I have just received a lovely Elfsong D whistle from Sandy Jasper:
Here is Smash the Windows on this whistle:
http://www.flutesite.com/samples/smashwin_elfs.mp3
I would like to share my impressions and thoughts:
First, this whistle is physically impressive and visually striking. The fipple is of brightly polished copper which has been laquered to retain its shine. This whistle has a wooden block of oak which has also been sealed. The body is Sandy’s “royal marble” design…it is a lovely whistle with fine workmanship. Visually, the whistle is a work of art.
This whistle has a lovely, open, “traditional” tone–this isn’t a pure-toned whistle, but there isn’t any excess breathiness in the sound either. The sound is well focused. Air requirements for this whistle in both octaves are pretty high as this whistle has little backpressure or resistance. The whistle is nicely balanced octave to octave, and has a strong tone in both octaves without going shrill on the high end. This isn’t a loud whistle isn’t my softest, either; in terms of volume I would say softer than a Burke AlPro session D, but slightly louder than an Alba Q1.
This whistle does take some air its takes some control; I feel this is a whistle that’ll play its best for someone who has already become a good player and has the control this whistle needs. However, what you get for the price of your air is a whistle with a lovely delicate balance of playing characteristics–you can bend notes easily with your breath (or with fingers, or both), yet almost paradoxically the whistle is pitch-stable and you can play it aggressively.
One thing I have noticed is that this whistle doesn’t play well cold, and Sandy in her instructions mentions warming the whistle for it to play its best. But once it’s warm, it just comes to life in your hands.
This is a whistle that will see frequent session play.
–James
