I was wondering if anyone would know if there is an inexpensive whistle that sounds “Irish”, (ethereal) such as a Clare or a Feadog? Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Kaitlin
Do you mean something with a woodsy sound? You might want to look into some rosewood whistles, although they are somewhat expensive. Check out www.thewhistleshop.com. As far as a typical sounding Irish whistle, you just named two of them right there. I assume you mean Clarke.
There is a Clare whistle, made in Co. Clare, Ireland. However, it doesn’t sound any more Irish than a Generation whistle, made in England.
For an inexpensive whistle that has an authentic, ethereal Irish tinwhistle sound, I would recommend a Clarke Original. The sound varies from whistle to whistle, but there’s a pretty good chance that would fit the bill. You can get tweaked Clarke Originals from www.thewhistleshoppe.com for about $23 plus shipping. Or, you can buy an untweaked one for under $10. It’ll take more air to play, but you can tweak it yourself if that’s a problem.
Even though the Clarke Originals are made in England, it was the Irish boatsmen who picked them up in the late 1800s and brought them home to Ireland. Historically, the Clarke Original would, in fact, be the whistle for the authentic, traditional Irish tinwhistle sound.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Jerry I am not disputting(disputing, dispeuting?? well you know what I mean) your post in any way but no self respecting Irish man would play one of those flutie sounding things. We all know they play Gen Ebs and Ds. How long do you think you could draw pictures in the head of a glass of Guenness with a tin whistle. It has to be brass or nickle to stand up to normal use. IMHO 
Tom
We are that which we seek
Tom, I think we should agree to be both right.
It is true that the tradition of Irish tinwhistle began with the Irish boatmen bringing them back from England in the late 1800s, and I do tend to think of the Clarke originals having an “ethereal” sound.
However, I’m only trying to imagine what Kaitlin has in mind, so I could be off the mark. Certainly, the Generation whistles are 100% authentic Irish sounding whistles. Perhaps the best thing for her to do would to get both, since they’re very cheap.
Best wishes,
Jerry
P.S. Here’s a clip of a Clarke original. It’s not a slow aire, so the ethereal aspect of the sound isn’t as evident, but it’s still a good example:
www.hooleymusic.com/maggieclip.mp3
Holy smokes Jerry that sounded great. Yes I think both should be gotten. After all I have both and I play my Clarke original almost as much as I play my Gens. Mine is untweeked though and I like it that way.
And I like that it only cost me 6 bucks from the Whistle shops garage sale. And it is a neat looking whistle. But don`t draw pictures in you Guinness with it.
Tom
I think there are two ways in which a whistle can sound ‘Irish’ and it isn’t fully clear to me which Kaitlin means although I think I can guess.
One is the sound of the traditional high whistle which is, well..tinny, cheap sounding and a bit raspy. Generations come to mind here and a good Generation or something tweaked to sound like one would be the best bet if this is what you’re after.
Ethereal is not a word that comes to mind in connection with these whistles I must say. For that I’d go for something with the low whistle sound—whistles on which it is easy to make sustained notes flatten and die away in a ghostly way. Overtons in any key have this feature but aren’t cheap. For a high whistle that does the job well enough and is cheap, the Clarke original would be my choice if I couldn’t afford an Overton.
I’m with Wombat on this one. “Etheral” doesn’t really describe the sound of a tinwhistle being played in the Irish style, unless you count the ‘ghostly’ low whistle tunes you can hear on a lot of albums.
The qualities mostly associated with the sound of an Irish tinwhistle include metallic, raspy and slightly rough. Most cheap whistles (with the possible exceptions of Susatos and Sweetones) have that kind of sound.
But I will argue that only by practicing technique will you make the music you play on a tinwhistle sound Irish. In other words, in the hands of a good player of the Irish style, more or less every tinwhistle on the face of the earth will sound “Irish”. 
Jens
… and in the hands of a bad player of any style, more or less every tinwhistle on the face of the earth will sound cheap. 
I agree with Jens and Wombat. I’d advise Kaitlin to buy a Dixon - has that lovely “whistle” sound but is definitely a better whistle than the cheapies (though if she insists, then I’d recommend an Oak).
Descriptions of sound are SOOOOO subjective!! Best bet if at all possible is to actually try as many whistles as you can, and find the one(s) that sounds the way you like it, and disregard other people’s impressions of the sound.
Begger !!
so thats where I’m going wrong
According to the Clarke manufacturers, in “A bit of pipe with six holes”, the original whistles manufactured by Robert Clarke were carried back to Ireland by Irish Navvies, short for navigators. These were the men who dug and used the canal network in England, dangerous and poorly paid work. Men were sometimes paid in bills that could only be used in shops belonging to the men who paid them - thus fixing the prices.
There’s a whole section of British industrial history associated with canal building & use, and many folk songs associated with the work and the conditions, bringing up a family in the cramped cabins of working boats etc. Digging was dangerous because tunnels could collapse and bury men alive. Using the boats was dangerous because, among other things, gunpowder and coal was carried and stored in warehouses on the canals.
The canal network was almost complete by the 1815, and within ten years the railways began to take over light freight and passengers.
Clare whistles claim on their site to have been maufacturing whistles in Ireland for nearly 200 years, longer then Clarke in England, but I confess to finding this claim a little unsubstantianted.
http://www.canaljunction.com/canal/heritage.htm will tell you more about canal history than you really thought you needed to know.
I wonder whether Kaitlin is referring to the tone of the whistle or the brand name of the whistle. (“Clare” and “Feadóg” are certainly Irish-sounding names.) How about Doolin? (A Doolin also has a beautiful tone, but it can require some careful tweaking to make it playable.)
Martin, this is interesting. I live in Cleveland which was the Lake Erie terminus of the Ohio-Erie canal. The first great influx of Irish in Cleveland was from canal workers who found themselves out of work and in Cleveland when the canal was completed. Although the canal was abandoned long ago, a good bit of it still exists. Over the past decade large portions have been rehabilitated and the towpaths fixed up for use as bicycle and running paths.
Mike
Some of the etherial qualities (what StevieJ might call ‘haunting celtic sound’) is reverb in the recording production. You can add that yourself with amplification or sound software like Goldwave. Otherwise, you may be thinking of the breathy/metallic sound of whistles and the slurring of notes by sliding the finger gradually off a hole. Also, the trailing off of breath pressure at the end of a phrase or tune. That about sums up celtic hauntingness. It loses it romance when you get down to the mechanics of it.
Tony
I’ve always said that the Walton’s Mellow D has an Irish accent. The mouthpiece doesn’t need tweaking, but I usually drill out some holes (F# especially) to get the darn thing in tune. I have one that is absolutely the best whistle I’ve ever played, and I’ve played most of the big name high enders. Of course I also have another Mellow D that’s good as a backscratcher and not much else. Maybe I drilled it all wrong?
Thanks you all very much for your replies. I am willing to look at a Dixon, or a Clarke, for an “Irish Sound”, but where could I go to find some sound clips?
Also, what is the difference in sound between a low ‘D’ and a regular whistle with regards to breath requirements?
Thanks for all the help/suggestions.
Kaitlin
P.S. When I put ‘ethereal’ I was referring to the haunting quality/sound most Irish whistles seem to have. (if that helps at all 
)