Only took five months; I expected six. From Noah Herbison in British Columbia.
It’s a telescoping brass penny whistle in D, which one may see here. A nice little whistle. Not as quiet as I’d been led to believe it would be, about the same as the O’Brien Rover I recently acquired. Surprisingly strong bottom end, more so than the Rover, but a little tricky in the second octave, more what I’d expect from a low D whistle.
Here’s a recording of “The Gates of the Yellow Town” (remember, I just got this thing—cut me some slack on the breathing and phrasing!). I did cut a thumb hole, and actually got it right this time, having practised on an Oak that cost 1/10 as much. Other than that, this it how it sounds right out of the box (or rather padded envelope).
Mine does clog up. Dish soap helped some, but wears off pretty quickly. Beeswax might work better; I’m still testing it. I also used some beeswax to narrow the window a little bit; this seems to strengthen the sound, especially in the high register.
I’m not sure why Scott chose an air - “Geaftaí na Bhaile Buí” - that he had to apologize for in advance.
For an air like this, you really need to either reference the lyrics ([u]here[/u]) for the phrasing, or follow a song setting or air setting as a model. Otherwise, it’s easy to make a real muddle. But you live and learn …
