I was thinking of buying a cheap C whistle, but how different are they from D whistles?
A whistle in C is a great addition to a D whistle. They are a lot easier on the ears for long practise sessions.
My favourite cheapie is a nickel Generation C with a Walton Mellow D fipple. I have not tried many of the cheap ones but I’m sure others will be able to suggest others.
When you get your cheapie C you might consider also getting the cheap Generation Bb. Very low cost but a favourite of many.
The only difference is that C whistles are slightly longer and in a different key.
-Casey
I’ve barely started whistling, and I have a Waltons D and a Clarke C. The Clarke sounds far better, more mellow, and its conical bore is easier to finger in my opinion. When I find the time to really concentrate on playing, I think my D might end up collecting dust…
I really dig Clarke Original Cs.
The difference between a C and D depends on the maker. I find C’s pretty boring for the most part – many makers just stretch their D’s to make C’s, so what you’re playing is something that was optimized for D.
I would recommend a Walton’s or Clarke. I’ve had a couple of Walton’s nickel C’s and find them among the best inexpensive whistles (of any key). The sound is somewhat throaty, with loads of volume, which you need, as a C doesn’t carry as well as a D. When I was first looking for a C whistle (the store was out of Waltons), I thought the Clarke was head-and-shoulders above the rest. Something about the mellowness that lends itself to the lower pitch. It takes a lot of wind and doesn’t have much volume.
It’s not exactly a cheapie and it’s not a beginner’s whistle either, but I find that the Susato C is awsome, much better than the Susato D. The second octave is less aggressive and the sound is more mellow.
The Susato C is a super whistle but the B is AMAZING!
i was thinking about a feadog c (good, bad?)
The thing is if you’re going to spend the money on a Susato I’d go to the next step for a few more dollars and get a Freeman Tweaked Mellow Dog C and D. These a great whistles at any price.
Most of the Generation C’s I’ve played are excellent whistles. My very first whistle, which I bought in 1976, was a Generation C. I still have that whistle although the head got chipped so I had Jerry Freeman put a new (tweaked) head on it in the last year or two. It’s still my favorite whistle, although I do miss the focus in the second octave that the original head had…the new one’s a bit louder up there but it still sounds great.
I have a Clarke Original C and a Waltons C. The Clarke has a beautiful, breathy sound, but it can be a little hard on the lungs if I’m playing something with a lot of high notes. The Waltons was my second whistle. At first I hated it (I think it was just being unused to playing in a key besides D), but now that I’ve had it awhile I’ve come to regard it one of my favorites. C whistles are great. The hole spacing is not different enough that it makes it hard to switch to from a D whistle, but being just a little lower they sound much less squeaky to me.
~Steffi