If a whistle has back pressure, it will require blowing harder on the upper notes of the second octave, which may cause it to be louder or shrill?
And the less back pressure, the more air volume needed throughout both octaves?
If these are so, then what whistle has a balanced compromise AND allows for high volume…something that can be heard in session?
Mike
I would say my Busman falls into the category you’re looking for. It’s loud enough to be heard in a session, but even in the second octave, I wouldn’t describe it as shrill (actually, it sounds like heaven! Marvelous, rich, complex tone). It’s well-balanced across both octaves…it definitely has some back-pressure, but you don’t have to blow significantly harder to get the second octave…it’s more that you need to support it a bit (as you do your voice when you go high, only here you do it with emboucher rather than with your diaphragm).
Redwolf
Of course, there’s a continuum of backpressure vs. volume and unbalancedness. Redwolf is absolutely right about the Busman; I would also add Burkes, especially the aluminum Pro. It’s beautifully balanced, but has a bright sound that lets it cut through a crowd. I prefer the woody sound, but for pure playability, Burkes are hard to beat.
Backpressure or not and balance through both octaves are not connected in my experience. There are well balanced whistles with lots of back pressure, and unbalanced no-backpressure whistles. They’re independent things.
The best balance between octaves imho you’ll find in Generations or Clares (and other thin-walled cheapos).
I agree with Bloomfield. With Jerry Freeman’s Tweaked Generation D being first and the Clare second. If you didn’t get the tweaked Gen then the Clare would come out on top. Clare’s seem to be consistently good versus Generations which are unpredictable.