OK, I am going to get a tin whistle. I am interested in the more slower, more melancholy side of the instrument, rather than fast dance tunes.
I need a recommendation for an instrument. Everyone says a “D” whistle is the place to start, so that is OK. From the “inexpensive” C&F web page, which is known for good intonation and a mellow tone?
Perhaps more importantly, if one were to get a book/CD instructional combo, which will get me going in the right direction? I have played the guitar for 40 years, have a good ear for music, and can sight read the treble clef on piano or guitar, albeit slowly.
Amazon.com has the book “The Clarke Tin Whistle: Deluxe Edition (Bk. & CD)” for about $12, and a Clarke D whistle for about $10. A good way to start?
You won’t be lost for long with that combo. A great place to start. You might also want to pick up one or two other different D whistles just for comparison. The Sweetone is good, and a real traditional one like the Feadog or Generation just for variety. Even with all three whistles, you won’t be spending a huge amount of money and will have a tremendous amount of fun and satisfaction.
Oh, BTW-- welcome to the board!
Yep, I’d pick up a conical and a cylindrical whistle, just so you can see the difference and get an idea of what you like. Sweetone or MEG are really easy to start out on, or they were for me.
If you’re more interested in the slower tunes you may want to check out the 110 Ireland’s Best Slow Airs. The book along with the 2 cds with all the tunes is $30. from Harp and Dragon, which is a few bucks cheaper than I’ve seen other places. -On the other hand, if you’re going to order a few inexpensive whistles like a tweaked Sweetone and maybe a Generation, the Whistle Shop would probably be your best bet. Maybe they would match that $30 price for the book! They have it for $36 I think.–mike
Personally, I’d skip the Meg AND the Sweetone as I find both grating and unpleasant in tone. Particularly if you’re wanting to start out with the slower airs and such. Mack Hoover’s Whitecaps are a great first (and in many folk’s opinion last) whistle. Look around for a good Oak or Generation. Walton’s can sometimes prove very nice - and if you can find one of the old Perri whistles, they were dynamite by just about all accounts. Best advice though is try before you buy. If you buy blind - without hearing the instrument you want to make music with - it can certainly become discouraging very quickly.
I’d skip the Meg and the Sweetone, too. I have them and they’re kind of unpleasant. Not mellow by any means. (To give you an idea of how highly I think of the Meg . . . I keep it in the car for traffic backups. In the seven months it’s been there, I have encountered a lot of backups, and every one of them has been more entertaining than playing that Meg. The only use I’ve gotten out of it was to effect silence in a group of coworkers I was transporting to Sarasota – by threatening to play the thing.)
Trying before you buy is a good idea, but if you can’t do that maybe The Whistle Shop can send you one that they’ve tried. Or, get one which has been tweaked. That assumes that the tweaker actually played it and was happy with it. (I have a Freeman-tweaked Clarke which is really quite nice.)
Whistle Shop has nice explanations and descriptions, and an intro to playing page. They’re very helpful and lovely to deal with.
And, do get more than one whistle! Don’t even bother thinking you’ll try one and if you like it you’ll get another. That would be silly. You’ll spend a lot less on shipping if you just get your first five or six of them right away!
I am interested in the more slower, more melancholy side of the instrument, rather than fast dance tunes.
That’s pretty much my interest, and like the others, I recommend a tweaked Clarke or Shaw from [u]The Whistle Shop[/u]. I also think you’ll want to try a low whistle sooner or later. They are something special on a ballad. You can listen to different ones at [u]Tin Whistle Tunes[/u]. You can get an entry level low D pvc whistle at [u]Jubilee Instruments[/u]. It’s a hell of a bargain at $24.
You guys are worrying me. I love my MEG (not crazy about my Sweetone) and everyone else says they’re horrible. From what I gather, Clarke’s don’t really vary in quality like Gens or Waltons. So why do I like this whistle so much?
