Does anyone have experience with the Burke Low D EZ whistles? Is the reach what’s meant to be easy?
I’ve been pretty strictly a flute and high whistle player, but am considering trying a low whistle for session playing and enjoymemt at home, although I don’t want to have to manage a big reach due to health reasons.
Yes I played a Burke Low D “Pro Viper” as my standard instrument for a few years, and during this time got my hands on a Burke Low D EZ to try.
On Low Whistles, E in the low octave (the note emitting from Hole 6) is the Achilles’ Heel. It’s always the weakest note.
When I was grabbing every Low D I could get my hands on and putting them through their paces I found out that 1) there’s really only one way to skin the cat, and all the best whistles had the same compromise Hole 5 size and placement and 2) the relative strength or weakness of Low E nevertheless varied from maker to maker.
Around the weakest, if not the weakest, Low E encountered was on the Burke Low D Pro Viper, though having around the same compromise Hole 5 that everybody else had to use.
Obviously the Burke Low D EZ, with an even more out-of-position too-small Hole 5, had an even weaker low E. To me the voicing of the Pro Viper’s low range was already marginal, and the EZ just didn’t have an even enough voicing for me to seriously consider.
Keep in mind that Burkes are one of the least-ergonomic Low D’s from the get-go due to having fatter tubing and further-spaced holes. Using smaller tubing like all the other makers do seems to bring all the holes closer together. For example, for me (with a history of hand and wrist troubles) the MK and the Goldie are far more ergonomic and have much more even voicing in the low notes, with low E being around as strong as the rest of the low notes.