I have been reading quite a bit in this forum and all over other websites and the more I read, the more confused I get.
Money aside, what is the best sounding high D whistle in the world.
Give me the top three (in case, I have to eat back my words about āmoney asideā).
By best sounding, I meant I want it to carry the richest tones across both octaves. I donāt need it to be the loudest (I already have the Chieftain high D).
By richest tones, I meant tones that are
deliciously mellow in 1st octave
no fraying in second octave (solid)
2nd octave needs to have crisp endings in the higher frequency notes (not roundish) - high clarity
Iām curious as to how you evaluate your Burke Eb (in your signature line), and whether that meets any of those criteria in your mind. The other Burke pitches are fairly similar.
I have a Harper, a Burke, a Killarney and a Goldie high D.
I love them all, each for different purposes as they are very different to each other. Iād consider them all the best in the world.
The Killarney will probably not meet your requirement regarding volume but is certainly deliciously mellow in the first, as well as having high clarity in the second octave.
The Harper can well do with some āleaning into itā - the loudest of all, while still having a sweet and round yet complex tone. It is also possible to play it at lower volume without losing the tuning.
The Burke is my favourite āall purposeā whistle, good volume and well balanced over both octaves, moderate air requirement.
The Goldie takes a little bit more air but has a richer tone than the Burke.
Of course this is all very much subjectiv to personal preference.
Over the years, I have tried (among others) a few Copelands, Abells and McManus which I would also consider the best in the worldā¦
Yeah, a lot ambiguity here for me too. I have no idea whatās meant by āno frayingā, and ācrisp endings.ā I think these are mostly aspects of techniqueābreath control and fingering precisionāas opposed to the instrumentās characteristics.
But in trying to infer what youāre after from the whistles Iām familiar with, Iād think my Carbony high D best fits the bill.
Iād say it is more a case of finding whistles that you like personally - most of those traits I find in my Dixon tunable aluminium high D - they are not that expensive - but everyone differs in what they hear, so it really is down to what you like.
To be honest, you might just as well ask, āWhatās the best looking whistle in the world?ā Youād get about as much agreement. And none of us have heard all the whistles in the world in person, so there might always be a better one around the next corner.
The quest is yours to undertake. Let us know how you get on.
Iād say it is ONLY a case of finding what you like personallyā¦
Backpressure hasnāt been mentioned yet, since playing characteristics were not part of your question - although IMO very important. Plenty or little backpressure does in no way indicate the quality of sound or the overall instrument - it is a playing characteristic which some players like and others donāt. Some top notch whistles have plenty of backpressure, others in the same quality range have little or almost none. Personal preference can (and in most cases, will) at this point make the difference if you love or hate a particular instrument.
Dixons donāt have much backpressure, Killarneys not that much either. Dixons are soft and tender in response as well as in sound - many like exactly that, theyāre a bit too soft for my own personal liking.
My Harper has a hell of a lot of backpressure, which means I can blow the sh*ite out of it if I want to, and get rewarded with plenty of volume - which was ideal for the times when I played with a rock band - but many players would hate that, itās sort of the banjo among whistlesā¦
To lead on this analogy, the Burke would be the fiddle, the Goldie the violin, and the Killarney - probably the whistleā¦
From just a few years of browsing available whistles on the market, Iāve found roughly four main types of whistles, but within those categories there is wide variance in features (tone, intonation, chiff, wind requirement, price and range of expression). So youāre still going to have to keep narrowing down your options once you figure out a few things, which I think you have now realized. These four categories share features with each other, they arenāt clear-cut in the marketplace, theyāre just a pattern I found.
narrow bore, thin wall, inexpensive pennywhistle type, often with tin or simplest kind of plastic mouthpiece usually having a blade width considerably narrower than the diameter of the tube itself (the lowest priced brands and oldest style brands)
brass or nickel-plated tube of considerable strength and a considerably higher quality mouthpiece usually made of metal or a higher strength plastic (delrin, etc.), with considerable design expertise and quality control. Testimonials from users will typically rave of their reliability and often the tone, whether you find them of your taste or not. Bore diameters are mostly similar and tone hole size and location mostly similar. These will be priced from roughly $25 to $70. Cheapest might be a Waltons and certainly one of the best would be the Killarney?)
wider bore, wider tone hole and wider blade, for full tone, full volume and full range of expression. Lots of aluminium whistles in this category. Chieftain Thunderbird comes to mind and there are many others (many famous top quality brands) with varying tone and expression. The bore diameter and tone holes vary quite a bit, brand to brand, as does the level of chiff, tonal richness and issues between how the two octaves play, and the design of the blade (flat, curved, overcut/undercut options) but regardless, all of them tend to have appealing richer tone, be highly reliable, professionally designed and constructed, first-rate customer service and quality control, updated in design intermittently, mid to high volume and have loyal users. Some of these are wood bodies supported by metal mouthpieces and metal tuning slides.
full wood, or full plastic, and regardless of price and quality, these are often the more subdued tone whistles, shifting towards sounding like wood flutes or recorders. Some will still sound obviously like a whistle, but some, like a Susato (to my ears), sound too close to being a recorder, and I already have three recorders (soprano, tenor and sopranino). The difference in tone between a silver flute and an Irish ebony flute, is immense, and between a brass or aluminium whistle of category 1, 2 and many of category 3, VS these category 4 models, is also big. Personally Iāve seen a few full wood whistles on YouTube I think sound terrific, and the full plastic Tony Dixon DX001 D whistle sounds quite good. You have to know what you want here. Itās a personal choice.
The best whistle in the world is made of fairy gold and kept deep, deep in the wicklow mountains, in an ancient rath. It appears only on nights of the full moon. You may play it, but if you play poorly youāll be struck dead on the spot. There are rumors of recordings, done by bold men from a distance of fifty yards, as the best musician of their number plays āthe king of the fairies.ā But in the morning, the recordings are all erased. Those who touch the best whistle in the world and live rarely speak of it. The Irish Folklore center in Dublin keeps their stories in a vault..
Me I like whistles to play more or less in tune and not sound like flutes, which means I like them āairyā and not too loud. Some of the cheap ones are prone to sqwauk and crack and are too inconsistent from not eot note. Some of the cheap ones sound great. I like the Killarney whistles a lot
The Killarney and Harper are really opposite ends of the spectrum. I had a Harper at one point and I have rarely hated a whistle as much. It was very very loud and the second octave was unbearably earsplitting loud. It was also stiff and just unpleasant to play, the only instrument ever to give me headaches.
It also came highly recommended here. Which only brought home the point you can only go by your own opinion and experience and not take recommendations from people on the internet whoās playing you donāt know and get lured into buying a whistle you havenāt tried first yourself.
The Killarney D is fine, a workhorse. I love the Eb though, clear, nimble and easy going, a little showpony. The C was a bit of a disappointment, itās functional but I donāt love it. FWIW, made a public appearance with it on Tuesday and it did fine with a concertina and harmonica. Still, if anyone feels like buying it, make me a decent offer and you may have it before christmas.
After going walking down different rabbit holes myself, I think what you proposed will cut down on the number of paths. Problem is that many people shop on the Internet these days, including whistles and even cars as long as they are commodities. I guess, itās best to test these in my local shops and buy it from them instead but at a higher price (on most cases). I feel itās unconscionable to test it at a local shop and buy it from online shops.
You really want to try and play the whistle youāre going to buy. Very few makers are so consistent you can trust one whistle to be the same as the next, even though there are a few that are solid but they are few and far between though.