Are you telling me that I don’t know what a whistle is supposed to sound like? I’ve recorded myself, and the MEG sounds fine (especially compared to my Walton). I just bought a Gen C that I really like, but it still sounds really harsh in the uppers relative to my MEG. I think I’m going to cry
My wife (who is from ND) wants to know why you are “lost.”<
She’s one of the lucky ones. She escaped. I must be lost, I can’t seem to figure out how to get out of here. Am I lost, or just stranded? Sadly, the morose determinism of the Lutheran faith seems to fit the experience of living in North Dakota like a hand in a glove. If she doesn’t remember these feelings, she has been away too long, or she didn’t live here long enough.
But enough about me. You-all are a swell group of folks! I think I’m going to pick up a whistle or two for myself, and also a whistle for my college-age daughter, too. The suggestion about the 110 Airs book/CD was great.
Regarding the Meg, whatever whistle I get, I’ll get one of these too. I’ve got something like $2000 invested in other instruments and electronics, so it will take a while to spend that much on whistles.
An example of what I am thinking of doing…say to play a melancholy folk tune on the acoustic/electric guitar, perhaps a verse of melody and a verse with an alternate rendition, while recording with a looping station, then, for the next two verses, I could accompany myself with a melancholy whistle…playing a duet with myself. In any case, I have the next six months of winter to work on it.
You probably just havent finished whatever you’re supposed to do there yet. When you’re done with whatever it is you’ll be able to move on. Maybe you’ll end up in Hawaii or something. Who knows?
Tell me about it. Ice fishing is a form of Minnesotan penance for Lutherans. And right now in Minneapolis, every evening until when? Christmas, maybe?–is the Holidazzle parade. Cold, dark (except for the street lamps and battery-powered illuminated costumes), and painfully G-rated, it’s the Lutheran’s perfect answer to Mardi Gras. I don’t get it; but then, I was raised Presbyterian, which is almost worse in some ways.
Hi,
I’m someone who likes the slow airs myself, and have found the tweaked Clarke from the whistle shop a great whistle for airs. A Waltons Mello D is none too shabby either.
Just to be different: I recently picked up a Clarke Sweet Tone and is seems to sound quite beautiful with the slower tunes. Do we have different ears for what sounds pleasant or is there a difference in the quality of some of the Sweet Tone and Meg whistles? Maybe both.
Sweetones are fine, but not everyone’s taste. I quite like them.
Clarke originals are good but take quite a bit of blow.
Waltons and Generations are ok if you can find good ones. Both have very inconsistent quality control, and I have more bad examples of both than I have good.
Feadogs are consistent in quality, but many people don’t like them. Personally they are my favourite cheapies once you learn their air requirements (don’t blow them too hard or they sound harsh). Some blu-tac in the gap under the windway also sweetens them a bit. The nickel ones with the black fipples look 100% classy.
For a few £/$ more you could get a Dixon ABS D. Easy to play and sound great.
Seriously, it’s probably not the fault of the Meg. When I found it, it was duct-taped to the cover of a learn-to-play book at Borders–kind of like the one in the C&F article about musical abuse of children. I think it’s “all there,” i.e., nothing was cut off to get it to fit the book’s cover, but I’m not sure. I’ve never seen another Meg. It doesn’t seem to be entirely symmetrical, though, making me think it might have been squeezed.
Doggonit! Now I feel just terrible! I should go outside right now, get that whistle, and bring it inside for some attention and a nice polishing . . . make sure it’s not suffering from lint . . . have a chat with it over a nice cup of tea . . . let it socialize with some other whistles . . . apologize for demeaning it . . . it’s not like it wanted to be that way . . . <sniff!>
Maybe not. All the conical Clarkes (originals, sweetones, megs) often tend to be off-round in cross section and look as if they’ve been very slightly squeezed from the sides. They still work fine.
Maybe you’ll end up in Hawaii or something. Who knows?