Here you go.
http://tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/Audio/05-06/JuliaCliffordsTonyH.mp3
You can hear a dozen or so clips of the whistle here:
http://tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/jigs.html
and here:
http://tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/reels.html
Best wishes,
Jerry
But Jerry, your whistle (and I refer to the nickle one you sent me) is a totally different player with a very different response and when played side by side quite a different sound/volume/balance. Nothing for heaven’s sake about it. It doesn’t matter, you make a fine whistle which can stand on it’s own feet. It’s just in my experience very different from an old style Generation.
Hi, Peter.
Well, certainly the response is different. That’s by design. I’ve taken feedback from hundreds of players at different levels of skill, and that’s what the majority are telling me they want. I respect your preference for untweaked Generations, of course, but I have to gravitate to the configuration that the largest number of people tell me they want.
I believe you are correct that the volume of my tweaked Generations is somewhat louder than most pre-1980’s Generations.
As to the balance, I assume you mean the relationship between the upper and lower registers.
I find quite a bit of variation in the balance between registers among off the shelf Generations, both new and pre-1980’s, and there’s some variation in balance between registers in my tweaked Generations, as well.
This is an area where the difference between a pre-1980’s Generation and one of my tweaked Generations is within about the same range of variability as between different Generations of the same type, in my opinion. (In the key of D, I have four or five new, untweaked pre-1980’s Generations, plus another four or five that appear to have been played quite a bit, plus I’ve had one especially prized one sent to me for comparison, and I’ve listened carefully to numerous old recordings of players who used those whistles.)
One aspect, which may be less of an issue for you than for less advanced players, is that the upper register in both new and pre-1980’s Generations tends to be a little rough sounding. Precise playing may eliminate some of this, but it’s one of the things that are cleared up by the tweaking. That would make a very noticeable difference in the upper register of my whistles and untweaked whistles, but I wouldn’t characterize it as a change in voicing. I would be more inclined to characterize it as a change in stability or “cleanness.”
So I guess the real issue is, what do we mean by voicing? I wouldn’t object if someone said as a general statement, my tweaked Generations are “totally different animal” from an untweaked Generation of either vintage. They are a lot different, for the purpose of minimizing those characteristics that most people say they don’t like and maximizing those characteristics that most people say they do like.
However, what I call voicing is more specific, and that’s what I’ve adjusted to match as closely as possible the voicing of pre-1980’s Generations. I think if you listen to clips of pre-1980’s Generations alongside clips of my tweaked Generations and then alongside clips of current Generations, you’ll be able to identify what I’m talking about. If you listen to sample clips without preconception, I think you’ll discover that the voicing is very close.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Thanks for the interesting information!
Jerry´s tweaked Generation is really exellent. It´s different from a off-the-shelf Generation whistle, but I still think he has been able to retain much of the old Generation feeling.
According to my information the Galway whistle was manufactured during the 1970´s. But I might be wrong! Yet, it´s got at slightly different geometry and sounds much better. I wonder if there is someone else whith this experience too?
The Galway whistle I have here is exactly the same as a current Generation whistlehead. I wonder if the Galway whistle came out earlier and changed when Generations changed. Does yours have a ridge along the top of the beak, sort of like the ridge on a roof?
Best wishes,
Jerry
We can go on about this until the cows come home and I have spent quite a bit of time talking to you two years ago. My opinion hasn’t changed since then. Most notable in all your tweaks is the further opening up of the high notes, broadening the high notes and making them louder compared to the non tweaked version which is already broader and louder in the high register compared to the old style. Also: all whistles you sent me retained a scratchyness that ideally shouldn’t be present in a really nice example of the species. You’re aiming for something different than I (and the people around me) would be looking for. Let’s leave it at that.
I’m not sure this is a fair comment.
If I remember correctly, out of several prototype, experimental whistles I sent you, I only sent one or at most two whistles that bear any resemblance to the whistles I produce now.
