I was wondering if anyone here has played around with bamboo whistles. I know I`ve seen a few bamboo flute makers on the web that offer them, but never really gave it a thought until I hopped in a local “world instruments” music shop here in town. They had a bunch from india ranging in price from around $6-7 up to around $25. I assumed they were junk, but picked up a low G and to my surprise it sounded really sweet! Breath control is key on this one, but really, really nice. AND it was only $6.25 or so. Anyone else have any luck with something like this?
I’ve had a few. A soprano that was playable, badly, and low E that was pretty much unplayable, and an A that plays and sounds very well indeed. It could be in tune a bit better , but it is at least acceptable. The sound is very pure with a bit of “neccessary chiff” and on the loud side.
The good A has blue bindings near the head, middle, and end, if that helps any. I think on the cheapest crap they don’t bother binding it. They have a reputation of not holding up very well. Binding helps to prevent cracking. Holes are on the large size usually.
Hey you arn’t out much if you wind up with junk, and you might wind up with something decent. One day I’ll probably get a couple more, just for fun.
I think the descrepancy comes from the quality of the worker. The bad soprano was made by prison labor. The worse one in EE was probably child prison labor, or possibly drunken lepers. The good one in A was probably made by someone on probation or parole, that at least knew what a whistle sounds like. Maybe child labor, but not in prison. Or drunks. Or lepers. But not drunken lepers. Possibly elves. Not the good ones like Santa has though. Rejects. Think OOmpa LOOmpas.
I had a soprano D it sounded alright but it cracked really easily and is now unplayable.
A friend of mine brought by a soprano D – with no tone holes! I drilled it for her, but really…
(removed really small-minded comment… )…
Anybody can make a mistake, and the whistle sounds fine and is in perfect tune. They do kind of resemble the sound of wood!
Cheers, Happy New Year
Bill Whedon
This one does have binding on it, although a little loose on some spots so really it only seems to serve a decorative purpose. I rather kind of like the larger finger holes. I’m used to playing on homemade pvc whistles and you usually end up with bigger finger holes anyway. I’ve found it makes half-holing a lot easier, really. The tube diameter is surprisingly thin which makes for a very light whistle, but it also makes me wonder how long this thing will last. Did a quick check at home and it’s pretty flat- more like a F#, so I won’t be bring this one out to sessions, but still fun to play with. I did notice inconsistencies with the size of the windway, but other than that, they were surprisingly consistent from one instrument to the next.
One more acquisition under the belt!
Thanks guys. 
-Hudson
I’ve got quit a large collection of tweaked Indian and Pakistani Whistles, and some excellent ones in C, B, Bb, A, Ab, Gb.
One thing to remember is that often the marked Key is a semitone sharp of the actual pitch.
Here in the UK we have a thriving North Indian and Pakistani community and there are specialist shops that cater for their needs. These shops will sometimes have musical instruments, and in my experience are quit happy for you to go through lots of whistles and select the ones you want.
The prices vary but the best quality ones, are less than £10. My strategy is to look for the whistles with good tone and playing characteristics and worry about the intonation later.
Tweaking is pretty easy, usually there not far out.
One problem I’ve found with some is that if you play the second octave tonic with the top finger off they play sharp, but are fine overblowing with all fingers down.
TTFN
John S
Hudson, Indians like flutes and whistles with thin walls because it is more reponsive to half holing which is the guts of the style. Many thick walled varieties of bamboo are available in India but its the thin walled that get picked
Of course the Orient (as in Japan etc) likes half holing the thicker walled bamboo shakuhachis and such like but but they do not build up to the speed that Indian music does. In that music, even at very fast tempo the glissando must be maintained.
I made an excellent bamboo d whistle a few weeeks ago. It took me a ridiculous amount of time (like almost 5 hours), but it sounds excellent. The material itself is capable of greatness, but I doubt its long-term stability, and hole placement and everything else must be calculated for each individual whistle, since bamboo varies in size even in one stalk, from one node to the next.
Jessie, there are different types of bamboo and some are more regular.
Has anybody posted www.mid-east.com yet?
They sell bamboo whistles, and I’ve gotten a few from there. The ones I got were low whistles, and they weren’t bad, actually.
I’ve made a bunch of them,and they usually hold up pretty well too.The only problem I’ve had is them growing mildew.
Make sure the bamboo is completely dry (inside and out) before you make them…
The only low whistle I own is a bamboo low D that I bought from Mid-East through Amazon. I figured it would be a good (inexpensive) way to find out if low whistling was for me. So far I’ve been impressed enough that I’m considering purchasing a more expensive one, probably a Dixon.
Yeah,it’s dry before I make them,but then I play them and they get damp.And then they grow mildew after a couple months of playing.
Finbar Furey used to play a bamboo low whistle back in the 60s. It was falling apart and he mentioned his concerns about getting a replacement to Bernard Overton. Reliable rumour has it that this conversation led directly to the reinvention of the low whistle as we know it today.
Oh. I understood you wrong. Sorry. 
'S ok.
Have you tried oiling them?
I had a number of bamboo flutes and whistles from Taiwan. All but two whistles cracked. The two that survived appear to have been lacquered or varnished. Might be linseed oil.
I have a tenor A that Mack Hoover made for me out of a 20-something-year-old piece of bamboo that I had laying around. I put regular bore oil on it (inside and out), and it’s holding up well, so far. It has a nice reedy sound.
Here it is next to my regular Hoover A:
Oh yes,I always oil them,pretty frequently.It doesn’t seem to make a difference.But once they grow the mildew I just wash them out with some bleach,which helps for another couple months.It doesn’t smell great,and it’s probably not too good for the whistles,but since I made them in the first place and they cost me almost nothing,I don’t really care. I think we just have a mildewy house.Ah well.Thanks for your interest!
where was that bamboo whistle made?