I’m new to the board and fairly new to whistles. My son and I have a trip planned to Scotland this summer and have thought about stopping at the home of Alba Whistles. I’ve seen mixed reviews on them and wonder if they have improved. Do they sound similar to a Shaw?
BTW, I want to thank the powers that be for this board. I have found the posts entertaining, helpful, and often insightful. Thank you all for contributing.
tomcat
I have an Alba - aluminium tunable D. I have to admit I don’t play it too much these days. It takes a hell of a lot of air to keep the second octave going - in fact when I got my Cillian O’Briain Low D last week I compared the two and it seems like the Alba takes more breath to blow than the O’Briain. Not ideal for a soprano D whistle. The whistle does sound lovely though and it’s by far the loudest I’ve played.
Last year I met Stacey Gorman at a craft fair and tried her other whistles. I tried her plastic whistles and they were fantastic - air requirements were fine. She said that she could make aluminium whistles with a narrower windway and if I was going to buy one of hers again I would make sure that this was done. That said if you visit her and try a bunch of her whistles I’m sure you would find a good few that suited how you play.
Gerry Thompson
The Alba aluminium soprano D whistle is without doubt the loudest whistle I’ve ever played. Those of you who believe that the Susato is representative of how loud a whistle can be, should really try an Alba and re-evaluate! This whistle has power, and in abundance. If you want to, or must be heard, this is the whistle to get! 
It has a very strong, full and round bottom end. Gerry is right in that the upper octave takes a fair amount of blowing, and air requirements, in general for this whistle, are on the high side; it’s probably not a whistle you would choose to play to “relax”, at night, in an apartment block! It possesses a character which will undoubtedly suit some players more than it will others (but I think that would be fair comment for just about every whistle that exists).
I’ve read some negative comments about Alba whistles but, in my opinion, they are good whistles. You just have to determine if they are the right ones for you. I don’t think that the Alba soprano D would necessarily be a whistle I’d recommend to a beginner, but in the hands of an experienced and confident player, it is capable of producing a great sound which I think would well suit live performance.
Mick
[ This Message was edited by: Mick Woodruff on 2002-01-22 15:17 ]
I tried an Alba Low D that was, hands down, the worst Low whistle I ever played. It was so airy that it sounded like metallic wind, and I felt like I could faint.
Jessie
Jessie… metallic wind ??
c’mon, you’re killing me… I’m in tears laughing!
Thanks one and all!
I am sorry to say so, but however beautiful and strong the sound of my Alba High D may be, it is utterly impossible to play that whistle for more than a couple of minutes. In fact, up to now I never managed to finish even one song on it. Let me add that our sessions over here normally go for about 4 hours without really affecting my playing any other whistle. IMHO the price is much to high to spend it on a mere-look-at-whistle.
A few days after this thread was posted I was given an Alba aluminium Bb whistle to try out. Having done so for a few days I wanted to add my comments. I’d agree very much with Gerry and particularly Mick - the whistle looks good, sounds good, is loud and needs a very prodigious amount of air.
One thing I really appreciate is that the Alba behaves exactly how I think a whistle should - very fast response and none of the nasty surprises regarding fingering that I have had with some loud whistles.
The tone is very whistle-like - soft, round and airy, despite being loud. Playing the Alba side by side with the closest thing I have to it, a very fine Overton A from Colin, the volume is comparable. And while the Alba lacks the mysterious “edge” and complexity of the Overton’s sound, its softer, more veiled tone is very attractive to my ears - and to the highly critical ears of my partner.
In terms of breathing, they couldn’t be more different. The Overton offers plenty of back-pressure, but actually needs little air. The Alba offers virtually zero back-pressure and requires massive amounts of air. Not for the faint of lung. I played it for about 30 minutes continuously on Saturday and I think I hyperoxygenated my brain, because I felt a little disconnected from reality afterwards. No doubt one would become accustomed to this, though. A benefit of the huge windway is that there is absolutely no danger of this whistle ever clogging up!
I sent Stacey an email about this aspect of the instrument and she replied that the most important thing about learning pipes and whistle is breathing, and “not gasping for breath at the end of a phrase or passage. Learning to breathe whilst marching and playing the pipes takes more effort than playing a Clark tin whistle.”
