons in the mechanics might be in order…
You may find it’s more important familiarising yourself with the idiom, the ‘language’ of Irish music than it is to learn the mechanics of the whistle. The latter, a matter of lifting the right fingers, anyone with a bit of a musical ear and a bit of common sense can work that out. The former, may take a bit more time and effort. Knowledge, understanding, sensitivity, heart and personality are again the more important, and hard earned, attributes.