Hi I own a Clarke Meg which I picked up when I found a small music shop on a long drive. At first the Meg felt and sounded strange compared to my other whistles and i didn’t end up playing it much. But now I’ve found a new appreciation for it.
One of the biggest reasons I like the Meg is because I can quiet the whistle down both Upper and Lower octave and still maintain a note. Basically I can play it quietly without shaky notes. Something my other whistles don’t allow (Nice but loud voices) Since I’m not the only one in the house, a quieter whistle which can easily become louder is appreciated by everyone, especially since I’m having alot of fun practicing tunes in the second octave.
Anyway, my primary question.
I’ve read that the Clarke (Classic?) has a much better voice/tone and that alot of people prefer it, and some have made fun of the Meg in comparison.
The Meg I have is in the Key of C and I’m looking for something like it in the key of D. So I thought I’d skip getting another plastic fippled whistle and go with wood and Metal. But will the Clarke (classic?) have that quiet characteristic that I like in the Meg? The amount of air required to play the Meg bothered me at first, but now its nothing to play that or my other whistles. So I’m not concerned about the Clarkes required air.
I hope that makes sense.
I’m looking at buying it off Amazon with a harmonica, to combine shipping.
It takes quite a bit more air than the Sweetone/Meg without doing the thumb-mashing tweak.
It has a nice tone, a bit breathy like the Meg. It does sound more like a real instrument throughout it’s full range, where the Meg sounds a bit toy-like in the lowest few notes.
It has a bit of an odd feel because of the wood fipple and especially because of the shape (straight line as opposed to curved for the lip). But it’s not too bad.
Plus, it’s got that great old, rolled tin whistle look. It shouldn’t cost you more than $10 or so, so you should go ahead and pick one up. It’s not that much to lose if you end up not liking it.
Well, since is so cheap, you may try Clarke Original - but when I had it, I hated it…well, it wasn´t hatred, it was my first tin whistle, but when I got Clarke Sweetone then, I preferred the tone and ease of play.
The original will take more breath, but it will be worth it! The Clarkes with a wooden plug have a truly “pretty” sound, I think. The people in your house will like the sound.
I especially like playing a Clarke for the selections from my Cantiga’s Renaissance songbook. Sounds great for “Gravel Walk,” too!
The Original does it for me much more than the Meg. In my experience, the Original is louder with great personality. There is a risky “mashing” tweak that can slightly lessen the air requirement, but overall I think it’s worth getting used to the slightly higher demand.
Not sure if it’s just me, but I found the similar-looking Shaw D to have a still higher wind demand than the Original…
Don’t discount another plastic head whistle on the basis of the Meg. There are some really great traditional-sounding whistles in that camp. If anything, the Megs are not really typical of plastic head whistles. If your breath control is even moderately practiced you should find good results from Feadog whistles. Nice, consistent, traditional whistles (and my total favourite whistles ever).
You’ll like that Clarke. It’s quiet, and when you mash the windway down a bit it will sharpen the tone without adding much volume. If you go too far, you can raise it up with a thin screwdriver blade–but I’ve found it’s not rocket science.
The Clarke has such a nice soft, flutelike tone–you’ll be addicted.
I own a burke session and sweet pro d and a Clarke, along with a wooden flute, and to be honest the only thing that gets more play time than the clarke is the flute. I drag that silly little peice of tin plate all over africa and play it everywhere. It is quiet in general, I did not do the tweak on mine it was ok from the start.
I would say that it is the only thing that i have ever spent 12 dollars on that has never dissapointed me.
Well my Clarke Original is the only of my 5 high D whistles that I actually can stand the tone of. One of those is a Clarke Sweetone which I was hoping would have the rich full sound of the original, but alas it does not.
Maybe I just got lucky and got a good Original, but from the sounds of the other comments I’m not the only one who hears this and it makes me wonder why some (even high profile) players use standard low-end D whistles like my Oak or Generation. (on the other hand maybe I just have bad ones or just don’t know how to play them yet ).
My next foray into the fascinating world of High D whistles will take me into the plastic and wood models or perhaps to higher end high d…
but first I think I’m going to get an Original in C and another in D.
and worth the money.