So, the high air requirements are deliberate. I’d be intrigued to try one with a narrower windway, though. I’d also be curious to try a soprano D and low D to see how the top and bottom of the line behave in terms of volume and air. So if I were anywhere near Ross-shire, Tom, I’d certainly pop in to visit.
The Overton offers plenty of back-pressure, but actually needs little air. The Alba offers virtually zero back-pressure and requires massive amounts of air.
Thanks, I now know the Alba probably isn’t for me, but could you explain what you mean by ‘back pressure’? I didn’t really understand that bit.
On 2002-01-28 11:36, jbarter wrote:
… could you explain what you mean by ‘back pressure’?
John, it could probably be put simpler as resistance to blowing. You have to use a certain amount of breath pressure to blow into the Overton, although not much air goes through. It’s as if the whistle was pushing back at you, giving you a kind of “feedback”.
On 2002-01-28 11:06, StevieJ wrote:
I’d also be curious to try a soprano D and low D to see how the top and bottom of the line behave in terms of volume and air. So if I were anywhere near Ross-shire, Tom, I’d certainly pop in to visit.
Steve, my experience with Alba whistles stretches no further than the soprano D and the tenor Eb, but I can tell you that the air requirements for the Eb are almost on a par with the soprano D - I can play for almost as long on each whistle with one breath, though the tenor offers even less back-pressure than does the soprano.
You may be interested to know that the tenor does not share the volume charateristics of its little brother; it has a more recessed sound; noticeably quieter than an Overton tenor. The bottom end is again, strong, and the volume balance between octaves is very good. It is easy to play across its full range. The tone is breathy and very agreeable. Maybe I'll post a recording to C&S soon. :slight_smile:
Mick
I tried a few of Stacey’s whistles recently at a fair at Castle Fraser, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and to be fair not all of them required a huge amount of air. I also own a Soprano D and it is very hard work, but I tried several others and there was a wide variation depending on the individual whistle. I like the sound if the air requirements are reasonable - otherwise it’s too much effort. I would urge you to visit and try a few Alba whistles as I’m sure there would be one or two that would suit you if you like that sort of thing. The lows were quite nice to play too, and I could even manage the fingering with my small hands. She also does plastic whistles which played nicely. Worth a look anyway. I wouldn’t write them off on the evidence of a few Soprano Ds.
Thanks, I’ve e-mailed Stacey and received a gracious welcome. It is fascinating to hear of the variance from whistle to whistle. Kinda reminds me of each batch of Texas chili I make . . . Now, if I can just talk my teenage son into taking the diversion . . .
We at Alba whistles try very very hard as do all makers, to make whistles as best as we can, along the way there can be the odd one that might be not so good which is the same in all products.
Over the years I have tryed a few ways of making wind ways/mouth holes/blades,when you are making whistles you can’t please every body all the time.I have never sold any of my whistles as a beginer instrument if you want one off those get a clarke.We have sold some where around 1,000 whistles world wide and have many happy customers.If you have a gripe about an alba whistle, contact me Ms Stacey O’Gorman Info@albawhistles.com And give us a chance to correct any problems rather than Just posting some comment on here. Not that I have any problem with the posting of any comments on this Board good or bad (Dale).I simpley would like to keep
the record straight and show that Alba whistles is in no way a dodgey dealer.
If you want to vist Me contact me personly &if you make a appointment please keep it.
Good whistling
Wizzy
[ This Message was edited by: wizzy on 2002-08-08 15:17 ]
contact me Ms Stacey O’Gorman > Info@albawhistles.com > And give us a chance to correct any problems rather than posting some comment on here.
If you want to vist Me contact me personly &if you make a appointment please keep it.
Good whistling
Wizzy
Well, let me say that I agree that people who aren’t satisfied with their whistles ought to let you know and try to work out a remedy. But, I have to respectfully object to your request that people not comment here. That is completely the choice of the customer. People who like your instruments are as free to post here as people who don’t. People with good experiences can post, too. THis happens all the time on this board. The time to work with people to give them the instrument they would be satisfied with is BEFORE you ship it and not after they received it and are unhappy. I’m also afraid that you’re about to discover that asking customers NOT to complain in this forum was a bad idea.
