Maybe this ground has been covered before but I’ve been unable to find anything. The whistle player in an Irish band quotes that he plays Colin Goldie alto and soprano whistles and Bernard Overton low whistles. What struck me as interesting was his differentiation between Bernard’s and Colin’s whistles as though he’s made a definite choice to play Bernard’s low whistles and Colin’s alto and soprano whistles. I will ask him if I get the chance at a gig but I’m curious why, when Colin makes such great whistles with spot-on tuning and a not impossible stretch on the bottom two holes for the Low D, why someone would specifically choose a low whistle (probably non-tuneable too) from Bernard. Don’t get me wrong. He obviously made great whistles. But why this obvious choice? Do Bernard’s low whistles tend to be tonally different or have substantially different playability or backpressure to Colin’s. I notice Troy Donockley’s sound from his Overton low whistles is mellow and smooth and very different from say the crisper sound of John McSherry’s playing but I’ve put this sound to different sound processing rather than any noticeable difference between an Overton (made by Bernard) and a Goldie.
What do people who have experience of both think about the difference between a Bernard Overton Low D and one of Colin’s from the standpoint of playability and especially tone?
For myself, the only thing I say is: Why play a Stradivari or a Guarneri violin as opposed to a good modern-day Cremonese violin? It’s been proven many times in blind tests that not even the top-line pros can tell the difference between the instruments, yet they will opt for the Strad or the Del Gesu every time.
I also think it’s because it’s the baseline by which all other whistles are judged. It’s what the low whistle is supposed to sound like, because Overton pretty much created the genre.
I think it has to do with having the very best: knowing that you’re holding greatness. I have no reason to own an Overton- I’m nowhere near good enough to draw on its full potential. But for me, I’ll never own a Strad or Guarneri (I’ll never even hold one) but I can afford an Overton, so I have one.
So instead of getting a whistle that sounds like an Overton, or plays like an Overton, we just get an Overton.
There are differences in the design though, I believe. I know Colin used to make a low whistle with larger toneholes, afaik this was closer to the Overton design. I had one and it was sweet. Very smooth between the octaves. But when it came to choosing between that and my brass KPro, I sold it.
I think this is slightly overstating the case… In the end they’re just cylindrical fipple flutes made of aluminium after all. None of them - I’ve tried four that I can recall (Goldie big hole, KPro, MK, and that one with the huge tube whose name I forget) - really stands out as being miles better than the others in response or tone. Although the fat tubed one was definitely the worst!
I sold my Overtons (A, G and low D all owned from new) when I got others I liked better.
Decent whistles and significant in terms of development/historical interest, yes, but ‘the very best’ or ‘what the low whistle is supposed to sound like’, no!
Is there not the possibility that you’re over-thinking this? If the player in question has got an original Overton, and it still does everything the player needs to do, then I can’t see why they wouldn’t carry on playing that. Then, if they subsequently needed to get other whistles in other keys, the obvious thing to do is to go to Overton’s successor, Colin Goldie. In that case (and I am purely speculating), the ‘differentiation’ is purely in accurately accrediting the makers of the instruments.
I’ve played a fair few low whistles over a fair few years and have never found anything that comes close to my Overton/Goldie in terms of responsiveness and sheer playability, but YMMV. But the main thing that stops people buying Stradivariuses and Guarneri is cost, and as yet Goldie whistles aren’t attracting quite those prices …
Is there not the possibility that you’re over-thinking this?
Overthinking is not something I’ve ever been accused of
Nevertheless the question still stands as to whether there are tonal differences between
a Goldie and Overton Low D that might sway a person one way or another.
I think there will always be slight variances in sound between handmade whistles, even by the same maker.
I have an original Bernard Overton low D, a Goldie Overton low D and an unmarked Overton style low D whistle. I’m guessing the unmarked might be a Phil Hardy Overton(?). They all sound really good although slightly different. But the Bernard is by far the easiest to play due to the hole spacing. The unmarked one is the hardest to play and has the biggest holes.
I used to have a Colin Goldie (his own design) low D which didn’t do it for me. It clogged constantly and sounded a bit compressed/stifled compared to other similar Low Ds. My Goldie Overton is actually a much better whistle than the (non-Overton) Colin Goldie I had. (I’m well aware that Colin makes several versions of his whistles, soft, medium, hard et c. So I’m only commenting on the one I had)
The finger stretch is still greater on the Goldie Overton than on Bernard’s whistle.
Really? The man fundamentally invented them, so yes, it is indeed what it’s supposed to sound like. Everything else since then is a variation of the original design.
The PC was invented by IBM, and even though we’ve come light years ahead in technology in the last 30 years, everything is simply a variation of that theme.
Else, someone could make a whistle that sounds like a fart, and everyone would still have to say that’s what it’s supposed to sound like…
