I just got it. This is probably the best whistle I’ve owned.
Tone:
chirpy: really bird-like
crisp, bright and cheery
solid: confidently rich all the way to the last note of the 2nd octave.
character: sounds like a traditional whistle (not like flute or recorder)
Breath: significantly more efficient than my Chieftain
Loudness: less loud than Chieftain but the solidity made up for it. Bore is 11mm vs the 15mm in the Chieftain.
Physical: high polished brass — what not to like. Made it look like a shiny piccolo in an orchestra. Holes are smaller than Chieftain and since the bore is narrower, I’d have to get used to it.
In any case the 11mm (.433 inch) tubing is interesting, making that Burke, if Eb, rather narrower than the standard Generation Eb which has a .453 inch or 11.5mm bore.
In general, Burke uses wider tubing than most makers for a given key.
I would guess that’s why he came out with the “narrow bore” High D whistle, to satisfy players who wanted a traditional-playing High D.
Burke’s “narrow” bore corresponds to the standard bore of most other High Ds, I do believe.
I’ve owned both Burke High D’s, the one with the unusually large (“session”) bore and the one with the normal (“narrow”) bore.
Like other Burkes with unusually large bores, the “session” High D is a bit too stiff in the 2nd octave for my liking.
The Burke “narrow” bore played very much like good traditional High D whistles (Generations and Feadogs etc) but having a more clean/less complex tone, and taking more air.
That’s a nice evaluation; thanks for sharing your findings, Richard.
As for my Burke whistle, I’m totally confused what I have received from Burke now. When I placed the order, I picked an Eb but when I received the whistle, it was engraved E. I’ve sent Mike the question. The Order receipt says E/Eb.
Yes, he admitted the mistake, which was an error on the website generating a wrong internal model # when the order was printed out for fulfillment.
And, he has done all he could to make it right. He’s a good merchant.
One more additional factor to consider when choosing a whistle: the fitment of the holes to your fingers.
I find the Burke high E and narrow high D fit my fingers perfectly.
It provided an effortless & natural platform for applying a slide.
On second thought, I do not think it’s just the physical hole size alone because my Dixon Pro 005 high D is also a narrow bore whistle but it did not have this characteristic.
