I hate to bother a busy guy like Mike Burke with this question. I’d much rather bother folks who have too much time on their hands. 
I’ve read several posts which say that the aluminum pro session D is louder than the corresponding brass model. This is true also of my aluminum and brass narrow bore Burkes. Anybody know why?
My experience has been that Mike’s brass whistles have a slightly sweeter and in my opinion more interesting/complex sound. I suspect this “uses up” some of the volume. I have no idea if there’s any scientific basis for this belief though…
-Brett
Did you measure and compare the length, diameters of the bore, window, tone holes, thickness of the windway ?
[ This Message was edited by: Zubivka on 2003-02-04 14:37 ]
I will have to follow Brett’s lead on this one. I have never measured actual decibel level on these instruments, but it is certainly notable that the aluminum whistle tends to have a more pure, direct sound, subjectively, than its brass counterpart. It seems that the less complex sound of the aluminum whistle cuts through and seems louder…Subjective or objective? Don’t know.
Best.
Byll
On 2003-02-04 14:36, Zubivka wrote:
Did you measure and compare the length, diameters of the bore, window, tone holes, thickness of the windway ?
They appear to be identical. Looking at the end of the tube, the aluminum is about twice as thick as the brass, but the inside diameters appear to be the same.
On 2003-02-04 14:48, Byll wrote:
It seems that the less complex sound of the aluminum whistle cuts through and seems louder…Subjective or objective? Don’t know.
As best I can tell from the wave forms in Cool Edit 2000, the aluminum narrow bore averages roughly 1 to 1.5 dB louder than the brass. I don’t think that’s enough to account for the apparent difference in loudness, so maybe it is subjective, or possibly it has something to do with a varying sensitivity of the ear to different timbres.
the brass is the quietest, alimunium comes next, composite is the LOUDEST!! mike will make his composite high D pro even an even wider boresize in future.i find his composites more rich in sound, not as pure but really woody!! there’s a clip with a narrow bore composite on http://www.tinwhistletunes.com