Hi,
Has anyone used a low D handcrafted by David Kleinsasser from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada? His whistles sell from $65-$145 Canadian.
I have never played before and would like to start; I live in Edmonton and it would be nice to purchase a locally made whistle. I would like to ensure, however, that this whistle is suitable for beginners. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
In my opinion, no low D’s are suitable for beginners. I suggest you get used to a high D before you buy a low one.
Agreed.
I’d agree with what Con and Dale said. I didn’t get a low D for about 4 or 5 months after I started playing. They are definently a different animal.
Even though my second whistle was a £ 100 priced low whistle, and I bought it after playing my high D for only two-three months or so and had no problems with it (well, the first few days were tricky), I really think you have to try the high whistle first. Learn how breath control works, get used to the fingerings, no - learn them and make yourself capable of playing “everything”. There would be too much to concentrate on with a low whistle if you aren’t familiar with the basics. When you first get a low whistle, you have to practise at least a week, I’l think, to be able to get clean notes and being able to play tunes as you would on a high whistle.
If you can’t get anything to sound on a low whistle right, you won’t get to know what you’re doing wrong, since you haven’t any experience with a type of whistle that’s easier to play. I’d recommend that you get yourself a high whistle first.
I’ll offer a different opinion, that statement is hogwash. (Where does that saying come from anyway???) If the sound that moves and inspires someone to play, is that of the low whistle, rather than it’s high pitched, twiddly, and oftimes irritating little brethren, then there’s no reason why one shouldn’t start on the Low D.
Sure it’s going to be more difficult to finger a Low D than a High D whistle, but even so, the fact is that, when compared with other instruments one could learn to play, the Low D is still one of the easiest instruments for a beginner to start on: Bar chords, most of the 4 finger chords, and many scale patterns on guitar will give people far more difficulty than playing a Low D. Learning to play the single most “common” 4 finger chord on mandolin will cause far more discomfort than learning to cover the holes on a Low D, and many people routinely start out on the D flute, which is certainly more difficult than Low D, by at least a factor of 5. And lets not even talk about learning to play something like the fiddle 
In my opinion, this idea that the Low D is so much more difficult than the Soprano D comes largely from those who have started on soprano whistles. Sure, if you come from that angle, the big whistle is going to seem a challenge, however if one starts on the big whistle, with no preconceived ideas or habits, then it’s really not so difficult at all. That’s how I started, and I don’t recall it being terribly difficult, even though I have fairly small hands.
Also, Let’s not forget that a huge part of the motivation to play (and practice) comes from enjoying the sound we produce during those activities (although I’m still not sure anyone enjoys the sounds I produce), so it makes far more sense for someone to struggle a bit with an instrument they really want to play, rather than toil away on something else, that may be a tiny bit “easier”, but doesn’t produce a particularly satisfying sound - yes, believe it or not, high whistles just don’t do it for some folks, imagine that.
DJK, I’m sorry I can’t answer your question about the particular whistle you mention, as I have never run across one. Don’t let folks here discorage you from starting on the Low D, if that’s really what you want to play. A couple of Low D’s that are decent, and perhaps in your price range are the Howard Low D and the Tony Dixon Low D. The Dixon is particularly easy to play, if not the most resonant. The Howard has better tone, but is a bit more challenging both breath and fingering wise, but it’s still fairly easy to play. Both offer good bang for the buck, and both can be purchased on-line. Eventually, see if you can find a good used Goldie Overton, when your budget allows.
Good luck with your search, and have fun with whatever you end up with.
Loren
I agree with you, Loren ol’ chap. I got my first low D after only playing a month or two. It didn’t take me long at all to learn to hold and finger the thing, though I progressed much slower with it than my soprano, since I practiced a lot less on it.
Of course, this was before we had playing rules from the internet to tell us what was right and wrong, and so I ended up learning to play it fingertip style. 
As for “hogwash”, it basically originally meant “wash for the hogs”. Wash, like “swill” and not like “to scrub with soap”. Hogwash was kitchen scraps and stuff that nobody wanted to eat. So eventually the word ended up meaning anything worthless, later (first recorded 1712) applied in the metaphorical sense to mean “bad writings”…and eventually has come to mean untruths. If you’ve seen the phrase “That’s a load of swill!”, hogwash means the exact same thing.
Hi DJK,
May I suggest you try an instrument that’s a bit more proven.
As a beginner you would not want to fall prey to a fraudulent or exploitive maker. I have heard there are some about who practice dishonest marketing.
$145 seems an awful lot to pay for something that might not even be good to hold your window open.
Indeed, a highly dissapointing introduction.
My first real crack at whistle playing
was on a Low D by Daniel Bingamon
Jubilee Whistles. He does a good plastic
beginners Low D very reasonably priced,
and he is a gentleman to deal with.