End of "High End" whistles?

Whistle
1

IMHO

When I bought one of Dr Guido Gonzato’s High D PVC penny whistles I was shocked at his suggestion I should tell my friends I’m playing, “a piece of electrical conduit”. They and I already refer to his progeny as “The White Lady of Verona”.

(Dr Gonzato is the Linux Systems Administrator at the University of Verona. There are 805 references to his work on Google).

The White Lady is never far from my lips. She is shapely, light and responsive, loves to play and has captured my heart and mind. I can’t keep my hands off her.

Now, without any solicitation and without knowing Dr Guido or ever meeting him, I have this to say:

The White Lady of Verona’s looks are very attractive. If polished, her skin glows like ivory. Resistant to condensation, with little or no clogging, she is strong and unusually light for a whistle. My version is tuneable, with a lovely low D. The edges of her finger holes are chamfered, allowing an easier finger fit, finger memorization and air tightness. There are two versions – loud and soft. I have the louder one.

If mine is anything to go by, the whistles Dr Guido handcrafts are meticulously calculated and detailed. He says all his low-tech PVC whistles produce 25% less air requirement than other whistles. Mine certainly does. This offers more control, and greater versatility in breathing, articulation and long phrases. This outstanding virtue is shared with the Burke D Composite Session I bought for $US170.

The volume is the same in both octaves. The top octave is reached fluently. There are no piercing screeches, no need for special breathing or tonguing. Playing this responsive whistle seems effortless.

The Lady’s voice can stop hearts. Her tone is sweet and pure, the kind that will still even the noisiest pub. On the other hand, an attractive chiff is easily attainable when required. Compared again to the Burke DCS, she has a little more timbre, a touch less clarity of note, which traditionalists might prefer.

Thanks to Dr Guido’s study of the whistle and his considerable experimentation we have his discovery that the Benoulli effect applies to penny whistles. If he hadn’t told us about this effect we would never have known it exists and now lies unseen in the wind way of every one of his whistles to ensure their responsiveness and warm purity of sound. I don’t think anything has been left that Jerry Freeman, for instance, would want to tweak.

This is a very different instrument. It has created a new standard for low cost whistles, probably for all whistles. It would be difficult to understand why anyone would pay 10 times more for a whistle that in many cases does not perform as well as this cheap one. Has Dr Guido taken whistle making into the third generation of whistle making? Will his arrival mark a dramatic change in whistling? Will all high quality whistles be this cheap from now on?

Is this even the end of “high end” whistles? Or will people pay for beauty and craftsmanship in a sometimes more fragile, very expensive whistle that can’t play better than Dr Guido’s cheap, electrical conduit PVC piping? How many whistlers will put art collection before better whistling?

If Dr Guido had marketed his whistle instead of publishing a free, meticulously detailed DYI manual on the Internet showing how to use commonplace domestic tools to produce her in less than an hour with PVC piping, they would sell worldwide for around $US200 to satisfied, repeat customers for all his whistle range for the rest of the good doctor’s life. The Linux philosophy of free sharing has now obviously been applied to the whistling world. This is in the best traditions of the generosity and helpfulness found every day in whistling’s bible, the online Chiff and Fipple…

The White Lady’s unpretentiousness belies her attributes, whether you make her yourself, or buy one from Dr Guido.

IMHO The White Lady of Verona signifies much more for the whistling world than the introduction of a top quality, low cost whistle.

2

Wow! What kind of wax are you using on that poetic? :wink:

Now, having built four Low Tech Whistles following Dr. Gonzato’s article, I can attest to what is said above about how nice they sound. My D is by far my favorite and is very friendly to a beginner like me. It is quite difficult to get a bad sound out of it…no matter how much I try to! :wink:

My C for some reason is a little too breathy, so I’ll need to rework it a bit until it has that comfortable balance that the D has. My Bb is nice as well. The Low D I made was my first attempt, and although playable, it serves more as a lesson than an instrument. I will use it as a guide on what to do and what NOT to do on my next Low D.

Regarding purchased whistles, I currently only own a Walton Nickel D and a tweeked Clarke Sweetone. So, I am by no means an authority on all the different qualities that make a whistle worth it’s weight. I definitely have to admit that some of the beautiful finishes found on the handcrafted wood whistles such as those created by O’Brien for example do tempt my eye a great deal. Having grown up around my Grandfather who was a cabinet maker, I have a great appreciation for beautifully crafted wood pieces.

I also understand that the different materials used to make a whistle really affect the “spirit” of the whistle. I think personal preference and mood dictate which sound is most appealing at any given time.

With all that being said, I don’t think anyone could go wrong in owning/making one of Dr. Gonzato’s LTW. They are fun to make, satisfying to finish, and have a very appealing sound.

Cheers!

John

3

Such whistles, especially when propertly crafted are good whistles indeed, but I wouldn´t say it´s end of high-enders.

I mean, when I compare it to Colin Goldie´s Overton, it goes pale still. I´ve played Burke a year ago and the experience was rather similar - but Overtons are still unique.

