I play whistle professionally at gigs in restaurants and on-stage performances. The whistle that I’m using now is in disrepair and needs to be replaced. I’m looking for a new whistle that has great tone quality and a long life expectancy. There aren’t music shops around here with a wide selection of whistles for me to browse and try out before I buy so I need input from fellow whistle players as to what they enjoy playing and recommend.
My old whistles include a Shaw (tweaked)-which I really enjoyed and a sweetheart-that had good volume but not the best tone
I had a couple of specific whistles I wanted to know if anyone has tried and really liked:
Paul Busman
Tony Dixon
David O’Brien
A Bell (and how to get in touch with him)
I haven´t played better whistle. Goodie is that it´s got unique and great sound, life-long quarantee, as far as I know and it´s pretty loud; disadvantages are…not many, nor big - it´s one of the more expensive whistles, you won´t get it immediately (it has to be made first )…and probably, once you try it, you´ll get addicted
Hi there. I was thinking about buying a new car. Can someone give me a detailed analysis of all the new models and your recommendations for the best price, value, expected service cost and other factors?
OK, you get my point. Your question is way too big to be answered like this. There really is no “best” whistle just like there is no best car. It depends on how you like a whistle to sound and how you like it to play. (Plus what you can afford to pay.)
What you really want is a way to educate yourself on what’s out there. You probably will want to listen to some sound clips too, but those can be misleading because of recording variation.
I am sure a lot of folks here will pitch in and suggest resources. Don’t forget that you can search old posts here for whistle reviews since we are ALWAYS talking about whistle performance.
Thanks for the links, those sound samples are really awesome and the reviews off of tinwhistler.com have and are proving to be a big help.
If anyone has anything they want to add about this topic, I would appreciate it greatly. I love to get input from other players.
Out of all of those you mention, I like Busman and Abell the best. I’d choose Abell over the Busman, but that’s only because it has playing characteristics I favor, such as harder blowing, louder, etc. They’re both top notch.
(you can get abells here http://www.abellflute.com/whistle.html incidentally)
But it’s hard to make a recommendation without knowing what you like in a whistle.
Personally, I like the Dixon for playing around the house. I think they sound great, but the all-plastic varieties seem to be sharp in the 2nd octave (at least all them that I’ve played have been). That makes it hard for me to use on in anything but a solo situation. I don’t know about the more “pro” version.
just my thoughts. In addition to Chiff and Fipple, there are several websites that give reviews of whistles, too, and that might help you out.
Here are some of my preferences:
Medium air pressure requirements; average air volume requirements; I really liked my shaw and have played an Abell once and thought that it had a beautiful sound and took a little bit more air than I was used to, but if I had one, I’m sure it would take next to nothing for me to get used to; also, I play the fife in Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums Corps, so I’m used to high requirements of air and really enjoy whistles with high volume to match the fife, but that might not go well with indoor gigs.
A whistle player… A professional whistle player… who only owns ONE whistle???
Well, as has been said before, it would be helpful if you told us what kind of whistle your old one is and what your budget is.
You’ll doubtless get many recommendations here, but another player’s “worlds’s best whistle” may well be totally unsuitable for you. For instance, many players regard the Cheftain brand as wonderful whistles. I had a Cheftain C and found it almost impossible to hit the top notes in the second octave. The person who bought it from me thinks it’s wonderful. It also required much more air than I’m used to. I had the same experience with an Alba A.
Reading over my original post, I can see why you might think I only have one whistle but obviously, if I only had one, I would not pronounce myself as a ‘professional’ whistle player. The only reason I’m looking for a new whistle and asking for other player’s opinions is because I have become tired of using the same whistles over and over (and partially because one of my most enjoyable whistles has fallen into disrepair). I apologize for any miscommunication.
Thanks for expanding your original post. That helps a lot.
By the way, you may not want to discount the Sweetheart line of whistles. I understand the older versions did leave something to be desired, but the 2nd generation Sweetheart Pro I have is nice. It’s my favorite outdoor player because it does so well in wind.
Take a listen to Phil Hardy playing a Sweetheart D on his website and you will know what I mean. The latest news is that the line has split into two types of D whistles with different playing characteristics. I am not sure if anyone has had time to review them yet.
To find the review go to www.kerrywhistles.com and look in the movies section. Most reviews are under the Pro-files label.
Thanks, I’ll look into the new Sweethearts. One of my friends actually bought a sweetheart a few months ago, I don’t know which it is but it’ll just take a visit to find out.
My girlfriend and I were in Colonial Williamsburg about two months ago, and I think it’s possible that you and I met at Chowning’s Tavern one night. There was a gentleman there with a big, operatic singing voice who also played an old Oak whistle which he said he’d had forever which had a broken fipple. I introduced myself and said that I work at the Maryland Renaissance Festival and have been learning the tin whistle for some pub singing there. Was that you? If so…small world, eh?
By the way, have you tried the whistles that are sold at the shops in Williamsburg? Unplayable!
