Hi All, I am newbie. I have a big interest in Irish/Scottish music and it is really my wife who is the player. She is pretty good having been a classical recorder player but needs to read the music! I have always found this forum very useful and just thought that it ws about time that I added a few posts in return.
Anyway, last xmas I bought a Chieftain V3 low and my wife was very pleased but she did comment that it took a lot of breath to play, especially in the second octave. She is small and slightly asthmatic. The sound was very nice and haunting and the notes seem perfectly in tune (except when runs out of breath!). Recently, I got her another low D an Alba regular and there was a huge difference- this particular whistle took a lot less air to play and the sound almost matched the V3 - perhaps it was slightly less flute-like than the V3? Interestingly, when I compared the audio spectrum between the two whistles each note on the Alba eached pitch quickly and was sustained well while the V3 was rather more variable.
Curiously, the Chieftain high D is also nigh on impossible for her to put the required volume of air through it in the second and third octaves so she struggles with ornaments etc. It is an extremely loud whistle too. She has a Syn high D/C to and this is very easy to play by comparison. Oddly the Alba Bb that she plays is also a bit tougher and the notes aren’t so pure maybe even slightly out of tune? She is desperately waiting for Mitch to finish the OZ whistle that he’s been making.
So each whistle is an individual beast but you knew that already? Maybe the Chieftains are for big people with good lungs? I think that she might retire them.
