Or find an on-line retailer or maker that allows for returns. (e.g. The Irish Flute Store) or ask when making an order what the return policy, if any, may be.
Best wishes.
Steve
Yes there’s that too. The right to return is a given under EU Consumer Rights legislation covering online purchases.
Anyone in the UK wishing to retain these rights, go vote today and vote tactically.
That is exactly my feeling about Killarneys–the D is solid, the Eb is great, and the C is just so so.
My feeling is different (again…) - D is lovely, Eb is lovelier, but to me, the C is by far the best.
Then again, Killarneys are not completely identical - I’ve tried Killarney D whistles which I didn’t like that much…
Killarneys are not completely identical
Well, that’s the thing. And neither are different people’s playing preferences.
Perhaps key to finding a satisfying whistle is sticking with a type of instrument you like and not try playing wildly different types of whistle, certainly not while you are learning. Stick with the one thing,get to know the instrument and master it as well as you can.
When I hear people complaining second octave notes break, squeak or are uneven for them I can’t help thinking that’s not the instrument that is to blame, more often than not it’s lack of control.
What irks me most is everyone saying how simple and easy the whistle is compared to everything else while expecting to play really well miraculously. Everyone’s learning curve varies, granted, however, if you’re a rank beginner, then its going to take time to learn to play well. Invest in the time and the results will show. For some individuals the whistle is just a kids toy, easy to learn and play, while for other individuals the whistle is a tool for playing beautiful music. PPP… practice… practice… practice! That’s the best sounding whistle.
Six holes. How hard can it be?
Best wishes.
Steve
Bob
I love posts like this because it brings out the oldest of chestnuts: any whistle can be world class if the player is world class. Well, it simply isn’t true. Some whistles are just garbage and a world-class player can make them, at best, workable. I’ve found that most of the five dollar whistles sound like five dollar whistles: screechy, wildly imbalanced in air requirements, and usually so out of tune to put anyone off listening to them. In the $50-100 range some are mediocre, some are good, and some are terrible. Up to $300 you are getting more bespoke instruments which vary widely in their playing characteristics–airy, chiffy, bright, muted, loud, quiet–but they tend to be more balanced in volume across the octaves, more responsive, and more in tune. If they sound bad it’s probably operator error.
Now we get to personal taste. Some like quiet responsive little whistles like the Killarney and some like loud power blowers like the Chieftan. Does that mean one is better? Is a truck better than a sports car? Different whistles for different uses. But if you hear someone telling you that you get what you pay for, it is often the case.
If you want a decent high D whistle, expect to pay at least $50 to get something that will be able to respond as your skills grow. Don’t cobble yourself with a really cheap bad whistle as you try to learn technique and tunes. Once you’re great, go back to the five buck whistle and you may find that yes, you can make it perform but…do you really want to? Once you learn how to drive a Ferrari it’s tough to go back to a Chevette.
-Peter
It’s the same analogy that if you are a really great photographer, you can make a masterpiece with a pin-hole camera. Yes, you can and I believe only 1 or 2 persons in the world can do that and you are not one of them. Trust me, if you’re planning to make a living in photography, you need a large sensor digital camera. You don’t even need a pin-hole camera to make starvation knock at your door, just try film.
“Forgive me, Majesty. I am a vulgar man! But I assure you, my music is not.” ― Mozart
I’ve found that most of the five dollar whistles sound like five dollar whistles: screechy, wildly imbalanced in air requirements, and usually so out of tune to put anyone off listening to them.
I thought the forum had by now outgrown that sort of silly blanket statements. It’s a statement made in denial of the very fine music played on these whistles and the opinion held by many whistleplayers that for ease of playing and tone you still have to look at Generation (type) whistles. But, to get a reasonable appreciation of what these whistles offer, you need to be able to play. They are the quintessential simple, cheap and accessible instrument, well able for great music.
The argument that a fine player can make music on a sub par instrument that is always trotted out in this sort of discussions, doesn’t fly. It does not make sense, it bears no scrutiny. Good musicians are pragmatic, they will play what is best for the job. They will not get up on stage with an instrument that works against them. Musicians who use cheap whistles don’t do it out of some sense of masochism. They do it because the cheap whistle is handy and does what it should do with ease and agility.
I said earlier on this thread, there’s horses for courses and for Irish music, the Generation type cheap whistles, mass produced whistles with injection moulded heads, haven’t gone away by a long shot. They exist comfortably alongside some newer designs, that often enough try to reproduce the aesthetic set by the cheap whistles, but at a price.
First I wanted to address that aspect.
In general, whistles have more character/colour to the timbre in the low octave and tend to loose character/colour in the 2nd octave.
I have much more experience testing the performance aspects of Low Ds, and it seems to me that Low Ds amplify the various quirks present in High Ds. In Low Ds, you can have several whistles with distinctly different-sounding low octaves that have nearly identical 2nd octaves.
The 2nd octaves tend to be rather colourless.
Low Ds that stood out for retaining colour in the 2nd octave were the Susato (perhaps due to the thick walls) and the MK (due to an overall dirtier tone).
This strikes me as impossibly subjective.
Trying to discuss timbre/tone-colour in an objective and universally understood way is next to impossible, but I will point out some aspects which we can regard as independent of each other:
- There’s a continuum which might be expressed
bright/ringing/nasal/buzzy >>>>> round/smooth/tubby/hollow/dull
(Note that some words are pejorative, some ameliorative. Let’s think of them as neutral, for now.)
- There’s a continuum which might be expressed
clean/pure/bland/plain >>>>> rich/complex/dirty/gravelly
- There’s volume.
I don’t know what is meant by these things.
I will say that you asked about the best sounding whistle which is an entirely different matter of the best performing whistle.
For me, performance is far more important that timbre.
I define good performance as
- round full low octave
- sweet easy 2nd octave
- nimble action/response between octaves
- superior air-efficiency
- and above all, great tuning.
Here I am demonstrating my whistles in various keys, all of them great-playing instruments and some of them costing around $5 when I bought them!
Over the last 40 years I’ve tried quite a few High D whistles made in that Overton machined-alloy style (by several different makers) and all of them have played exactly as you describe. They don’t interest me in the least.
However that style is superb for Low Whistles.
I missed where that was said. It’s preposterous of course. If a whistle has a squawky squeaky 2nd octave no player can make it sound pure.
Great players usually have great instruments. It’s their livelihood and they can’t be bothered with substandard tools.
It’s not only the instrument itself, it’s also how it’s set up.
So when I started playing everybody was playing Generation Ds, the only Ds around. The Generation Ds in the hands of the good players were exceptional instruments. Many if not most had been modified to a greater or lesser extent by the players. Some were unmodified, but represented the very best instrument the player had tried, out of hundreds they had tried over the years.
After trying every make of High Whistle I’ve encountered over the years I’ve continued to play my vintage Generations, which have yet to be bested.
Great additions to properly evaluating the whistles. The video is educational. Thumbs up for that.
Pardon me for the newbie question: what does timbre mean for whistle?
I’ve ordered a Freeman Tweaked high C. Most of the Freeman Tweaked looked like they originated from Generations/Waltons. I’ll see how it suits my taste.
I think I’ve come to the conclusion that Chieftain high D whistles, in their 1st octave, sounded more like a high flute than whistle.
Spent most of last night listening to Eugene Lambe. He alternated between a Killarney (or Sindt?) and a Generation and to be honest, there was no noticeable difference. Lovely tunes though, North Clare with more than a hint of Micho and the other old fellas.
The Overton really shines here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y3vmS1ob6w&t=1m
The Freeman C is my favorite C.