Does the Burke “EZ” model make sense for a long term relationship?
M. Burke has a modified low D whistle model he calls the EZ. The bottom two holes are closer together (?!?), which in itself, does not sound musically correct.
and the bottom hole, actually piviots, like the whistle head I suppose, to facilitate a better grip for beginners and those with smaller hands.
Is this a beginners instrument? Are there too many compromises built into this design that a professional player would not care for. If not, why does he also offer a standard model of low D without the “EZ adaptations”.
Thanks for your insights. I planned to order a Burke low D this week and became hung up on this whole EZ/Standard design way too much, to the point of inaction… if you know that I mean. WTT overload.
I used to own one of Mike’s alu EZ low Ds. The reach was pretty easy; not as short as eg. Dixon or Copeland, though. The sixth hole did indeed rotate, but it wasn’t something I had a use for. AFAIR, the tuning was reasonably good; the only thing I seem to remember was that the second octave E was a bit flat; this might very well be attributed to the closer/smaller sixth hole, but I really don’t know.
The thing that made me sell the thing was its sound and playing characteristics, which weren’t to my liking. The sound was a bit more “flat”, ie. less complex and with less interesting overtones than, say, an Overton. Also, the whistle had very little backpressure, so to play the second octave, you had to blow quite a bit of air through it. Now, none of these aspects are “bad” as such, but it wasn’t what I was looking for…
thank you jens,… that is great information. For me, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
This is also true of Mike’s Pro models, too. It’s probably not quite to the point of “Either you love 'em or hate 'em”, but there do seem to be two camps regarding Mike’s low whistles. I love the sound of them, especially the volume in the lower octave. You definitely have to move some air to get a good sound out of them, OTOH, you don’t have to blow at such a high pressure that you get red in the face.
I was really looking for a reason NOT to buy one of the Burke low whistles. And now i have several. I just never had a good feeling about them. High whistles, different, beyond reproach, but I don’t get the same warm and fuzzy intuition re: the lower eight.
I know you chifflers have discussed whistle materials to infinity, and beyond! But I attribute a lot of Jens reaction to the poor acoustical properties of both bakelite (composite) and aluminium… Nothin beats brass, or nickled brass.
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As an aside, for the really “well connected”, and knowledgable amongst you, how feasible would obtaining one of those rare, discontinued Overton - Colin Oldie Professional model low D’s be… ?
He’s mentioned them from time to time on his web, but the location is “far across the pond”, and priced in a strange and mysterious currency…
I have a Burke Pro low D, and I got to try out an EZ before I chose the Pro. I agree with the comments above regarding Burke low whistles in general. The only trade off I found with the EZ is not intonation (as I expected) but volume. I found it a bit quieter than the Pro. I didn’t find the reach too difficult on the Pro but if I had I would have bought the EZ.
I like the sound of the Burke, but I have to say I really like the complexity of the Overton sound. I used to have a Kerry Pro, which (most people agree) is nearly identical to an Overton. I loved the sound, but I want to be able to pick up a low whistle cold and play it without spending a lot of time warming it up. With the Kerry, I had terrible clogging problems when I did that. For some reason, other people don’t have that problem. The guy I sold it to loves it, I’m happy to say.
As veterans will know, I’m a big proponent of the Burke line and I do like the low whistles very much. I have more Burke whistles than any other of the high-end lines. Having said that, I’ve told Mike that I’m not quite sure I get the EZ whistle. I’ve had the chance to side-by-side the Pro Low D and the Ez low D, both in composite. I didn’t think the EZ was that much easier than the Pro, but it did compromise the sound.
Aaahhh! The world admires and respects an honest man! Thank you for the assist, Dale.
Mike Burke is a blessing to the World of Whistle. We are all richer for his marvelous contributions to the world of music… Yet, even Barry Bonds strikes out 2 of 4 times he enters the batters box. So, MB got one wrong. It happens!
As an aside, I notice that Mike has discontinued the Composite Low C… That great Jurrassic beast is now extinct… Be sure you (all) ask him to make the last one for you before he tosses out the mold. What collection could be complete???
Hi,
Sorry for hi-jacking the topic but this seems to be a good time to ask something that I´ve been wondering about for a long time, and it seems to be pretty much on topic anyway.
I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the Overton “easy-blowers”. Does this altering of the whistle also lead to a drop in sound quality or do they sound the same as the basic models and just have lower back-pressure?
To clarify, is the new Viper model Burke low D included in the above discussion or is it yet another model that is substantively different than those noted above?
No one can please everybody and probably no one can please anybody all the time. I’ve never tried a Burke low D of any kind and was curious about the Viper (I think I recall some feedback once before from Byll?). Mike makes the most consistent whistles on the planet; that said, I didn’t like the G, not because of any negatives but rather because of the lack of “character” of the tonal qualities. I have an al-pro aluminum soprano D that is very nice, almost too light and ethereal physically. More recently, I got Mike’s new black tip models (brass and delrin) and they are fabulous - all the consistency and easy playability with a stronger bottom and some more pop (as in character) to them. As I’ve said before, the soprano C is the best C I’ve ever played.
Although I am a Copeland guy generally, I also love to play the new Burkes which are totally different in playing and tone characteristics. My everyday plays right now are the two Burkes, Copeland Eflat and D whistles, and of course my new Olwell bamboo F.
I’ve got one. Easy reach for me (medium-sized make hands), easy enough I can finger-tip it.
The sound is OK, but not a lot of volume - good for at-home playing, but not a session weapon. Very low air requirements, especially on bottom D, which is easy to flip to the second octave until you get your breath control down. Not a fast-responding whistle, but nice for slow airs.
I usually leave mine set up with its flute head - it’s got a lot more volume as a flute than a whistle.
Eh? I think it’s an OK low whistle, but I far prefer my Serpent F. So I play the Serpent when I want a low whistle, and use the Dixon to get flute basics down.
It’s not a bad low whistle at all, just not my particular cup of tea. Still trying to decide if I want to take up flute seriously. If I decide not, I plan to get a better Low D - right now my short list is Alba, Overton, Reyburn, or Serpent.
