I see that Dixon is now offering a whistle with an aluminum shaft. Has anyone played one?
what tony says on his website about it being brighter is very true – it’s a different sound from the polymer tube dixons. it feels more responsive and has a very nice second octave – possibly the best second octave of any whistle i own. the mouthpiece and breath requirements and playing techniques are like a regular Dixon, but the sound from that metal tube is clearer and brighter. and maybe a tad louder.
it looks like this whistle prices out about the same as a brass tuning slide d, and given a choice between the two, i’d take the aluminum tube hands down.
it’s easily my favorite whistle now, although i don’t play it as much as i’d like to because it looks a tad too delicate to stuff in a bag and travel about with, and it’s too expensive to stick in a pocket and risk losing or sitting on. but it’s my whistle of choice when i’m at home. that it plays the same as the regular dixon one-piece, which is what i do carry about in my pocket, is a big plus. i get a different sound with no adjustment in playing style.
Is your polymer Dixon the one with the brass slide oe without it? I’ve just ordered a tunable one without it. It’ll be my first whistle, and I’m very interested in comparisons. (A week is an incredibly long time to wait for a whistle. I’m wondering if I would survive waiting months for a custom job.)
Do you tend to play different kinds of music on the aluminum tube one? If so, what kinds of music do you prefer on one, and which on the other?
Seeing your avatar, I’m sure glad I used a honeybee instead of a mantis, which I almost did. I just didn’t have any that stood out clearly against the background. (If you like mantises, take a look at my mantis gallery at http://www.pbase.com/darwinian/mantises.)
I have both brass slide and the previous design polymer tunable whistles.
There is no difference in playability or sound that I can tell.
HTH
Darwin – This mantis is 14 feet tall. http://www.fona.org/members/spring00/
You’ll be fine with the tunable polymer. Clasp it to your bosom and nurture it and let it grow with you before you pop a bunch of money for a custom job. It’s an excellent first whistle. I have one, and I use it on the rare occasions when I have to tune to someone. One thing I like about Dixons is that they all play pretty much the same, so you don’t have to adjust when switching from non-tunable to tunable.
I had a brass joint tunable but I sent it back because it kept falling apart. Or rather, it kept telescoping when I played it. I didn’t like the loose joint.
Dixons sure are good whistles.