i am going to get me a Generation Whistle Set in Bb,C,D,Eb,F and G.
and i still have to decide if nickel or brass
many may recomend to get tweaked ones … i will, later
but now i just want an original generation set in all available tunings? right word?
so brass or nickel?
i did read a lot about whistles and also generations and found different statements
some say, the material dont change the sound
some say, they sound different in brass then nickel, if yes which sound more “typical”?
wich ones would you recomend and why?
and yes, i tought of getting tweaked ones (in the available tunings) …but later (i am just a beginner and also like to collect and i think everybody once should get an origional set, or not?)
I love my Freeman-tweaked brass Generations. Watching Mary Bergin on YouTube was my reason for getting them. I hear bad stories about stock Generations, so I went for tweaked ones. I have a nickel Feadog and like some have expressed, it feels too slippery to me.
All I can say about the Generations is the nickel Bb is a great instrument for such a small price. The nickel finish can get a little slippery when the thumbs perspire, but after enough playing the shine will wear off a bit. It did for me anyway.
It didn’t take much tweaking for it to sound good. The one I have didn’t really need it, but it made a good inexpensive whistle even better.
I think people can be a bit obsessed with tweaking whistles. I have yet to hear any tweaked Generation (or other tweaked whistle, for that matter) sound as good as some of my old, untweaked Generations.
I agree with you there, although the key word here is ‘old’ as in practiacally unavailable nowadays..
On topic - i wouldn’t decide on brass or nickel generally but rather try the individual whistles in both variants if possible. I have had brilliant nickel D’s as well as brilliant brass Eb’s etc..
Just a heads-up about the G.. I have a Generation brass G, and for my hands it’s very little room, I can just barely play it. The holes are too close for my fingers. So in practice it doesn’t get played. (And 2nd octave kills my ears..) Bit of a waste there. My Generation nickel F is easy to play, in contrast. And best of all, my untweaked F is perfect, either they are special or I lucked out something fabulous with this one.
Didn’t notice you had a ‘G’ in the list.. As said, the G is more a novelty item than a play/enjoyable whistle.. Dogs start howling, bats gather and eardrums shatter when you play one, that is - if you have fingers like pencils and are able to play it in the first place
the key word here is ‘old’ as in practiacally unavailable nowadays
I think it’s a mistake to create the myth the old ones were somehow better than the present ones. They were different, with the early eighties’ redesign Generation went for (slightly) more volume and a stronger low register. The price of this is a loss of sweetness, especially in the high register. You win some, you loose some and each design has stronger and weaker points.
With the old ones one needed to make the effort of picking out the nice ones, just as much a one does with the new ones.
I removed excess plastic from the window and ramp, and filled the cavity under the duct with putty. The putty tweak has improved the tone on a few of my whistles. I’ve removed it a few times just to hear if there’s a difference, thinking maybe a lot of it could have been due to being a beginner, but it really does make a difference.
You’ve got a point there.. Way back when i was able to sift through boxes of whistles, nowadays i can’t fins a shop who has whistles at all except on special order.
Also, two of my best Gens have the ‘new’ design/mould head.
For the sake of collecting I bought both brass and nickel. I have a brass Eb that is one of my best whistles. It holds it’s own with the expensive ones. I have a nickel Bb that is very good also but so is the brass Bb. The only tweaked whistles I have are ones I tweaked myself. The brass may sound a little different from the nickel but very few ears will be able to hear the difference. When I buy one I go to a store and try a few until I find one that I like.
I didn’t have a list - but as the G is part of the full Generation Whistle Set (as listed in the OP) I thought I would mention the G.. it’s part of the set one pay for but may not be useful for too many people. Well, the set isn’t that expensive anyway so maybe it doesn’t matter really. And maybe it’ll get some use occasionally (to chase off dogs or something )
G is indeed a strange little instrument. Probably good for piccolo or fife parts. In an ensemble, you might also use it to double or play descant above D whistles playing in G or C whistles playing in C. The low octave is nice and sweet, although you have to blow pretty easy so as not to get the 2nd octave instead. The 3rd octave is weaponized. I just tried out some 3rd octave, and my ears actually hurt for a couple of minutes afterwards.
I think it depends on what you like. The nickel tends to be a bit brighter, and as has already been pointed out, may ge a little slippery at times. I have F and G gens in brass, and they’re pretty sweet little whistles. Not sure I’d want them in nickel. My Bflat (great sound, kind of quiet) is also in brass, but I think I’d like it just as well in nickel. There’s something to be said for both in the intermediate keys.
thank you all for your answeres, they were helpfull and interesting
i have decided to get a brass set (first - and later lets see)
why? cause ill go for less slipery and less bright (wasnt warmer mentioned? i just think the brass will be more “typical” after what i did read)
but anyway, this may have to wait another month, cause i just couldnt resist today to spent my “this month whistle money” one some clarkes; original in c, victorian (original natural) in d, and sweettones in d and c … hope they will be delivered soon
but the brass generations are on the shopping list now … and hey, after those postings i have to get one in g as well not just to make the set complete for colection also just for to see this thing and try to play it with my very big hands
I am going to throw in my 2 cents worth here. I have been whistling for about 6 months now (and am taken with it). I got into it as something to do with my 8 year old grandaughter. Anyway - I bought a set of brass generation whistles to add to what I already have as I wanted a whole set of whistles. Several of them had a buzz or a squeak. I had to really nurse them along to play anything that sounded halfway reasonable. My grandaughter decided that she wanted the whole set. So, being a good grandfather, I gave them to her and ordered a Freeman-Tweaked set.
To make a long story short (too late for that), I was really impressed by the tweaked set. There were no buzzes or squeaks. The tone was great. There was a world of difference. The transition to the higher octave is smooth and clear. I highly recommend getting the tweaked set. Maybe if I dared to tweak a whistle myself, I would have been happy with the “out of the box” set. The Freeman-Tweaked set compares favorably with my more expensive whistles.
Also, I have smaller hands and still can barely play the high G. However, it is fun to play (even in the high octave). I just play it when my wife isn’t around.
well, yes, or better; it made me want a freeman tweaked set
but i still want a original set, too, maybe more as a colector and someone who likes to try to tweak/repair as well if needed
i think i will end up with both, but first i will get the original set, the freeman set is surley very good for this price but its more than i can spend right now on whistles
p.s.
what did you do against the squeking? your experiance may help in advance or for other squeking whistles as my “chinese gniesel”
I never really got rid of the squeaks. I made sure the whistle was warmed up before I played and was very careful with my breath control. This helped somewhat.
I think I am going to try Jerry Freeman’s method on the original set:
i did this on my squekxy gniesel and it showed the blue putty wouldt help much in my case, but something else did, changing the windway size (i am still working on it and will open a thread for this later)
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