Good point Dale, I’ve bought so many bad whistles because no one dared give them bad reviews, I think people should speak up even more about whistles they don’t like (and like).
Not too long ago, my long wait finally ended and I received a very very high end whistle that arrived horribly sharp on two notes in the second register, and horribly unbalanced between the two octaves in volume. And, I had requested voicing on the quiet side and it was obvious that nobody attended to this request. I received no mention of it with the instrument. I lost all my faith in the whistle maker who would ship out an instrument with such obvious problems, so that I had no confidence in being able to successfully return it for the necessary adjustments. Instead, I just returned it for a refund. This maker tried to convince me over the phone that I should give adjustment a try. When I returned the instrument, I explained that there were things about it that obviously couldn’t be changed that weren’t in my taste. Why? Because I wanted to make sure I’d get my refund. I was intimidated because they had my money and didn’t do right by me so far. My confidence in the whistle maker’s professionalism was completely dashed. Now I’m out close to twenty dollars in shipping and insurance charges.
I am very grateful to Dale for speaking up about our right to gripe–yes, whistle makers should work out the kinks before shipping us our instruments. I’ve had to be very strong in resisting the temptation to post the exact details of my disappointment because I assumed it would result in exactly the kind of response that appears above.
If it is okay with Dale, I would like to reveal the name of the maker of my faulty purchase. I don’t want someone else to go through the same disappointment.
Lisa
I respectfully take issue with some of what
Dale said in his post. Though I fully agree
that this is an open forum and anyone is
welcome to express his or her opinion I
think Dale’s statemnent about working out
problems BEFORE implies that Ms. Gorman
is at fault. Dale assumes she sent out
a bad whistle when it well could be just
the grumblings of a bad player or someone
who had unrealistic expectations, etc.,
etc. We should commend Ms. Gorman for
being flexible and open enough to work
at resolving differences that cannot
always be forseen. When whistle buyers
and makers deal via mail misunderstandings
and expectations unrealized occur
frequently and I feel it’s not good
to assume fault lies with a maker when
it’s quite probable they have acted in
good faith. My 2 cents worth.
Kelhorn Mike
I absolutely agree with Dale, the time for a maker to please the customer is before the whistle leaves the shop. There are times when problems occur in shipping, and that can’t be helped, but the majority of problem whistles leave the shop that way. We pay for the maker’s time when we buy the whistle, however when there’s a problem, and we have to work it out after the fact, there’s no remuneration for our wasted time.
I too had a bad experience with an Alba whistle, I bought a Low D a couple of years back that was horribly out of tune with itself. I also felt it required far more than a reasonable amount of air - to be honest, it ranks as one of the worst whistles I’ve ever played, and I couldn’t imagine how a maker could let such a whistle out of the shop. Fortunately the retailer who sold me the whistle took it back and refunded my money, which is as it should be.
I often think certain whistle makers are simply in denial, believing that their product is fine just the way it is, and refusing to accept feedback, regardless of what the customer wants.
In the end, as customers, we only have eachother to look out for one another, and I think it’s a shame that many people are too intimidated to post their less than positive experiences here.
Loren
Well I guess I’ll go ahead and pick
a fight and say Loren I humbly
disagree. I think almost all makers
care about customer feedback and are
not in denial about anything. The
ultimate feedback is the marketplace.
If you make a bad product chances are
you won’t be business for long. So,
do I (SUSATO) care about feedback
positive or otherwise. Absolutely
yes! Otherwise I might never take a
look at this board. Do I take
everything I read on this board
seriously. Well, NO! The feedback
that matters the most is (1) my dealers
and distributors worldwide. If they
don’t believe in and represent our
products in a positive way, we’re
in trouble. They are the main link to
end consumers and if something is
really wrong they’ll let me know.
(2) Individuals who we know to be
good whistlesmiths, very good players
and musicians. I know this board
is more of a concern to the smaller
whistlesmiths who deal more directly
with the end consumer.I humbly believe
players should trust professional
whistle players and/or teachers on what’s
a good whistle and also trust THEIR OWN INSTINCTS when sampling whistles first hand before soliciting what may well be a
unqualified or biased opinion from a fellow
board member. Many of the better players seem noticeably absent in their participation on this board and that is regrettable. I’ve
probably pissed some people off
but so be it.
KELHORN MIKE