I bought this whistle from Mitch last month (February) so it is virtually brand new. I’m forced to sell it to fund the purchase of a computer for my son to do his A level course work on. Actually, it is to recuperate the cost since I had to buy it for him two days ago!
I don’t know if the price of the OZ Whistle has increased(check with Mitch for current prices), but looking at Mitch’s website the tunable OZ Whistle is still $350 AUD. I am in the UK and this equates to around £161. I also paid around £17 for import tax and VAT etc. So I’m looking to sell the whistle for around £150. PM me if you are interested.
In the unlikely event that you haven’t heard how good these whistles are, check out Tony Hinnigan’s review at http://www.tonyhinnigan.com/moviedl.php?group=29 Scroll to the bottom of the page and look at “Whistle Wishlist inc OZ Whistle High D”. In the video he reviews a number of high end whistles and ends with the OZ Whistle.
I also received a Oz whistle in D last week and I´m very happy with it! It has become my favorite whistle now. It´s really worth the money. I own a lot of whistles and also played a lot more than that, but I haven´t played a high D wich was better than this one.
If you want to buy one directly from Mitch you have to wait untill he has finished all his orders, so this is a very good opportunity to buy one and receive it very quick.
Just wondering if you have played an Abell among the many you have played? If so, how do you think it compared to the Oz Whistle? It seems that the Abell was Tony Hinnigan’s favorite until he played the Oz whistle. I haven’t played one myself.
No I haven´t played one unfortunately, so I can´t compare them.
To be honest, this is the first wood whistle I´ve played, I´ve played very much plastic whistles (Susato, Parks, whistlesmith, Dixon and own made) and lots of metal ones (Burke, Chieftain, Kerry Songbird, Overton, Syn, Clarke, Dixon, Harper engraved, Shaw and I’m sure I forgot a few) So I can’t really compare it to other wooden whistles, but I always liked the metal ones above wood, but after I saw the review from Tony Hinnigan I wanted to try it myself and it’s just fantastic! My favorite was my Syn D and on second place the Susato, but my Oz whistle plays a bit like my Syn, but even better!
As expected, the whistle had a buyer within a few hours of putting it up. So just to leting you all know, that it has now been sold pending payment this weekend.
My apologies to thoses of you who have enquired about the whistle since, I should have put this note up straight away.
This whistle is #7905. I keep a register of them all to maintain warranty continuity and to provide an index in case they go “missing” and turn-up later.
For these reasons, I am happy for new owners to re-register on my index to get these benefits (PM or email).
Thanks for that brilliant link. I enjoyed his playing, his comparisons and the music he chose. I would like to know the name of the air he kept playing.
I was going for the Rose over the Abell and then I heard Oz. Oz was a bit chinois at first, but then I heard himalaya too in its tone and finally it settled in a wicklow hearth and won my heart.
I am curious though why Tony Hinnigan named the whistle Heidi.
OK, thanks for that. I have listened to quite a few of the recordings of that but Tony Hinnigan’s way of playing it makes it sound soo different. Its the way I love. If I had heard the other ways first I wouldn’t be attracted to it and wouldn’t bother wanting to know its name.
Is there anyone else who plays it in that vein (no, I don’t mean EXACTLY the same as Tony, just similar - slow air with personal expressiveness rather than robotic rendering of the sheet music).
I first heard this on an old Chieftains record. The Chieftains play it somewhat differently to the more popular version by Bothy Band and Planxty (particularly where they stress the phrase with the F-Nat). In the Chieftains rendition, Paddy Maloney kicks it off with a very tongue-in-cheek exercise in seeing how many notes he can cram into the theme - then the rest of the band chime-in and you can feel the respect they have for the tune - not sure who is doing the flute, but that part always grabs me.
It is a harp tune after all - I play this one with Linda Murtens at the Lithgow sesh whenever we are both there - harp and whistle - it’s magic.
I’d like to draw folks attention to the way Tony plays this. He is an absolute master at exploring the tonal character of whistles. Have a look at the way he sets his cheeks against the back-pressure to create a resonant embouchure - then look at the way he teases the harmonics from certain important notes using finger shading and vibrato. Try this on your Gen or Feadog and you will discover some surprising stuff living in your whistle that you never suspected!! (apart from the goat )
BTW this is the first Irish tune I ever learned properly on whistle and has quite a sentimental significance to me - I am still discovering technical challenges in it.
The first version I heard was by Planxty, at the end of Raggle Taggle Gypsy. I think Liam O’Flynn plays it a little more like a planxty than a slow air, but it’s still a nice version (on the pipes).
Grey Larsen also plays it on flute on the CD that comes with his big whistle & flute book. He pairs it with Lord Mayo. Totally unaccompanied and instructional, but I actually really like it. It’s a bit more relaxed and air-like than Planxty’s version.
Re: Tahbhair dom do Lamh, I recently stuck a link to a Youtube video of myself playing it on piccolo on the Flute Forum Youtube Sticky Thread - to demonstrate a piccolo that a pupil of mine is currently selling (on eBay - nothing to do with me financially, so this isn’t a commercial post). My version is pretty much Planxty/Liam O’Flynn based, mind you, so Talasiga may not approve! Of course one may interpret music any way one wishes, but I believe that this harp tune is normally played O’Carolan planxty style for good reasons: it isn’t as such a slow air.
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