Bernard v. Colin :)

Whistle
1

I just bought an Overton soprano D second hand. It is my first high-end whistle, and I am excited to no end. (My wife had to get very firm with me last night to put it down…) Now I have a couple of questions/observations:

  1. My Certificate of Authenticity (how cool is that?) is signed by Bernard Overton, not Colin Goldie as I had expected. Does that mean the whistle is older than I had thought? I know nothing about the whistle’s history. Are there views on differences between Overton Overtons and Goldie Overtons?

  2. I am surprised by the difference in air requirements between the lower and the upper octave. Strikes me as different from my Feadogs, Waltons, Generations. For such a cute little whistle it takes a lot of air, especially above the g.

  3. When I play fast (well, faster than my customary plodding pace) I notice that I have to press my fingers down on the holes more than I do with cheapies, but that the result is much crisper and more defined. I may imagine this, but I seem to almost hear a “plop”, a clear definition to the tones just from the fingering (no tongue). The edges of the holes are quite sharp (but not uncomfortable). Does anybody know whether there is a connection between, I don’t know… wall thickness, hole sharpeness and plops?

Sorry, gotta run and play Kid on the Mountain on my new Overton again. Love those rolls with plops. :slight_smile:

Thanks,

B

[ This Message was edited by: Bloomfield on 2001-10-16 09:42 ]

2

Bernard still make whistles which can be brought from Hobgoblin. The choices are non-tunable and basic Keys of D, C, G, F and low D. I had a Bernard A and G and a Colin soprano D and tunable low D (in my days of severe WHOA before I found my calling and true enlightment in tweaking/playing inexpensive whistles) and I could not find a difference in design or quality between the two makers. I also had a Kerry Pro Low D which the quality was as good as the Overons but had a little design difference of a longer mouth piece and which maybe caused a slight less air requirment compare to the Overtons.

Joe