Tried a Howard low D at a music store today and was absolutely blown away by its sound. I’ve heard good things about Howards over the years but wanted to know if anyone in C&F land had personal experience with a Howard low D. Do they all sound that good, or was I just lucky to stumble across one that suited my playing style?
Two minutes before playing the Howard, I was noodling with a Chieftain and a Shaw, and neither sounded appealing. Or, I should say, my playing wasn’t appealing on either of those low whistles.
Funny, the tone holes didn’t seem particularly large to me, even though I don’t have large hands! Hmm … maybe I’ll have to go back to that music shop and try it again.
Ah, maybe that’s the problem! I started on the flute a few months ago. For me, I’ve found it easier to finger my flute (one of Ralph Sweet’s little gems) than my Alba low D. The six hole on that one is farther from the five hole than on any low whistle I’ve ever played, tried, or seen.
Took me a while to get comfortable with it, but I eventually got there.
I maintain that the Howards tend to be neglected. Fabulous sound, very responsive. As best I can tell, and others can weigh in on this, the Howards are, to some extent, victims of Brian Howard being a bit of a pioneer. I would think Bernard Overton was more or less first, and then Brian started making Lows. (There was quite a stretch of time there, I think, during which we had Overtons, Howards, and, I guess, Copelands. That was pretty much it.) I’m told that the early ones were very hard to play due to hole size and placement. That’s long since been remedied. By the time I bought one in 1996 or so, the Howards were good. I have acculated two or three of them, including the only Low C I play. And, since then, Brian’s made further improvements. But, it may be that the early ones were pretty frustrating to play and people assume that has carried over.
That’s too bad; they’re now a real treat to play. The shop I visited had three of four Howard low whistles, so whoever handles their purchasing is also a believer!
Howards are very under-rated. They are now about $200 from Howard, so if you like the one you tried and it is at the older price, I would grab it as the replacements are sure to cost more.
Elderly sells them for 144.95 (list is 186) but I did a search and found them for sale on Amazon for 105$ and it looks as though they are sold by Howard himself. On his website he sells them for 101.5 GBP (187.64 $)
I wonder if the ones on Amazon are the newest version or is he liquidating old stock??
I saw the listing, too! Only 1 left: be quick! I’d be surprised if this is a new whistle; as you say, it’s quite likely he’s trying to clear out old inventory. Wish the Amazon listing included a photo.
I’ve got a sorta-older Howard (circa 1998, I think - I’m not the first owner).
I’ve heard the newer models are a bit easier to play (less push needed for the upper octave), but I have no complaints about mine - it’s a very nice whistle, and very easy to play (does take a bit more oomph at the top of the 2nd octave, but still quite manageable). And the sound’s different enough from either of my flutes that it still gets played regularly.
Even if the Amazon listing is “old stock”, it’s a good whistle at a bargain price.
I love mine, though I have had the opportunity to try some others that I like really well too, most recently a Chieftain Non-tunable.
It took me about a year to get reasonably consistent control of the Howard’s notes above E in the upper octave, and I can pretty much avoid the squeeks and squawks now. The only thing I don’t like about it is that the low, bell note is not strong… that problem is not ‘operator error’, as I understand it.
I have seen weak bell notes on a few Howard whistles. I had a couple which had weak bell notes and got the new heads for them. Brian may exchange for a new model head if yours got through his QC inspection and does not perform well. The new model head is about $50US, postpaid from Howard.
I tried a Howard Low D a few years ago at a temporary “shop” he setup at the Willie Clancy week festival in Miltown. I’m not sure if it was his newer model or not, but I really liked the whistle. It was easy to play, very responsive and the second octave was really easy to play. I was not playing flute and didnt feel as if the holes were much bigger than my Copeland Low D at the time.