I guess many people will state why it won´t beat the crap out of their favourite makers, so I can start with Overtons.
-you won´t have these whistles custom made
-they don´t feel like Overtons when playing (I haven´t seen that anywhere else though - it´s sort of like the whistle becoming one being with you - guess it´s the vibrations)
-tone is in my opinion still inferior (it´s a great tone, but not so unique - that could be changed though, maybe).
-it doesn´t look as beautiful as Copelands or Overtons.

On the other hand, I think it´s serious issue for Dixons, Clarkes etc…

4

I have the pop corn popping and I’m in a comfortable chair …

5

nothing compares to my new spillane tunable high d whistle… :smiley:

6

Cyril, being new I don’t know you very well, if at all, but observing your clever insights and witicism, I suspect you can be quite entertaining at times.

I love your response in this post. lol

Cheers!

John

7

Except my newer Spillane mutii tunable mezzo soprano D. :poke:

8

Did you mean bernoulli? It has long been known that the Feadog has a tapered wind way.

9

Now I have stage fright. Best, Cyril.

10

I’ve played, indeed I own, some really good PVC whistles
by Glenn Schultz. Possibly dr G’s whistles outshine
those of the maestro, but I won’t believe it till I
play em. Glenn’s whistles, while very good,
are to me less good sounding than a Sindt,
a copeland and an Abell, all in D.

I do think PVC has a sound that colors the result.
To my ear it’s less interesting than silver or
blackwood.

If a PVC whistle can outperform these, hurrah for it.
Seeing/hearing is believing, however.

11

I’ll share some of that popcorn for some of my beer.

Here we go again.

12

I think personal preference and mood dictate which sound is most appealing at any given time.

Absolutely! That’s one of the things that can be so fascinating about whistle playing; our choice of whistle sounds are uniquely us.

13

I’ve just been told that Yamaha turns out cheap plastic recorders that are consistently superior to traditional wooden recorders ten times the price. Does this help my point?

I also checked out the Burke DCS E note to find it’s bang on tune in both octaves. So is the Low Tech Gonzato whistle. (The high octave E’s on my other low end whistles are dead flat). The point is, the Burke cost $170 US whereas the Low Tech cost $35 including currency adjustments and postage from Italy. (We could make 10 high performing Low Tech whistles for about $10-worth of local materials using household tools, including glue).

Is there more than corn popping here…? :smiley:

K.

14

Superior quality at a low price surprisingly has low sex appeal. PVC doesn’t help. It’s a Timex not a Rolex (even though they both tell time). If consumers were rational, there would be far fewer choices.

15

what is this guido whistle , that is being talked about-what is the website :smiley:

16

The Wandering Whistler has reviewed Dr Guido’s whistles too.

There are several other low tech whistle makers though I don’t know anything about them. I think the time is coming when Dale might want to make a sticky about Low Tech whistles.

Guinness: I have a horrible feeling you might be right, but only about people who aren’t really into making good music. Very depressing. For me, I want that high you get from a superior instrument, whatever its made of. My Burke DCS has been described on the Internet as looking like “a sewage pipe”. Who cares - that stillness in people’s faces when they hear the Burke says it all. (It’s not my playing, I hasten to add..) Still, the Low Tech whistle does the same job for a fraction of the price and is probably even better looking than this particular Burke. (Apart from price, I have another beef building up about the Low Tech having chamfered finger holes whereas the Burke doesn’t. I suspect this is making the Burke squeak throughout the same tunes that the Low Tech just breezes through with nary a squeak, so it’s not my breath).

Finally, on the matter of beauty, Dr Guido has partnered up with a wood turner who is producing his Low Tech whistles in rosewood, for instance. So beauty is not going to be an issue with low cost whistles.

Exciting days, eh? :party:

K.

17

I don’t know how it sounds, but the thing is ugly as hell.

18

Ask the ghosts of Amati and Stradavari … after all, aren’t violins nothing more than little boxes with stretched wire and horse hair dragging across the wire?

What we have here is the death of civilization where only the mediocre holds sway … the death of Art; dimming to nothingness with a pathetic pop and not a brassy BANG!

19

The point is just this:

these whistles probably sound good. Well made PVC whistles
do sound good. There have been some really good PVC
whistles made by people who loved the medium.
Glenn Schultz comes to mind.

And they may sound better than some high-end whistles.
The sole favorable comparison so far has been to a Burke composite.
Makes sense to me. Never thought these sounded
very good, personally.

But so far no reason has been given to believe these
sound better than, or as good as, high-end whistles
generally or mostly.

Why believe that?

Note that several folks have written in
that they sound less
good than the high-end whistles they play, e.g. the Overton.

If there is a low-end whistle that performs as well as
most much more expensive whistles, beats roses, Overtons,
Copelands and so on, I believe it would beat the high-price
whistles in the market place. For obvious economic reasons.

Why believe it does? So far the supporting argument
has been that they sound good, indeed as good
as the Burke composite. Granted.

20

At a certain point I think we need to remember that a lot regarding a specific tone of an instrument comes down to individual tastes. The basics that effect the mechanics of playing are relatively speaking objective, and most if not all of us will agree what makes a whistle good from the perspective of just playing it.

Thus, there will always be a market for different whistles, because some people will love their Sweetheart Professionals, and others their Copelands, Burkes, Sindts, Syns, or Overtons and some will love their low-tech whistles or their Generations…

–
Bill