hello,
just wanted to say I picked up a burke Alpro narrow bore whistle in D and it is amazing. Beautiful tone, easy to play, and really in tune, both octaves. Not super loud, pretty much just right. Probably the last whistle I’ll buy for a long time. I highly, highly recommend this whistle.
jordan
How sweet it was to read your post, jordan! I ordered one a week or so ago.
I agree, wholeheartedly. Mike and I were talking a few months back, and he mentioned the narrow bore. I own a set of Burkes and did not ‘need’ the narrow bore. Mike said he would send me one, and if I did not like it, I could send it back…SEND IT BACK? Ain’t no way…
The whistle has a high end ‘ease’ of both sound and playability that is truly wondrous. It gives me confidence to use ornaments up at the top of its range that I would not play, otherwise.
Jordan’s description is spot on…
Best.
Byll
Are Michael’s whistles able to go into a third octave? I ordered a brass narrow bore D in the hopes that it can.
On 2002-10-08 11:54, whistlingfiddler wrote:
Are Michael’s whistles able to go into a third octave? I ordered a brass narrow bore D in the hopes that it can.
What are you going to do up there man?
On 2002-10-08 11:57, sweetone wrote:
What are you going to do up there man?
Well, I ordered the whistle because we’re having 5 music recitals at school this year. Some friends and I are doing “American Wake” from Riverdance at the December recital, and if you’ve heard it, you’ll know why I need 3 octaves 
But I’m not sure if the whistle will be ready by December 3.
[ This Message was edited by: whistlingfiddler on 2002-10-08 12:02 ]
pretty much just right. Probably the last whistle I’ll buy for a long time.
That’s not how it works. If you love the whistle, you’ll want something else as well because your confidence in whistle quality will get your hopes up.
Tony
On 2002-10-08 13:01, TonyHiggins wrote:
That’s not how it works. If you love the whistle, you’ll want something else as well because your confidence in whistle quality will get your hopes up.
Tony
Huh?
Mike’s whistles will easily give you the ‘turn-around note’ in the 3rd octave - one note above the normal two-octave range… It is completely in tune and not too shrill to be useable. Fingering: XXOXXO… I have never tried to go higher.
Best.
Byll
Is this narrow bore loud enough to use in a session?
whistlingfiddler, the tune you’re going to play is not going up high D, that normally can be played on most whistles. And good luck to you with this tune, if you’re going to play it in the right tempo, you must be a fantastic whistleplayer.
Cheers
On 2002-10-09 07:25, sweetone wrote:
Is this narrow bore loud enough to use in a session?
My alpro narrow bore arrived today. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that the dynamic range can be varied quite a bit without overblowing or intonation problems. I think it could be played loudly enough to hold its own in a small session (e.g. a fiddle or two, flute, pipes, bodhran, guitar, and banjo).
Byll,
Sounds like you have both the Pro bore and the narrow bore Al Burkes. How would you differentiate them? How is the loudness different, sound, etc.
Thanks.
John Mac
John: I don’t play in sessions, due to the lack of them in my area. My whistles are used in concerts/weddings/craft and art shows/etc., with my band. Sometimes we are purely acoustic, sometimes reinforced.
All AlPros have a pure sound. Although it sounds like an odd redundancy, the narrow bore is even more pure, with a more pointed, crystalline sound than the standard bore. There is no harshness in either instrument. Although both instruments are capable of any playing speed, the NB ‘seems’ to be capable of playing faster.
Volume? Subjectively, the NB does not sound quite as loud. The difference is negligible, and may be the result of a timbre, rather than a dynamic, difference. I have never checked the difference with a sound pressure meter.
In practice, I find myself using the NB on airs and slow songs which need absolute purity up top, although the bottom is also full and completely usable. It is possible to ‘move around’ with complex ornaments at the top of the NB’s range, with ease. I often find myself creating new ornaments on the NB, and then shifting them over to the standard bore instrument. Both are capable, but there is a confidence factor that the NB elicits, that is difficult to define.
Favorite? Nope. I would not want to be without either of them.
Cheers.
Byll
Byll,
If you lost your Al Pro D and your NB D and could only afford to replace one of them now and one a year from now, which one would you replace first?
Thanks,
Joe
Joe: You ask a difficult question. I consider the NB to be a specialty instrument. I use it when I need real purity of sound, and a quieter upper register. Overall, I use the standard bore more often. I would replace the standard bore first…and I would really miss the narrow bore…
Best.
Byll