I’m just curious:
What do you all out there think of the Feadog whistle?
I absolutely love mine for the trad. Irish music (I reserve my Susato for places where I need volume, and for Riverdance music) because of the traditional sound.
I love my "Mark I"s (McCullough Piggot) for quiet playing.
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- David
Never heard of a Mark I…
Is that a special design of Feadog that I haven’t heard about?
I used my feadog a lot before I got my Oak. I liked the feadog but then it began to sound too breathy, and tended to clog up after a long practice so I’ve hardly played it for the last two years.
But just in the last few days I’ve begun to play it more often. It is quieter than the Oak, so I worry less about the neighboours (who are very tolerant, but no need to push it). And I find I like the softer sound more than I used to.
On 2002-03-21 08:51, The Whistling Elf wrote:
Never heard of a Mark I…Is that a special design of Feadog that I haven’t heard about?
Steve Power, please correct this if I am wrong.
Mk I first produced, no bump at the base of the blade. I got one at an Irish shop that I found hidden behind about 130 MK II’s. Some folks love Mk I fipples.
Mk II a new generation of head joint that has a bump at the base of the blade. It has very poor reviews. My Mk II was unplayable. Horible internal tuning. Barely tunable for absolute tuning due to shaft lenght. I used the fipple to experiment (destroy) during a curious phase.
Mk III fipples. The latest development. There are still enough Mk I whistles around that Feadog can stay in the market where they were. Unfortunatley, there are still tons of unsold Mk II whistles around to muck up the works. I have no reports on the Mk III fipples. I may just have to get one from Steve some time.
Well, if the Mark II is the fipple with the bump at the base of the blade, then mine must be a Mark II. I think it’s one of the better ones, though.
I’ve had people ask me what whistle I was playing, and when I tell them it’s a Feadog, they are usually surprised because they have had a bad experience with one of their own. Then they comment on how pretty it sounds. I’d like to try one of the new ones, or one of the originals.
a) Steve Power, please correct this if I am wrong.
b) I may just have to get one from Steve some time.
a) Nothing to correct, a very thorough explanation, if I may say so. Just to add that the MK 3 is said to be an improvement over both the MK 2 and the MK 1 - although MK’s 1 and 3 look similar.
b) Why ever wouldn’t you want to? They’re ridiculously inexpensive!
c) Of course, the Cillian O’Briain ‘improvement’ has taken the Feadog sound into another realm entirely.
Steve
[ This Message was edited by: StevePower on 2002-03-21 10:24 ]
I got a couple of brass Mark III’s from Steve Power and I think they are just fabulous for cheapies. They buzz just a little bit like an Oak, but not nearly as much, are not as breathy as the Mark II Feadogs or as squeaky as the Mark I Feadog that I had, and do not require a lot of air.
They still sound like Feadogs.
They may be improved by the famous wax or sticky-tack tweak, which I have not had time to try yet.
Sarah
PS They have what I would consider a more solid volume and tone than the Mark IIs.
[ This Message was edited by: aremnius on 2002-03-21 10:29 ]
On 2002-03-21 09:04, Mark_J wrote:
… I have no reports on the Mk III fipples. …
Dude, are you paying attention to the board? 
On 2002-03-21 10:34, Bloomfield wrote:
On 2002-03-21 09:04, Mark_J wrote:
… I have no reports on the Mk III fipples. …Dude, are you paying attention to the board? >
D’ouhHH!!
Actually, I forgot I ever read that (multiple times). Sleep deprivation. I closed the pub at our session last night at A Piece of Ireland (Newark, DE) and I have an early morning commute. I was also fuming at the corrupt criminal nature of the appointed and elected officials in my state (a.k.a. the Chicken Maffia, search under poultry manure and Pfiesteria piscicida to learn about what I am referencing (in general, at least) we knew about nutrient loads over 20 years ago but the Chicken Maffia destroyed the career of the Professor that did the study back then). That took another hour of sleep from me with my blood pressure at critical levels. I can’t even think right now. I don’t even have Brian Hughs’ CD in the car (which I sometimes use to keep me awake on the commute back home). Dang video games the three nights before that. . .Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda, whine, whine whine. . .
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
gasp< uha, Constantinople! I’m awake. . .
Hey, Mark, no sweat. That way I got to bump my own thread.
Can someone please tell me how you pronounce Feadog? I’ve got one and when people ask what whistle I’m playing, I sort of stumble around it…
On 2002-03-21 19:13, susnfx wrote:
Can someone please tell me how you pronounce Feadog? I’ve got one and when people ask what whistle I’m playing, I sort of stumble around it…
Susan, this was discussed on the board a while ago: http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?topic=2477&forum=1
From my limited knowledge of Gaelic, Steve Power’s pronunciation looks the best, with a very helpful assist from StevieJ that it rhymes with “Kylie Minogue”.
Thanks (and, sheepishly, sorry - I should have checked the archives).
In my previous post, I mentioned that I have started to like my feadog again. However, tonight I took it to my fiddle group and it was way out of tune! I know, I could try to tweak it, but my Oak is perfectly in tune, so why bother?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure it’s pronounced Fay-DOUH-g. The G is softer than it would be normally.
Its pronounced with a strong ‘g’ ending. By the way feadóg can also mean a plover or a tall thin woman!
On 2002-03-22 11:16, Seanduine wrote:
By the way feadóg can also mean a plover or a tall thin woman!
Interesting. But how do you say “curlew” in Irish?
Curlew is crotach in Irish.
On 2002-03-22 11:26, Seanduine wrote:
Curlew is crotach in Irish.
Great stuff. Now I can say “curlews and plovers” in Irish. Never thought I’d get that far in life. Thanks!