Coopermans were my first non-plastic topped whistles. I would like to like them. They are cheap, traditional looking (like a Clarke, but less conical), not imported, and with the addition of a tassel could pass for a Ressikan flute.
I got two, well before I had ever been online or even seen Microsoft Windows. My only previous experience with whistles had been a very easy-playing Soodlums.
The one Cooperman wouldn’t play at all. I tried in vain to tweak it. Just wound up bending it, and it still wouldn’t play. The other would play, very quietly, and breathily.
The fipples on both stuck out about 1/4" beyond the front of the mouthpiece, and were held in place by being punched into on either side of the mouthpiece. Though they had the appearance of an unpainted Clarke, there seemed to be some kind of coating on the metal, and the seam was covered over (they are made of rolled tinplate).
All-in-all, one might describe the Cooperman whistles I had as caricatures of Clarke whistles. But I still want to like the Cooperman whistles. I don’t think it’d take much more than a little revision of their factory methods to produce a fairly decent whistle. That said, Cooperman themselves are not even proud of their tinwhistles. You will not find them listed in the Cooperman catalogue, though they are supposedly introducing a higher end wooden one, that is different than their cheap wooden one.
In the interest of balance, the following are two quotes from old threads that are positive reviews.
I hate to say this because I have heard such great things, but I just received a Dixon low d duo set that I absolutely despise, I have been playiong on a Kerry Low D and an M&E polymer flute and it was a significant step down. I can’t believe anyone would want the low D dixon, although I have an amazing soprano that isn’t too bad. I really wanted this to work out as well, but I guess I am pulled back into reality. Just my two cents.
Cran, If you read a lot of the posts here and in other threads it soon becomes apparent that a great part of the enjoyment of these wonderful little instruments is “tweaking” and “improving” the bad ones. I have a few myself that I have nurtured into fine sounding whistles. If you look at Bloomfield’s homepage you will see a delightful description of how he tweaked a Sindt and a Feadog into one great one. Kind of like Star Trek The Motion Picture with Voyager and that Alien Spacecraft. I can’t wait to try that one myself. Alas, though, there are certain ones that simply turn out to be garbage no matter what you do. You just have to throw them in the sock drawer and get another one and hope for the best. Have fun!
I pretty much agree with tyghress on this, especially for high-end whistles.
In theory I don’t agree; I think that if whistle makers hang out on a whistle board they take a risk. If it comes off, that’s spectacular for business. Free advertising will be plastered all over the board. If it doesn’t come off, hard luck but you knew the gamble.
That’s theory, but in practice I don’t follow my own precepts. This is a community and we make friends with eachother. The whistlemakers are an integral part of this community of friends. I don’t want to be seen bad mouthing someone I like, although I’ll always give a frank but tactful appraisal in private, to a maker or a would be purchaser. Fortunately, I like many different kinds of whistle, and I almost always buy high-end whistles, so I usually have something nice to say about the whistles I buy. I think this is pretty much how Dale operates.
If you want to know which high end whistles to avoid, you’ll have to do some of the work yourself. But that’s obvious, we can’t give you specific advice until you tell us exactly what kind of whistle you want.
