Aluminum burke D

Whistle
1

Doc Jones has on his site a new aluminum burke
session D, for 155 dollars, I think–which is a good
price.

I wonder what people think:

is this better than the narrow bore aluminum D?

I played one of the narrow bore burkes once briefly and thought it
pretty nifty. Can it be heard in sessions?

Opinions?

2

I have an older Burke (pre-blacktip) aluminum session D, and it’s my main whistle. I also bought a brass narrow-bore D from someone here, which is very good, but I prefer the aluminum. Some will argue that it’s too pure, with little “chiff”, so of course you need to consider what you’re after.

My personal (and subjective) order of preference among my own high D’s is:
Burke aluminum session
Hoover non-tunable PVC (a gem)
Sweetheart Pro D
Freeman Mellow-Dog
Burke narrow bore brass

As for the aluminum narrow-bore D, no I haven’t tried one.

3

I have both. In my opinion the difference in volume is negligible. The Session feels better in my large hands, but I prefer playing the narrow bore because the high notes play so very easily. Both are fine whistles, but I don’t have any experience with sessions.

4

I have the aluminum session-bore D, and it’s a very fine whistle. I’ve played it at sessions and its volume is just about perfect. What impresses me about it is how easy and sweet the high notes are. Now, true, a GOOD Generation or Feadog has sweeter high notes, but they don’t have enough volume for many sessions.
If a session is VERY loud, I have my “big gun” in reserve, an old Susato high D that’s a cannon. It’s twice as loud as any other high D whistle I’ve played, and it can be heard over accordions and tenor banjos. I don’t like the way that Susato plays at all. You have to really blow the high notes. But for sheer volume it’s the best I have.
The Burke is the best compromise I’ve played between the shouting crudity of the Susato and the soft finesse of the Feadog.

5

Thanks, everybody.

6

I don’t have large hands and I can definitely feel a difference when playing one vs. the other. The Session has larger holes and requires more air and backpressure for articulation in the higher octave. Our narrow bore Burke is noticeably quieter than my brass Session. I know that the design has one thing to do with it. I wonder if the narrow bore’s aluminum body is another factor.

If I had the choice to make again, I would buy the narrow bore because it is easier to play in the high register and it sounds wonderful. In fact, I may end up buying one in brass for myself at the beginning of the new year.

7

Maybe I just got lucky, but my “session” Burke D has easy-to-play high notes. It does not take much extra pressure to play high A and high B, unlike my Susato D.

8

You could also be a better player. :wink: But I agree with you on the Susato D. I stopped playing it because it required so much extra pressure to not break or squeak high A and B, especially when trying to cut those notes. On the Burke I can hit high A and B just fine (and even higher C and D), but I found my Clarke D easier to cut those notes than the Burke. I can do it with the Burke, but I had to train myself to use greater back pressure when cutting them - definitely not what I would consider easy. But then again, not difficult to do either.

~Douglas