Ladies and Gentlemen, I have heard wonderful things regarding this forum from friends (some of whom are members) and I hear your collective experience and advice is second to none.
I have a good buddy who plays down at a local saturday market on a low D (I dont know which maker) and I find it absolutely charming. Low whistles are a new territory for me. I am a big fan of Burke whistles, as many here are as well. I cant believe how many options there are. HELP. In the burke category alone there are;
-Low D aluminum EZ,
-Low D aluminum viper,
-Low d Brass EZ
-Low D Brass Pro Viper
-composites
What do you suggest my friends? Please feel free to impart your opinions, comments, thoughts. etc.
If you enjoy other makers besides Burke please comment.
It’s dificult to suggest anything because it depends on what you wan in a whistle. It’s mostly about the ‘colour of the sound’ as we say in the Netherlands. Looking at the Burkes, as for the highends, the composite eg. sounds woodlike, the brass sounds a bit more traditional, the alluminium more clear and pure. I guess the same goes for the low whistles as it is the same material of course. But then there are so many other marks. With Burke you always hear that you can’t go wrong. But there are also other highly recommended brands in low D’s as Overton, Howard and Alba. I’m in love with my Overton, because it has such a deep and haunting sound I never heard anywheere else, but you have to tame it. I also tried an Alba, very great whistle and easy player. Listen to Clips and Snips or, better, go to a whistlemaker in your neighbourhood or contact whistlemakers. they give you often the best advise.
I’ve been playing a Burke aluminum “Pro Viper” as my primary instrument now for around three years.
It’s just about as good as a Low D can get: very smooth voicing over its range, good tuning, and the most powerful “bottom D” of any Low D whistle I’ve ever played.
The Burke EZ’s only difference is that the lowest hole, from which the note E emits, has been moved up the barrel a bit, closer to the mouthpiece, further from the open end, and correspondingly reduced in size. (For a hole to play a note of the same pitch it must be increased in size if moved down the barrel, decreased in size if moved up the barrel.)
This results in a Low E that is slightly weaker, that will break to the E in the 2nd octave at a lower pressure, than the Low E on the Pro Viper. That’s why I prefer the Pro Viper over the EZ.
Now the brass vs aluminum vs composite thing I don’t know about because I’ve only owned aluminum Burkes. Several forum members here own Burkes in brass and aluminum and composite and they should be able to help you with that.
Welcome to the C&F forums, Cannon. Your question comes up regularly. If you do a search of the forum with “Burke low D brass aluminum composite” you will get a number of threads where we have discussed this.
Pancelticpiper has described the differences between the Burke Pro Viper and EZ designs accurately. I will just add that while the low E note will be weaker on the EZ than the Pro Viper, it’s still a very good whistle. Some players need that resized/repositioned hole to play successfully. Don’t fear the EZ if you need it. On the other hand, the stretch on the Pro Viper isn’t difficult for most players, especially since the lowest hole can be rotated for a comfortable fit.
I have three Burke Low D’s (and a couple dozen other Burkes). I have two aluminum and one composite. One aluminum is the current Pro Viper. The composite low D happens to have the EZ tonehole layout. I will purchase a brass Viper low D as soon as the amount in my “change jar” reaches critical mass. Arnie’s description of the three materials is good, in my experience. The three materials differ in weight mostly and timbre somewhat. The composite material is extremely light weight and the tone is more complex than the metal whistles. It is also the most mellow sounding. The aluminum is the medium weight whistle of the three and has a crisp but pleasant timbre. The brass Burkes are heavier and have a rounder and slightly more ringing tone than the aluminum whistles. From ten feet away the brass and aluminum whistles sound very similar while a composite whistle will standout from the metal ones. All the Burkes have the same playing characteristics. There aren’t any bad decisions when buying a Burke whistle.
Why is the brass called “Pro Viper,” and the aluminum called the “Viper.”
I heard something about the aluminum viper consisting of 2 pieces, while the brass is in one.
Could someone please elaborate on this?
There is no difference between the Burke brass or aluminum low D designs. I exchanged emails with Mike Burke on that subject shortly before the brass model became available. Mike is a fine person to deal with. I have had nothing but good experiences with Mike and his products. Anyway, I would venture a guess as to why the Burke website refers to the brass as “pro” but drops that nomenclature for the aluminum - it’s just too long to fit in the catalog tag. If you click through to the description of the whistle, sure enough, the “pro” designation is used to describe the aluminum model as well.
And both whistles, as far as I know, are constructed in the same manner. This assumes we are talking about two whistles of the current vintage. The design of the Burke low D has changed over time though. And Mike has changed where joints are located along the way. Mike is one of those makers that practices “continuous improvement”. If he sees something he can do better, he changes it. With Burke whistles it’s best to buy new and directly from the maker. That way you get his current thinking and the best whistle possible.
I have a Burke Low D stamped “Pro Viper” 10/2004; I have 1 soprano D in aluminum and a soprano D, C, and Bflat in brass. I have a slight preference for the brass in the higher keys and have not played a brass low D so can’t compare there. That said, I was much delighted and surprised by the Viper when I first got it - easy player, balanced through the octaves, and as was said strong bottom note. I don’t think this whistle gets quite enough credit though for its wonderful warm and strong tone that allows for nice bending of notes, especially in the upper octave. It’s smooth but not “boring.”