Just wondering if anyone knows where I could get a double whistle (ithink that’s what it’s called) One side a reg whistle other side a drone. Saw one made of Raku(?) and my wife tried to get me one for my birthday, but the guy had stopped making them and wouldn’t even do a deal for more than the price. Thanks for any info.
This one? a Tullberg Doublewhistle.
http://www.tullberg.com/tully/whistles.html#double
How about something close…a Uillean Whistle.
http://www.songsea.com/uwc.htm
If the whistle was ceramic, it is possible that “raku” refers to the method of glazing, which as I recall involves firing up the already once-fired piece to a fairly high temp, with a rudimentary glaze applied, pick it out of the kiln with tongs and then drop it into a barrel of wood chips, leaves, straw or sawdust, and then slap on a lid. Then remove lid and drop piece into a bucket of water. That will have been some tough whistle.
Tom D.
Yes, ceramic that was it. As far as Song of the sea goes, I play the uilleann pipes and there is no way i would recommend that contraption to anyone for anything. Or the Uilleann chanter thingy. Unless you’ve got money to spare and need a funky, weird toy.
Check out my buddy Eric Marczak:
http://geocities.com/whistleworld/
No pics on his site, but he makes terrific Native American styled double and triple (!! ) flutes. He made me one tuned to a whistle scale and it’s gorgeous. Not sure he can make them as small as a D whistle though, if that’s what you need. Mine is in F or G.
I know you’re probably looking for a REAL double whistle, but if you’re bored and want to have some fun, get a couple of cheapies (I used LBW’s, but Gens, Susatos, whatever works) in the same key. Here’s what you do: use electrical tape as it is easily removed once the experiement is over. Take the whistles–make sure they are tuneable and in tune with each other–and put tape on ONE whistle over all the holes. Then put the whistles next to each other, angle the mouthpieces slightly so they will fit in your mouth as comfortably as possible, and tape 'em together as close as you can get them. Voila! Drone & whistle you can play together.
The only disadvantage is that the wide double mouthpiece can–and I’m sorry to gross anyone out there–cause excessive drooling. Because you can’t really shut your mouth properly. But it’s fun and you can always take the whistles apart and do something else with them later if you want.