I went round to see Ryan in the summer and I had the chance to try his new whistles. They are very cheap for a low whistle and sound good. The intonation is spot on and I would say the sound is somewhere between a chieftan and an overton. The removable head makes them very easy to clean and you can vary the tone by shifting the position of the head.
Anyone else had a try of one? I was tempted to buy one but he didn’t have any ready at the time and I’ve got too many low whistles already.
I met someone who had a high-D whistle with an adjustible windway like
Ryan’s (I don’t remember if the whistle was a MacNeil or not…)
I’m still undecided, as was the whistle’s owner, whether the adjustible
windway was a good feature or not. While it’s nice to be able to play around
with different sizes, I would think this would be a feature only useful to
makers… it seems like a player would find one position that he liked, and
just stick with that. And what if the fipple were bumped out of position?
It would be annoying trying to find the sweet spot again during a session.
I just don’t know… so many possibilities. What did you think, Borderpiper?
Polycarbinate seems like a good idea for the head, though.
But, personally, I would die it something other than clear. No one likes
seeing saliva running through a mouthpiece.
My second best whistle (after an Abell) is a homemade plastic one.. I didn’t make it myself, by the way. The maker left the mouthpiece adjustable and I chose not to glue it. The adjustment changes the volume and tone from sweet and quiet to louder and airier. The quieter adjustment also seems to be more wind resistant for outdoor playing. The mouthpiece adjustment doen’t slide around any more than the tuning slide, so it’s not an inconvenience.
This guy’s website was on C&F a bit ago. Like then, the thing I love best is his (false) claim that his whistles are unique. Anyone who has been following McHaffie’s stellar (as in meteoric) career would know that this idea had been thought of and sold long before this guy started making 'em.
Whitmores never did tell me who made the whistle he refers to here (I don’t think it’s MacNeil, and he even let me believe he made it for a very brief time) but it’s a pretty good whistle. If they were “in the business” of making whistles, I’d likely buy one from them.
I think the price was around 120 canadian dollars but email ryan and I’m sure he’ll give you a quote. The head is quite difficuilt to knock as it is a very snug fit and finding the sweet spot is fairly easy. I think it’s great as the blade runs all the way round the top of the whistle body so if you were to damage it you can turn the head round. Also it’s just so easy to clean. I don’t think ryan does the heads in anything but clear plastic but it is slightly opaque and besides who is that close to see you’re saliva running down it and how wet do you blow
Borderpiper… mentioning the name ‘MacNeil Woodwinds’ in your topic or message post will make it easier to find this discussion when searching the archives.
I emailed Ryan and found out the price is $150 CDN. That’s still quite reasonable if it is a good whistle. I have had one low whistle which was unsatisfactory and not in tune. I’m quite interested in Ryan’s.