I think most people would say that, if anything, there’s less “scratchyness” in my tweaked whistles than in most factory run Generations, whether new or vintage. There was very definitely something that could be called a scratchyness to the first experimental whistles I sent to you. I heeded your comments and went back to work. It wouldn’t be fair to use your impressions of those first experimental whistles to characterize the finished product.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Ofcourse as I said my comments were based on the whistles you sent two years ago and the last one I had was indeed much nicer than the first one. I think though I saw a pattern in what you tried to achieve at the time across the range of Feadog, a very early Walton tweak and the Generations. But again I like to emphasise I was not in any way doubting the quality of your work.
Thanks, Peter.
It’s kind of you to say that.
I’ll take the liberty of stating …
Peter’s very astute criticisms, although sometimes painful to bear, have been extremely helpful to me. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to come up with a whistle that’s exactly his cup of tea, but I do appreciate his feedback very much.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Is it true that the only whistles that Mary Bergin used on her Feadoga Stain 2 CD were Generations?
If so, quite an endorsement.
Who else is blown away by her playing?
Anybody that hears her live.
David
I thinks so. I polished them a couple of years ago, so I honestly don´t remember that well. But I can tell you that the lower floor of the windway sticks out i bit further over the cavity, than an ordinary Generation whistle - not much, perhaps 0.2 to 0.3 mm. It is clearly visible with the naked eye. I´ve got two and they are boot the same.
The roof sticks out past the floor about that far on some of the ones I have seen lately.
just my 2 cents… I own 3 Generations…an F, G, and Eflat. The Eflat is the only one that I dislike for it’s “raspiness”. I love my F and my G…great sounding whistles…even if the pitch is too high for most people…lol
They are all good whistles. Some need a little adjustment. 
I believe Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains also plays Generations. I’m pretty sure I even saw him playing one when I saw them in concert. As to where he gets his, how old they are, who’s done what to his whistles, beats me. But a guy like him, I’m sure he’s got connections… I don’t know though, unless these whistles are somewhat old, I have a funny feeling that people like Moloney and Bergin do not play off the shelf Gen. D’s…
I just bought a Generation D in brass tweaked by Mr. Freeman, and I’m very happy with it. I haven’t played a lot of the high end whistles, but out of my Burke DAN, Feadogs, Meg, Oaks I’ve tried, Waltons, Susatos, Syns, Original Clarkes, I’m really starting to like this whistle a lot. But, I’ve yet to play a pre 1980’s Generation, or to my knowledge, a whistle that Peter and the people around him look for.
I am however pleased enough with my G, F, and Bb brass Generations. Even though I rarely use the first two whistles.. Go figure… But the G and F are totally un-tweaked, and all I did to my Bb was put the sticky tack under the cavity which seemed to have a slight improvement.
While I know one man who maintains he wouldn’t know what to do should he loose his old whistle I don’t think you should hold on to the impression that the old Generations are held sacred as a rule. They had their faults like the new ones, there was something specific in their sound and there was a better balance between the octaves in tone and volume. But it’s always a give and take, the newer head design made improvements, inevitably loosing some of the old qualitieson the way. There are always trade offs. The older type is not by definition nicer than the new one. Very fine specimens exist in both designs, same for bad ones.
Even without having played the older Generations, I’d have to say that is a fair statement anyways. Nothing’s perfect.
Except ITM of course.
Although I did recently also purchase a “stock” Generation D in brass, and in all fairness, it isn’t horribly bad. All the notes still work, response is there, and playability is a dream. It’s just a little raspy though, more noticeable in the upper register, and the bell note is a little rough. And I’ve experimented with breath pressures, it seems the common consensus is these whistles are very, or at least, somewhat significantly sensitive to breath pressures as you go up/down the scale. Even my Jerry Freeman Generation is like this. Which leads me to believe all of currently made Generations have this personality. Not a bad thing though. I’m just rambling…
-Eric
There may be something simple that needs to be done. Look in the windway first for any bits of plastic. Remove by blowing hard with you finger over the window., or push them out with something soft. Remove the head buy putting it in hot water holding with a towel twist it off.
Sometimes there will be a curl of plastic that happened when the sharp edge of the tone tube was put in the fipple. Look in the tone tube for the clear coating that is on the outside of the whistle. Sometimes when they put it on it goes on the inside and starts to peel off. That will cause weird sounds to come out.