Japanese creature feature style. No, seriously, here’s kind of a loaded question: A standard D flute and a low D whistle produce the same register of notes. The whistle, for lack of a better characterization, has a sound like air through a metal pipe and a flute, typically, does not. Besides that, what are the differences in the playing experience? I ask as a whistler fond of low d who is considering moving to flute. Any and all advice, no matter how subjective or iconoclastic, welcome.
J
Short Answer: If you want to maintain your sanity and savings, stick with the Low D whistle.
OTH, for the bitchin’est sound on the planet, flute is the way to go, without a doubt. However it’s easier to kill Mothra, than it is to learn to play the damn thing well, take it from someone who knows, on both accounts 
Loren
Sorry about Mothra… 
If you have nothing else to do and can practice flute for 5-8 hours a day you should be fair to mediocre in only 5 or 6 years…or so.
Howdy,
When talking about whistles or flutes as monster-hunting ordinance, it’s inappropriate to talk about “registers of notes”. The proper descriptor is gauge, as in “I have a 12 gauge double-barreled low d whistle, made by the Spillane fireworks company.”
To do enough damage to monsters, you need a whistle/flute capable of sub-sonic frequencies, and your rolls had better be crisp.
Best,
Dave
I find it much, much easier to cover the holes on a flute than on a Low
whistle, because of the angle of the hands. Flute is kinder to my hands.
My lips are another matter.
gawd…your lips’ll never reach that far!!!
jus’ use 'em on that little hole, that’s off by itself, on one end!
jeeze..
I used to feel the same way, until I developed some wicked tendonitis in my left wrist, from being bent back at an angle, as is done in the classical style flute grip. Now whistle seems far less “painful” to me than flute does, but I suspect I’m unusual in this respect.
Loren
give it a go. you already know the fingering.
I’ve wondered if Ian Anderson started standing on one leg to force his left elbow down…
Oh! I thought it was like a harmonica…
ah, no…
careful you’ll get Steve in this…
OK, great start. Why is it so much harder to blow good tone on a flute than a whistle?
like mouthpiece, fipple, back pressure, pitch, timbre, etc.
I think the answer you are looking for is that its not the instrument… its the player. 
Howdy,
Because the fipple on the whistle does all the work of shaping the air stream for you. With a flute, you have to whip your lips into shape to do the same work. It’s a trade-off. Whistle gets you up and running without any worries about your embouchure. Flute gives you incredible flexibility and volume, but you have to work on your lips.
Best,
Dave
Yes, flute is a bit harder than low whistle, since you need to develop an embouchure.
But it’s not that difficult to get something that halfway works, and build from there.
I took up flute not quite a year ago. It took me a couple of weeks to get an embouchure that could reliably play the first octave, maybe a couple of months before I could play up to the third-octave D without worrying about squeaking.
Even now, I spend a lot of time working on my embouchure (and it may well be several years before I consider myself a “good” flute player), but I can play anything I can play on my low whistles equally well on the flute - and with a wider range of available tones.
Of the two, I prefer the flute - I love the feeling when everything is just right and it all comes together - but I still play my whistles, high and low, regularly.
If you’re drawn to flute, why not give it a try for a month or so with a decent instrument? Worst-case, you can always sell it for little/no loss if you decide flute isn’t for you.
Flute is much more satisfying to play, it’s one of the
great instruments, and Irish flute is especially lovely
as flutes go. Low D whistle is interesting but it’s
not in the same league, IMO. I mean you have all
these great Irish flautists but not so many great
low D whistle players–that’s no accident.
But, yes, flute is very difficult to play, it takes years,
it’s as much a way of life as a musical instrument, IMO.
If you like low whistle and you’re thinking of flute,
you might as well get started…
The flute and the low whistle are simply different instruments. Yes, the flute is harder, but a Corvette is harder to drive than a Cavalier. But, just as in the car analogy, the flute is much more maneuverable. Since the player makes the sound in a flute, the sound can be changed. You can make it growl or make it sound sweet. There’s no low whistle that can play as loudly nor as quietly as a flute.
For me this all adds up to a much more expressive instrument.
Well, here’s my Tipple plug again: Costs about the same as a mid-priced whistle. Easy to play. Sounds awesome. Builds character. You can always resell it.
If you’ve asked the question, you’re interested enough to give it a shot. I got hooked immediately, and it’s not that hard to get started on! I do love low whistle, but given the choice…
Right so. Before I got going on the uilleann pipes, I heard all about how it was impossible to play them. Then, within two years, I had won the All-Ireland trophy. No, not really, but it wasn’t the myth many made it out to be. Hard to do well, like anything. Is flute prone to the same romantic stigmatization?