Hats Off to Mike Burke: My New Viper; a quick look.

Whistle
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I ordered my new Viper last Saturday. I received it the following Monday. It’s hard to beat that kind of service. Now that I have had it a few days, I thought I would offer some observations on the Burke Viper.

I will add that I got my first low D from Mike Burke in 2000; as I recall it was called the Al Pro low D. It was a great low whistle and had the very handy rotatable low joint for easing the stretch for the right little finger. Since then, I have experimented with some fine low Ds to include Overton, Copeland, and MK. Now I have made full circle and I’m back to Mike’s latest rendition of the Viper Low D. The Viper is in a class by itself. This is not a comparison to other low Ds that I have owned, as they all have their virtues.

The new Viper is another piece of art from Burke. Beautiful fit and finish with an integrated look that is real eye candy. On the one hand, a very futuristic look while at the same time, an almost ancient aura. Let me quote Mike from a recent email; " The earlier tuning slides were a simple square shaped cylinder, and the new ones have a more streamlined profile. The very newest Vipers also have a Delrin lined interior to make it smoother in operation and less likely to stick. Also it has a top slide as opposed to the old ones that had a bottom slide and a breakdown joint below the slide unit to make it easy to transport".

This whistle is a real gem to play. Mike states that the tone holes have a completely new lay out and I can say that playability is absolutely first rate. The action is fast. The tone holes are chamfered making slides and half holing effortless. The tactile feel gives great feedback as to finger placement and fingering feels very natural. The bottom joint is so well done it is hard to see the joint seam and of course this helps the little finger make the stretch. BTW, Mike told me that the bottom joint should not be disassembled for cleaning, it should stay put.

Before I ordered the Viper, I asked Mike if it could honk. I had mentioned that another forum member had written about how great it honks. Oh, yeah, this dog will hunt, er honk. The first thing I did when I put it together was slam a low D and it took awhile to get the smile off my face.

Again, from Mike’s email; why it honks: “The head was completely redesigned to have more backpressure, though I would characterize it as moderate back pressure, you are able to get a tactile feel for the instrument and that makes it a pleasure to play. The lower octave is more powerful and it still retains the clear upper octave. Trying to maximize back pressure is something that I have tried, but it will cause you to give up some power and clarity and therefore I have chosen a middle road on this, producing a whistle that does not leave you gasping but that has a lot of dynamic power in it. Remember that the power must come from somewhere and that means it must come from the player”. I believe that the dynamic power that Mike speaks of promotes dynamic volume, as I can play relatively softly or let it sing and be heard in a crowd. That’s no mean feat and be in tune. BTW, the tuning and intonation are spot on.

This is a very well balanced and efficient low whistle. The combination of the new tone hole placement and the well thought out back pressure gives the player great control of dynamics and tonality. The player has a wonderful palette of sound at hand; this is a very expressive low D. Playability is excellent. I find breath requirement moderate and finger fatigue very low. I have had no problem playing about an hour or so, without a break; partially due to the good ergos and light weight. I will be glad to answer any questions you might have.

The above are my observations after about a week of playing the Viper. As you can probably surmise, I am very happy with this great instrument. I will close with a last quote from Mr. Burke, that shows his typical understatement: “The instrument has evolved over time and I am still tweaking a little, but it is pretty close to what I want in a low D”.

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Clap, clap! Excellent review!

That sounds very nice, I love to “honk”, lol.
Maybe you could improve this review even more adding a few pics and recordings for us? :smiley:

Congrats on your addition, it’s always exciting to have a new instrument!

Regards,
Martin

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Pardon my noobness but what is ‘honking’ ?

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So, is there a composite Viper?!!

I need a composite Viper Mike! :boggle:

Doc

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When the lowest D sounds like a “fog horn”. :stuck_out_tongue:

(That’s my nickname for my Viper. (01/2008))

I think it is a common occurence for Viper players when they play the lowest D, to look like this >> :smiley:

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cranberrydog: Now you’ve got your honk alright :smiley:

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Any chance of a sound clip, Cyril?

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I have to agree with C-Dog. I ordered my Viper Low D pro a week ago yesterday and received it the next tuesday. If you want to know what I think about it, just reread C-Dog’s great review. He did such an outstanding job describing this whistle I don’t want to be accused of plagerism…

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cranberrydog,

How about a picture of the whistle when you get a chance?

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Well I have to come on here to join in the “unending hymn of praise” of the Burke low D.

Many here have heard my story: 30 years of playing Irish flute, ever-worsening hand cramping forcing me to give up my beloved instrument, and the ensuing search for a vertical replacement.

My ideal was the impossible: a low whistle that would do everything a flute does, as well as the flute does it.

Impossible because the whistle has a fixed tone production mechanism while the flutist’s embouchure is flexible, enabling the flutist to play a note on pitch at any volume level, to play low notes powerfully and high notes whisper-softly if one chooses. The flutist can use a variety of timbres: reedy, edgy, round, velvety, soft, ghostly.

Over the years I had looked down my nose a bit at whistles. I owned and played them all along, but they represented an inferior sort of thing.
Over the years I had played many low D’s and not liked any of them. They seemed to be more like toys than serious instruments.

