CP: New maker: Bracker Whistles

Whistle
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After more than a year of R&D and setting up a small workshop I am delighted to present a full range of Bracker whistles, custom made to order. I offer hand-crafted quality aluminium whistles from high E to low C, designed in four ranges according to bore size.

Top to bottom: low D, low F, Bb, D

These whistles have a powerful and soft tone. They can play loud and can be pushed. They are easy blowers with moderate to large air requirements, but I am happy to make a head with a narrower windway for a quieter whistle. The windway is curved to achieve a purer tone and clog resistance. The plug is made of black Delrin.

The whistles have largish tone holes for easy half-holing semi tones. They have a thumbhole as standard, to give a strong and accurate C nat. I highly recommend the thumb hole, but if you really don’t want one, I can make the body without it.

All whistles are tuneable. Within a range, whistle bodies for different keys fit the same head, and sets are available, cutting costs considerably.
Some prices (March 2010):
Single whistle in keys D, C: £90. Additional bodies: £30
Single whistle in keys Bb, A: £100. Additional bodies: £35
Single whistle in keys G, low F: £120. Additional bodies: £40
Single whistle in keys low D, low C: £150. Additional bodies: £50
Shipping costs are extra.

Please have a look at the range at http://softflute.co.uk/Whistles/
There are pics and sound samples, and I will add more and improve those uploaded in time. Please excuse the imperfections in the clips I recorded!

Low whistles:
From the pic above you can see the box ears (walls) around the window of the low D. This may look a little odd, but the improvement in tone and power is considerable! I also offset the finger holes 3 and 6, for an easier grip. I don’t use piper’s grip, and with my large hands this is comfortable. But I am happy to make all tone holes inline, or make customisations to suit smaller hands.

Lots more could be said about each individual whistle model, and I will add more info. I hope you will ask questions and it will become clear to me what information I need to add to the website! It is always easier to answer questions than sit down and write a description.

cheers,
Hans

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Nice one Hans! These look and sound great online - must come over and have a try.

cheers
Stephen

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Thanks Stephen! Please do come, spring is here!
The most worrying thing to do was to make some sound clips. They are never as polished as I hope they could be!

Hans

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Very impressive! I will listen further at home tonight (sounds clips are not well-received during in my work environment). Just what we all need - more temptation! (I mean that in the most complimentary way, though…)

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Hans, nice work!

I see in the picture of the head on the low F on your main whistle page has a box or “organ ears” around the window and that does not match the head design of the F whistle shown on the Alto whistle page. Which design are you making? Just curious!

And I did not see any photos of any of the whistles unassembled that might give some clue to your tuning joint design. Any cork or PFTE tape? :slight_smile:

Is a tour a possibility for those that can’t just stop by. Sign me up if you do one.

Anyway, good work and I wish you success.

Feadoggie

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Both F and G and other alto range whistles will have “box ears”. But I will adopt a simpler rectangular design than the diamond shaped ear design on the main page, as it was extremely fiddly to make. Perhaps I can offer it at additional cost. I’ll update the pics as soon as I got another low F made.

For the slide I cut a ca 20mm wide groove in the top of the body, and use waxed thread. This can be replaced as needed, and lasts longer than PTFE tape. In future I might consider a cork joint.

I have not planned a whistle tour. Which whistle would want to go on tour? It’s also not the most hygienic thing, apart from the hassle. At any rate a remote buyer can send a whistle back within two weeks and get refunded, apart from postage, and money transfer fees. Does that sound reasonable?

Thanks for all good wishes!
Hans

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These look very interesting. Would love to give them a toot.

Any plans on a U.S. distributor?

LW70

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Hans, thanks for responding. That’s good. I appreciate the “extremely fiddly to make” part. I have long admired the hand-cut lugs on what are now called vintage steel bicycle frames. And the well shaped style of the "window box " on the F whistle in your picture appealed to me. Having spent some time filing metal lugs in my youth, I understand the work involved.

As for the tuning slide, I was curious to know if the side was aluminum on aluminum. Oxidation and wear can be issues. I use a brass insert myself. The thread should work fine.

I’d think a high D tour would be interesting since that is the predominant whistle key. I am sure there are others that would like to try a lower key though.

Feadoggie

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@Feadoggie: I made a new rectangular “box ears” piece for the low F and G, and updated the pics. I find the box ears quite important for a powerful full sound.

@LowWhistler70: I’ve got no immediate plans to use a distributor. Let’s see how things go first!

