In late April of 2012, I began talks with Hans Bracker regarding the purchase of a C, D, and Eb whistle body and tubes. On May 18, I received the whistles. They arrived intact and well padded for the trip across the big pond from Scotland to Tennessee. Upon inspection I noted that the aluminum body whistles had a nice finish, not bright and shiny, but a very attractive matte finish was evenly applied to the whistle head and to each body.
The upper portion of the mouthpiece had been silver-plated. While that feature may not jump out and grab an observer, it is a subtle nicety that will be well appreciated over lifetime over ownership. The fipple plug is made of Derlin. Hans has engraved his initials HB along with the number 209 onto the underside of the whistle head, just below the mouthpiece.
Where the body meets the head there is barrel, which allows for tuning. The body of the whistle mates to the head via Techcork. The fit is very well done, as there are no readily discernable gaps between the body and the whistle head. The body’s tubing is modestly thick. It is not nearly as thick as a Dixon, but slightly thicker than a Burke or a Generation. The finger holes are well and properly spaced and the holes themselves are of good size for bending notes, but not so big as to make covering them difficult. The holes are also recessed, also a nice touch. The Bell note is hand engraved on the underside of the tube, just above the thumbhole.
As it comes to tuning, the all three tubes were dead on. Once I set the Bell note for the whistle, its tuning remained accurate. The cross-fingered C was the only note not in perfect tune, and even it was acceptable, just not as perfect as the C made by the thumbhole.
The whistle requires a medium amount of air and there is a medium amount of backpressure. The playing of the instrument was fluid and easy throughout the entire register. I’d call the tone semi-complex. It was not to the level of a Generation, but not as sweet as a Burke. Overall it is a nice sound with hints of tradition and sweetness in good balance together. As to volume, the Bracker is solid enough. It is slightly louder than a Mellow Dog or Generation, and louder than a Burke. As you approach the top of the instrument’s range, C and D, the notes tended to blare.
All and all, I am very pleased with the Bracker whistle trio. The set is well made, has good tone and timbre, is well tuned, and it is fluid in its playing. The added bonus of being able to add a body to a head helps keeps the cost down, which is always a plus. Thank you to Hans for crafting a quality product. Here’s to the many more hours of making music on a Hans Bracker made Whistle. Now on to flutes…