Hey everybody,
I have a question regarding a C whistle. I have on order from Chris Abell a soprano D whistle. So far, I only have experience with D whistles but I just added a C body to the order and I am having second thoughts. I wanted to know what your opinions were on a C whistle. Is it useful to have one and worth the extra expense?
Thank you for your time as well as consideration.
Michael
You’re going with a VERY high-end D whistle, so I assume you’re a serious whistler. It surprises me that you haven’t played C’s before. My advice is to get a less expensive C, and see what you think of it. You won’t have many occasions to play it in sessions, but might like it a lot for home practice, (I do). If you really want the Abell C body, I’ll bet Chris will work with you later to fit it to the head he makes for the D.
crookedtune,
I do not know whether I could be considered a serious whistler or not. I have played off and on since I was really little (about five) but not with any conviction. At least not until about a year ago when somehow I got bitten by the whistle “bug,” so to speak. Since then I really have been working at it, mainly on a few inexpensive D whistles and trying to become proficient enough to warrant a high-end. I got to try a few C whistles and like the sound and flexibility of repertoire offered by them.
You’re right, however; the Abell is really my first leap into the high-end of whistles. The reason I decided on the Abell may sound really stupid, but I was transfixed by its sound when I saw a video of Galway playing one for the Lord of the Rings score. I went back and listened to all the soundtracks for the picture, trying to pick it out. After that, I listened to any clip of it I could find and decided that that was the whistle sound I wanted. In any event, maybe I’ll hold off and just get the high D. I hope Mr. Abell won’t become upset if I change my mind within a day or so.
Thanks for your input.
All the best,
Michael
It seems to me that you’re pretty well “sold” on getting the Abell C body. That being the case, and considering that you’ve already spent the money so to speak, I’d say go ahead and keep it on the order.
I don’t know much about whistle making, but I would think that you’d end up with a better overall fit and match if both bodies were built at the same time. If you order the C body later, will you have to send the head to Chris for fitting? How long would that take? If not, will the new body fit properly?
I would think it’s best to get both bodies at the same time.
Jason
I don’t think you will regret it Abells are great whistles I have been meaning to get one for like 3 years but just can’t afford to. C whistles are nice and are really good for playing with singers also with Flat Pipes. Although you may not know any Pipers with C sets, what if you meet one and he/she wants to play a tune and all you have is a D whistle 
I like to use a C for practice from time to time because it sounds different and is easier on the ears. And several singers I accompany sing songs in C. It wouldn’t be a waste to have a C whistle, but only you can say if the cost of a C body from Chris is worth whatever you have to give up to have it. It sounds like you’ll appreciate it being an Abell.
If you can spare the money I’d say go ahead. A C is nice for times when you may want to play many non Irish tunes, like Christmas carols and folk music, if you’re into that, and especially if you are accompanying. I, too, like playing the C whistle for practice sometimes because as someone said it’s a little easier on the ears while offering nearly the same feel.
Chris’s C bodies are designed to fit on his D headjoints, so you shouldn’t have a problem there since he’ll know the exact tubing size he used for your D whistle. Even so, it’s probably best to send him your D whistle to ensure a perfect fit unless he says otherwise. I have a C body for my Abell D and much prefer its sound to the D. It’s a mellower whistle, less shrill. I think you’d find it very enjoyable to play.
C and Bb are my favorite keys for whistles; I find most of the high-end D whistles to be way too loud and piercing in the upper octave. The flat-pitch ones sound more like whistles to me, and tend to be a bit more balanced between the octaves. For me the litmus test of a good whistle is whether you can play it more quietly in the second octave than the first (except for the high b, which can’t be helped). Most of the high-end whistles fail in that department, at least the D whistles on up, but in my experience the balance tends to be a little better in the flatter keys like C and Bb.
Actually, I can think of many sessions where I reached for the C whistle at least a time or two. For tunes like these:
Jug of Punch
The Tempest
Porthole of the Kelp
Road to the Glen
The Peacock’s Feather
Eileen Curran
Farewell to Milltown
Dowd’s Favourite
Splendid Isolation
Paddy Fahy’s Jig |DGA ~B3|
Caisleán na nÓr
The Graf Spee
Old Road to Garry
Lad O’Beirne’s |d2cA dAcA|
All these are part of the local repertoire here, and usually more fun to play on an C than hunting for F-nats and B-flats. 
And as Brad and others say, a nice C whistle can be enjoyable. I actually think the Susato C, with the right head, is surprisingly nice. Both Cormac Breatnach and Kevin Crawford have used it to great effect.
Kevin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9DLP4PobwY
Cormac: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhDw-uwqrI4
Like MTGuru, I’ve used my C whistles at sessions on occasion, but C whistles definitely have their place if you’re in a band that does tunes or songs in C, Dm, or F. Often, as with our band, songs in particular are done in whatever key best suits the singer and harmony vocals. We do songs in all sorts of keys, so have several whistles to pretty much cover it.
If you’re not in a band but do sessions, a very popular session tune is Julia Delaney which is almost always done in Dm. Granted, a C won’t be used nearly as much as a D, but it’s nice to have just in case. I just like the sound of a good C whistle. My Burke composite C is one of the best sounding whistles I’ve played. It’s a special instrument and I love playing it. I’ve also just ordered an Overton C.
Joanie Madden plays “The Immigrant” in Dm on a C whistle, most likely an O’Riordan. http://www.myspace.com/joaniemadden It can be played on a D whistle as long as it has a nice strong and accurate C-nat…but you lose the bottom C note that comes near the end of the first part.
D Major, no? (i.e. D fingering on a C whistle). Sorry for the quibble. 
I’m a big fan of Chris’ whistles. I have them in every key.
However, I have them in those keys because I play with church groups which require the ‘odd’ keys.
Adding a C body in my opinion is no different from having an E flat whistle for those sessions that play in that basic key, or for any other reason to have a whistle that plays in keys other than D/G. It you need to play in C, F, or the related minors, then go for it. If not, save your money.
Chris is great for adding whistle bodies as you need them. He just recently added C natural holes to my D/C cocus set.
I’d advise that if you need the keys given by the C body, then get it. If not, Chris will expertly add it when you need it (and when can spare the head joint during the process)
Hope this helps,
Bruce
Well, Irish music is not only instrumentals, innit? And in sung songs, C is quite frequent.
I do believe I did a statistics on that - I took Dubliners, Pogues, Clancys, Wolfetones and few others and checked the keys, and C was second most frequent.
I think that having C,D,E is a good idea, as you can play in F,G,A on them, and that´s good enough most of the time.
No problem. My brain was asleep when I typed that. I was thinking Dm from a previous comment and the fact that I use my C for tunes in Dm. The Immigrant is in the key of C maj. But it can still be played on a D whistle, modifying the end of the first and second parts where the low C note can’t be hit.