I have a great little Elfsong E whistle that I absolutely love, but it’s really too quiet for playing along with other instruments. I would like to add an E that has good volume, a pure tone, and is in tune with itself throughout both octaves. (If it helps, among cheap whistles I like the sound of Oaks but not Feadogs or Generations.) I would also like to not spend much money! I know a Burke would be great, but that’s more than I want to pay for a whistle that won’t get played that much.
I was thinking about maybe a Susato or Syn. Does anyone have experience with the E in either of these? (I have tried both of these in D. I was pleasantly surprised by the Susato; I really can’t remember how the Syn played.) Any other suggestions in that price range?
I have a Susato SB E, and it plays pretty much like the D, albeit just a tad shriller. If you like the D Susato, you’ll be OK with the E; if you don’t like the Susato D, the E won’t make you change your mind.
I think Susato and Shaw are about the only inexpensive E whistles out there. I have a Shaw which I really like, but it is quite breathy. They are about 20 or 30 dollars depending on where you buy. I’ve often heard recommendations for a Freeman Tweaked Shaw. You can by them from bigwhistle.co.uk for $39.33 (23 pounds). I haven’t tried these but they’re supposed to be not as breathy if that’s what you like.
Good luck.
The SYN E is a very nice whistle! The volume is just a shade shy of a Feadog but seems to penetrate a crowded soundscape well. The larger tone-holes give it good control for bending notes - ideal for blues and airs
Gary Humphrey makes an excellent E whistle that is not off the planet in terms of price. And, for another 15 bucks you can get a D barrel to fit the same mouthpiece.
wow. the last time I went shopping for an E whistle (about six years ago) my options were very limited. Basically it was something really expensive (Burke maybe Overton) or Susato or Shaw. The industry has really exploded in just a few years. I think it’s wonderful.
Jen, I’ll bring my Syn D to session so you can try it–you may already have, I don’t remember for sure. I like the Syn D a lot–I think a Syn E would be great.
Also, you might check with David O’Brien to see if he can make you a whistle in E. The O’Brien D I have is wonderful…I hate to say it since I’m a longtime Burke fan, but I am starting to like it better than my Burkes, and it has a very modest price by comparison.
Wow, more options than I had considered. Thanks, everybody!
Mitch, you mentioned the large toneholes in the Syn E; is it hard to keep them covered? If they’re any bigger than the ones on my Burke session, I might have trouble keeping them covered.
I have been wanting an excuse to buy a partial set of Syns for a while, so this may be it. My only concern is that he uses the same bore size for E down to A, so that must mean the E is a pretty wide-bore whistle.
James, I hadn’t considered the O’Brien–I’d love to try yours again. I like the sound but can’t remember how it plays.
Syn Syn Syn, get a Syn!
They are great, I use them for stage and recording work all the time (when people will acctually let me up on stage or into a recording studio)
Edit: You won’t have a problem covering the holes, I don’t think. I don’t find them particularly hard, especially not on the E. It is wide bore, but that really is no problem for me. The whistle sounds really nice anyway, and you mentioned that you needed a bit of volume.
Get it, you won’t regret it
Disclaimer: I have no special relations to Erle and I don’t benefit in any way from recomending his whistles, I just have a huge admiration for him for putting out such great whistles at such a low price.
I like my Syn also, that’s why I suggested it above.
But a word of caution: I had to fine tune the intonation on my E whistle— in fact, most of my Syn whistles.
But just a bit of filing or a bit of tape, and it will play in tune.
John Sindt makes an E tube for his D whistle if you can waite 11 months to get it.
My friend Lisa D. has a humphrey D, Eb, E set that is really nice. The mouthpiece is really light and the tip is very slender. The tone on the E tube was sweet and not shrill in the second octave. Great price and low waite!
I also have a Burke Low E aluminum that is really nice. It is easy to get around on in both octaves!
I would also recomend a Hoover whitecap with an E tube. My friend Kitty has one that Mack gave her when she visited him in Colorado. Sweet!
I used to have a Susato low E which I sold to another chiffer because I didn’t need it anymore, it was for a job I used to do with a singer.
It had a low-recorder like sound but it was very in tune with itself. It also had a recorder look to it, but if you held it a little slanted to the right it was much easier to play than a low D whistle. It also came with a thumb rest to help hold it (you can even buy those separately) and I used the thumb rest at first while getting used to it. Before I got used to it I’d squauk a bit from not sealing the holes well. Its certainly the biggest whistle I’d had.
All in all I’d say it was pretty good and not overly expensive as far as low whistles go. The tuning was also accurate all the way through against a tuner, and it was tunable. I opted for the low E rather than a high E cos I thought it would be more mellow, and it was.
She has an Elfsong which is amazing, fantastic, lovely (Tom Doorley fell in love with it to the point I wasn’t sure he was going to give it back to her!). But it’s just not loud enough to be heard in session.
I was checking David O’Brien’s website, he does show he makes an E. That might be one to consider.
When we play the Mason’s Apron in particular in session, it tends to fly along at a good clip. Moving it down to G-major on an E-whistle is a lot easier to manage at that speed than is A-major on a D whistle.
