Got a new Serpent

Whistle
1

I decided, after reading all of the posts from last year forward about Serpents to get a Serpent brass D.

The reasons were several.

  1. I heard good things about them.
  2. Bill is a frequent poster and helps a lot with whistle questions.
  3. He answered my emails right away and had one in stock.

I ordered it on Tuesday and it came on Saturday. Really fast.
I didn’t get to pick it up though until Monday.

Of course I removed it from the shipping package in the car at the PO.

First of all I really liked the stylish pouch.

The whistle itself is beautiful. Polished gold looking brass. It was so immaculate I hated to sully it with my fingers.

The serpent engraving on the bottom is really nice.

I was initially suprised at how quiet the whistle was. I also noticed more chiff then I expected. Of course up till now I have only played my Sweetone or Susato so that makes sense.

I decided to give it a good going over when I got home.
Now after two days of serious playing here’s my brief outline of what I think.

The tuning is excellent. Keeps it’s pitch right through to the third D which is as high as I’ve gone.

The C cross fingers right on OXX|OOO.
Half holing works easily too.

Breath requirements are probably higher then the Sweetone but it doesn’t seem like it. I think that’s because with a little control I can increase the volume and it feels like it takes less breath.

Slow tunes sound really nice and slides sound gorgeous. I played along with one of my Joanie Madden CD’s and it actually sounded good even compared to her playing. That’s GOT to be the whistle because I’m not even close.
Faster tunes are going to take a little work because it doesn’t respond the same as a Sweettone. I attribute that to my lack of skill and not the whistle.

The volume is very low but can be made louder with a little control. This has turned out to foster marital bliss.


Bill is very helpful and oriented to happy customers. He has offered to swap mouthpieces with me at no cost if I want one hand selected for more volume. I am very impressed.
He also drove through a snowstorm 14 miles to get it mailed to me promptly.

Hopefully that little review helps.

2

I’ll second just about everything you said! I have one of these, and I really like it a lot. This is one whistle that needs to be warmed up to give it’s best, but it’s a nice sweet whistle. I live in a house with people who sleep late, whereas I’m a VERY early riser, and the brass Serpent is quiet enough for me to play without waking anyone up. Really solid feeling whistle. Bill has done a LOT of R&D on his whistles ( he send me some earlier heads which were way too windy) and is making some great stuff.

3

:heart: <–telegramsam with her serpie-pie whistle.