This is an interesting thread that quickly illustrates the difference between values - both personal and financial. While I agree most with the idea that Gumby expressed most recently about distinguishing between instruments that may be bland while easy to play or those that require skill to play and finally, those that are just not meant to play well.
Value is in the mind of the beholder. I’d hate to think what might have happened if the first whistle gifted to me, a poorly constructed out of the box Gen, or the second whistle I bought, a Feadog with, unknowingly to me, a cracked head, were the only thing available. I would have quit what has become one of the true joys of my life, before I got started. Fortunately, a local flute player loaned me her Copeland brass high D to show the other end of the extreme, then guided me to C&F. Here I was able to discover that many folks had out of the box Gens and Feadogs that they loved. Who has time to sift through boxes of instruments to find the good one? And how do you do that today when you can’t try before you buy from a music store?
I recently got my hands on both a really early Sindt and a really early Busman. While both of these are far better choices than my first two instruments as discussed above, neither of them is quite as good as these makers current models. What I’m saying is; folks who were willing to take the risk and try something new are what makes some truly great instruments available to us today. If everyone took the approach of forcing themselves to learn on poorly constructed instruments, how many players and makers would have simply given up? As I’ve said ad-nauseum in other threads, I covet my current Sindt brass head/silver body high D and my Busman D+ like no other that I own. As both makers and players gain experience, all of us benefit from those early “investments” or choices.
I’m happy that there are choices and that what some consider not useful to them may very well be the answer for someone else. As others have said, with experience, many instruments that proved to be very challenging in the beginning, may suddenly become favorites.
. Who has time to sift through boxes of instruments to find the good one?
It won’t take more than a few minutes to find a whistle in a box of mass produced whistles that will perfectly suit any beginner. Not a bother. You’re not looking for the finest whistle in the country, you’re looking for a whistle that will facilitate a beginner get started. Even if you found the best mass produced whistle on the hemisphere, a beginner would not recognise it, let alone appreciate it.
But even if the beginner knows that they need to sift through the box would they recognize a good one when it’s in their hands? Would they not be wondering if they ‘got a bad one after all’ with every little difficulty they encounter? Might it not be better to spend a little more and know you have a player? (Asked the devil’s advocate)
This is really the thing. My local store only sold Generation High whistles which were loosely tossed into a tin bucket, and had a “you blow it, you bought it” policy.
Some really interesting thoughts here. I particular like Tintin’s . . .
'The perfect is the enemy of the good . . . . whistle in hand, it’s now up to me to make the music–and better to spend the time there, I think, than engaging in a quest for the ‘perfect’ whistle.
. . . words which I really need to hear and remember!
But even if the beginner knows that they need to sift through the box would they recognize a good one when it’s in their hands? Would they not be wondering if they ‘got a bad one after all’ with every little difficulty they encounter? Might it not be better to spend a little more and know you have a player?
I did say:
Even if you found the best mass produced whistle on the hemisphere, a beginner would not recognise it, let alone appreciate it.
That said, I remain unconvinced about the number of ‘total duds’ out of a box of mass produced whistles. The majority is functional and will serve a beginner well. I am also not at all convinced a more expensive whistle will make anyone play better.
Mr.G I have the utmost respect for your opinions (even when I do not agree with them ), and I am taking your quotes slightly out of context here, but there is an interesting implication in the post that I would like to examine. I am not suggesting that this is your opinion, though… so apologies in advance if I am over-interpretting.
You describe three classes of whistle:
easy to play, bland sound
hard to play, interesting sound
hard to play, bland sound
but did not mention
easy to play, interesting sound.
Is that because none such exist? Is that the heart of the problem with people continually searching for ‘the perfect whistle’? (mea culpa etiam). If none exist then is this a limitation of acoustic physics or just a fact that doing anything well requires a modicum of skill?
I wasn’t really trying to cover the whole spectrum, just the two far ends i.e foolproof but bland and hard/expressive. It’s a spectrum with all sort of shades in between. I added the hard to play but no rewards to indicate there are no absolutes, i.e. not all hard to play whistles will be expressive (just as not all easy whistles are bland), some however don’t have a lot of merit.
I don’t think there’s a perfect whistle, just a set of compromises that will suit a particular situation better than another set.
It is good to know that there are easy-to-play, non-bland whistles out there. Those are what everyone should start on . I only have experience of the other threee ‘classes’ of whistle though.
I think their easy-to-play, non-bland nature partly accounts for the popularity of Sindts. I’d also put Humphrey and Freeman whistles in that category (not that I’ve played every model they offer). I’m sure there are others, too. And of course, ‘easy-to-play’ and ‘non-bland’ may mean different things to different players…
), and I am taking your quotes slightly out of context here, but there is an interesting implication in the post that I would like to examine. I am not suggesting that this is your opinion, though… so apologies in advance if I am over-interpretting.
. I only have experience of the other threee ‘classes’ of whistle though.