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That looks good, Hans! Thanks.

Feadoggie

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They sounded lovely, and showed the whistle’s differences nicely. I liked how you used the same tune on whistles of the same key but different bore sizes – it really helped me focus on the characteristic sounds of the whistles.

I love the timbre of the narrow bore Bb. It combines textures in a way I really like, haunting but with an edge to it.

The site design is very nice, by the way. Everything felt really smooth browsing it as a customer – I was able to find just what I wanted in a place that seemed logical for it, without any thwartsome need to burrow about, digging for clips or prices.

Nice craftsmanship all around.

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Looks real interesting. Hope to try one out soon. I like the fact that the thumb hole is already added. Have to have the thumb hole.

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Finally got a chance to listen to the sound clips. The clips do a nice job of showcasing the whistles’ sounds. I can even hear a distinct difference between the 5/8" bore Bb and the 3/4" bore Bb.

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Thanks everyone for your kind comments!

I’ve now added the mezzo-soprano high D to the catalogue.
This is a wide bore high D, made out of 3/4" tubing.
This puts it at the extreme end of usable short length to bore ratios.
It is a very loud whistle, louder than any others I play.
It is also quite mellow, more flute-like in tone.
It needs a fair amount of breath to deliver its full power,
and the high end of the second octave needs extra pushing.
This is not a living room whistle, but is great outdoors
and in big venues or noisy situations.
Because of the tube size it has bigger tone holes than normal D whistles.
Half holing and bending works well.
http://softflute.co.uk/Whistles/Mezzo-SopranoWhistles

I had it not added in the first place, as it is so extreme.
And my standard Soprano D plays loud as well,
and is easier to play with less air requirement.
But someone might want a super loud whistle,
and is able to play with more breath power.

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Hans–I like that you’re pushing the boundaries of what a whistle is capable of in terms of power and volume. The wide bore C model has me salivating a bit and I hope to try one soon. I’d like to see one with a corked tenon as this should be a good way to join the two sections. I have several recorders that have corked tenons and it works very well. Perfect seal, easy tuning, and stable (non-wobbly) connection.

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The joint using waxed thread is also sealed, easy tunable, and tight, not wobbly. And thread can be easy added or replaced as needed. I hear that instruments with corked joints should always be disassembled, in order to prevent the cork from becoming permanently depressed and loosing its seal. But I suspect that whistle players are not likely to do that, and prefer their instrument to remain in one piece, ready for action.

Anyway, the waxed threaded joint seemed the simplest solution I could think of, one better than using PTFE tape. But I would like to learn making cork joints, as it seems a very useful skill to develop. I wonder what kind of glue I would use to bond the cork to the aluminium tube? Making a corked joint would require more work, but I could envision it as a custom option at additional cost.

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Contact adhesive/cement is used on woodwinds and should probably work on aluminum.

Isn’t there a pill for that? :slight_smile:

Feadoggie

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One of my recorders has the tenon wrapped in thread. This seems to work pretty well but I would still prefer cork. It would require some extra work as you would need to cut a shallow track in the tenon for the cork to fit down into. This allows the top of the cork to be compressed to where it’s at the same level as the rest of the tenon. This would provide a good seal and snug fit and allow easy sliding for tuning (assuming the cork is not too thick). If you can check out any clarinet, even a cheapo student model, you can see how this is done. I would be willing to pay a little extra if this were offered as an option. And yes instruments with corked tenons should be disassembled daily to allow the cork to decompress and for lubricating. But I would think that whistles with metal on metal connections (this includes many high-end models) would need to be disassembled every day also to prevent the metal from binding and freezing up.

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Whistles and site look beautiful and lovely sound clips.

The “box ears” appear to be a somewhat less high profile version of the Copeland raised windway walls (on all of his whistles from soprano C down; there were C whistles without this feature pre-mid-nineties), and for the same expressed reason. Funny thing is I always found C to be the weak part of the Copeland line until I traded for a early nineties C without the raised walls, and it is a phenomenal whistle (bless you Jim Durdin).

Maybe, generally the raised walls help, but I guess there are a lot more important variables.

I’ve never had a whistle with a thumb hole, and I see that it is designed to address the C natural fingering issue that some discuss often, but can anyone say just a few more words about how this actually works; if I keep the thumbhole open, can I just play as usual?

Philo

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if you keep it closed then the whistle plays like normal

if you don’t adjust to the thumb hole just tape it over