Husband’s big 5-0 birthday coming up and it’s another Burke whistle I’m after getting for him. He’s already got the Composite D session Burke and he’s hinted that he wanted a new C whistle with a bright quality for performances. He often plays in pub sessions, local concerts and worship services (gotta be heard above all those 'lectric gee-tars).
So with that said, I’d appreciate your thoughts on some of the Burke C or G whistles.
I’m looking at:
C Aluminum
C Aluminum Narrow Bore
Low G Aluminum
I had a Burke Composite D Session Bore. Very nice warm voice - but not a great deal of power. Brightness alone isn’t a quality many would look for in a C whistle, maybe you mean presence (like sweet + powerful). If it’s got to be a Burke, the C narrow bore will have the brighter sound - but then it will have less volume.
If it doesn’t have to be a Burke, then I would suggest giving Ronaldo Reyburn a call and order a High D/C Set. He’ll tune the voice as well as possible to the character you want - and Reyburns are plenty loud for playing along with other instruments.
I’ve had both Aluminum and Brass Burkes. There’s not a great deal of difference. I would say the Aluminum has a purer tone, which doesn’t equal brightness by my definition. The brass is a little bit richer, and has better presence (strong midtones).
Seems the Tullys are no longer in production, according to the website.
Fascinated by the Reyburn whistles…looking at the D/C set. I’ve got an e-mail out to him now.
Yes, I suppose “presence” is the more descriptive word rather than “bright”.
He’s been playing semi-professionally for 25 years and we’ve noticed that in some settings, where he has no control over sound system, he is drowned out, usually by the guitars.
He also plays tenor sax and a variety of flutes, and plays a variety of ethnic music so I’m looking for something adaptable to different music styles.
Oh I agree with you. Therein lies the difference between “brightness” and “presence” in my view.
I played my Reyburn Low G with two acoustic guitars (one lightly amped) the other day. It held it’s own pretty well. When they switched to a jam in D the high D Reyburn had no problem hanging in there - great voice and a lot of presence.
I have a Burke Session C and a Burke NB C and will sell you both for $200. They are both like new, hardly played, purchased only a few months ago and come with the Burke cases.
I’m selling because I’m the guy who bought that beautiful Rose that was offered last week on this board and I decided I was going to sell the Burkes anyway to partially fund the Rose.
I think $200 is a good price as they are $150 new so for an extra $50 you get him two, one for sessions and one for home play.
