I’m from Moscow, Russia. That is far from England/Ireland, and is not a place where Irish had made there homes, so whistles are not too much popular here. The only ones you can buy in Moscow are Clarkes, which are only in keys C & D.
But I want to try some other keys also So - can anyone send me a couple of Bb’s (one for me and one for a friend of mine), and maybe some other ones - E, Bflat, etc? (BTW - are there any cheap whistles lower than Bb?)
I can return you the money via paypal - or send you smth that can be bought only in Russia, if you need it (and if you can think out any stuff of that sort - I can’t)
I have a Generation Bflat, which I stabilized a bit, by filling the cavity under the windway. Also the mouthpiece can be moved, so it’s made tunable. As I just bought an Impempe Bflat, I don’t play it anymore. Therefore you can have mine if you want. I don’t want any money for it, because the whistle only cost me 5 euros. The only thing is if I have to send it very secure that’s expensive. I don’t know if that’s necessary. So let me know if you’re interested.
Furthermore, most people can’t buy whistles directly, the more when they want to buy more expensive ones, because there aren’t too many shops that sell them. You can get in contact with whistlemakers directly. They are often very willing to help you as well (for instance sending one to try or letting you hear through the phone). A site where you get the links to many whistlemakers is: http://www.angelfire.com/mo/sassafrassgrove/WhistleRoll/whistlelinks.html
Since you have access to a PayPal account, you could order directly from Oz Whistles or Song of the Sea or The Whistle Shop. They all accept PayPal for international orders, and the cost would be about the same if a C&F member buys them for you.
Don’t feel bad about not finding whistles in Moscow. Even in most places in the US (and UK, I think), they’re pretty rare unless you happen to live near a specialty folk shop. For example, Here in San Diego there are a couple of music shops that have a very small selection of Clarkes and Generations, that’s all. In Ireland I saw Feadógs and Waltons in tourist shops everywhere, and Generations and Susatos in some of the music shops. Custy’s in Ennis and Powell’s in Galway City had decent selections. Otherwise, you’re probably more likely to find electric guitars and drum kits in Ireland, too.
As for the limitations of the D and C, those are the whistles session players like myself play 90% of the time anyway (and maybe low D also). But if you want to try other keys, have fun! Yes, the Bb is usually considered the lowest of the high whistles. Low whistles in A and below generally cost more, but Susatos are reasonably priced.
The Low Tech Whistle Site has instructions on how to make an A whistle out of plastic tubing. Guido has measurements for various keys.
It depends how handy you feel, or how desperate.
The A whistle is the lowest “high” whistle I’ve seen or heard. I don’t play a lot on it, but “Ashokan Farewell” comes over very nicely. It sounds terrible on higher whistles, but maybe that is just me.
If you are going to make your own plastic whistle, I’d advise shifting the E hole (on a D whistle) down by about 5mm from Guido’s measurements.
Like arnie, I have Generation Bb with putty filling the head cavity. It is a very nice whistle. Actually, I have two but I trashed one trying to tweak it. I’d read about Generations needing tweaking but my efforts only made a good whistle worse. So, I got a second one, cleaned out one small piece of flash in the head, put in the putty and have enjoyed it ever since.
Thank you all for your advice. I ended up with ordering a tweaked Gen Bb at emtor’s vargaswhistles.com. His “first get it, then pay for it” selling model is really attractive - trust is an uncommon thing in our world, and meeting it always makes me happy
So - can anyone send me a couple of Bb’s (one for me and one for a friend of mine), and maybe some other ones - E, Bflat, etc? (BTW - are there any cheap whistles lower than Bb?)