Becker Whistles

Whistle
1

Friends, I received my Becker A and G whistles via post today, and I wanted to share with you my impressions. Some of you have already voiced your views on the Becker, and here are mine. To summarize, here is a transcript of the letter which I wrote to Mr. Becker.

…Thank you very much of the Becker A and G whistles that arrived today via post. They are beautiful instruments in many ways. They have a gentle, beautiful voice. The holes are placed/spaced nicely. The A is spaced similarly to the Gen Bb, which I am already accustomed to. The G is an easy player with a certain smoky quality with I enjoy. Furthermore, the way you drilled the holes allows me to be quite aware of what my fingers are doing. The delrin plugs and the mouthpiece are carved out comfortably and resist clogging.

Best regards, Mr Becker, and thank you.

End of letter.

2

I like my key of G whistle also. They are good whistles for the price, and do sound “gentle”.

I got a low D from them also, and it is too big for my hands to play really, but that is the fault of my anatomy not the whistle.

3

I am a huge fan of Becker whistles. They are easily the best sound for price of any whistle around and I value their playing dynamics, sound and playability just below my Oz, Milligan and Syn whistles. I think that if they were made in delrin or wood, they would be more sought-after than they are now and I would happily pay $200 for one. As it is, I’m glad that they’re not that expensive and I have the full set. Perhaps the weakest is the low D but it’s good for quiet practice. The rest are great whistles.

I asked my wife (who is a violinist) to tell me which was the most expensive whistle from the sound from a selection of my high D whistles. She also put the Becker right up there with my Oz, Milligan and Syn high Ds. There were some (such as my A$180 Thornton Mk3 and my Brass session Burke) that were down with the mass-produced (but she was being quite strict with the sound quality and tuning). Anyway, I think Becker whistles are great (although I wouldn’t snub the Burke).

I recently was asked by an experienced recorder player what to get as a first whistle. I suggested a Becker D and C and he was very pleased (once he got past the being-made-of-pvc thing).

Again, if the whistles were made from a more main-stream material, I think they would be much more well-regarded.