But suddenly I found that the low D whistle was going to have to be “my voice” as it were.
I took the mission very seriously: to find the best low D I could. With the thousands of dollars I made selling off my flutes I bought low D’s from a number of makers and put them through extensive testing.

I play the Burke every day; the rest are gone.

The first thing that impressed me was its beauty, lightness, and wonderful “feel”. The holes had rounded edges which invited the fingers.
Then how it played! The extremely powerful bottom D (crucial for my flutey style). The amazing tonal evenness of the scale. The perfect tuning. The overall volume. The ability to play “in between the octaves”.

All in all, for the first time, a low D felt like an INSTRUMENT.

Now some of the other low D’s had SOME attributes I liked. The Copeland felt best in the hands (due to the narrow tube). The Susato (yes the Susato) had the woodiest tone, the most interesting upper register, the best ability to play between the octaves. The Kerry had the strongest low E. But none offered the entire package nearly as well.

Not that the Burke is perfect: as I said, the perfect whistle cannot be made. You pay for that big fat sound with a big fat tube that I find uncomfortable to hold for long periods (I now use a neck strap). That big sound takes a lot of wind, and I have to take breaths more often (not necessarily a bad thing for flute-style playing). The tonal evenness results in part from fingerhole placement which is governed more by acoustics than by anatomy.

But I’ve not played its equal. Of course there are more whistles out there to try: I haven’t tried a Reviol for example.
About photos, here’s my collection (actually I have a low F also now):

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Hmmm…I’ve had a viper low D for about a year now, and it does match cranberrydogs description in everything except backpressure, mine seems to have almost none to speak of. I wonder how much different a new one is?

Hey Mike, If you are reading this, my whistle is dated 5/2007, would a new one be much different from the one I have?

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I have a Viper dated 10/2004, and it seems to match pretty well with the above description - it’s wonderful and i sometimes don’t understand why it’s not praised more openly say in the same sentences as Copeland, Overton, etc. Maybe because you don’t have to turn yourself into a red bloated beet to get it to sound rewarding with every breath. Great balance - mine “honks” a bit in both octaves. I also have Copeland and O’Riordan Traveler and that Viper is right there with the Copeland (playability different but what you get back is comparable).

Philo

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Hello there. Does yours have a delrin lining inside the slide? That feature may be an indicator. Mine is dated 2/2008. It has almost as much back pressure as a medium Overton. It does look the same as panceltpiper’s. Cyril.

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Hi John,

My old Mac isn’t up to it; however, my wife has a newer one and I’ll give it a try later. I will need to “learn” whatever software she has and use a built in mic.. Best, Cyril

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Business end of Burke Viper !

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Can anyone tell me how the finger spacing compares to a Howard? I’m thinking of upgrading, but I can barely handle the Howard; if the Burke is worse I may have to settle for the EZ model.

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About the Burke EZ, my understanding is that the only difference is in the sixth hole (from which E sounds).
I’ve played at least a dozen makes of low D within the last year, and the spacing doesn’t really vary all that much, nor can it.
But it’s the slightly wider spacing on the Burke’s UPPER hand that took some getting used to.
The low E is nearly always the weakest note on a low D, and it’s the hole which requires the furthest reach.
For the low E to be as powerful as bottom D and F#, it would have to be a hole the same size as the F# hole placed exactly halfway between that hole and the open end, where darn few people could reach it.
So it’s always going to be a compromise.
The Burke’s sixth hole/E hole is not any harder to reach than those of most low D’s, and the low E is strong enough.

About other low D’s, I’ve recently been spending quite a bit of time playing an old Chieftain Gold (purchased from our Medit8b1). It’s a special whistle, a very interesting sound. A bit “foggy” for me. The scale is wonderfully smooth with a velvety 2nd register. Not as much power as the Burke. I’m tempted to keep it. It’s the first low D besides the Burke that I’ve been tempted to keep.

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Maybe slightly off topic. But I love the sample of the Aluminum Pro Viper on the Burke site, could you tell me what tunes are being played?

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Hello,

This is on Burke’s site: “Low D Aluminum Viper played by Brian McCoy of the Kells- Guitar by Kim Rattan of the Kells- Live performance
CD is available on our website”. http://www.burkewhistles.com/product.php?productid=16173&cat=0&page=1

Best, Cyril

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Hi,
I get this question often, so I thought I would just post the answer and some other information on the track that might be instructive
The player on my website sample is Brian McCoy of the Kells and that recording was done at an outdoor concert. Some have wondered if the track was post processed, but when I asked Brian about it, he said that it was not and that it only had a little reverb in it, but I have heard it played at my stand at the Dublin Irish Fest and it sounds essentially just the same to me when Brian plays it. Brian’s performance is amazing and really shows off the capabilities of the instrument.
The two tunes are an air- Amhran na Leabhair and the reel is the Fermoy Lasses.
Brian later recorded an almost identical version of this same set of tunes on the Kells new CD “Don’t Burn The Water” which contains another fine low D track as well as tracks on 7 other whistle tracks on other low whistle keys as well as the key of B. I recommend both the Kells Cds and keep them in stock for my customers.
All the best
Mike