review housed at http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/reviews.asp
Hoover Whitecap
(Review written April 2005)
Preface
I first got my hands on a Hoover in August of 2001. A lovely lass at the Mucky Duck session in Houston let me have hers (#401), because she couldn’t play it–thanks Jeanette! At the session, I couldn’t get a note out of it either.
After taking it home and spending some time with it, I finally was able to play it. It took a lot less breath control than I was used to, and the volume was extremely quiet. I later discovered cracks in the windway exit area and around the ‘A’ hole. I’m sure these leaks probably had somethin to do with the issues. In any case, this whistle became my “quiet bedroom” whistle, which means that I actually used it to learn most of the tunes I know, since I usually retreat back to the bedroom for some privacy when I’m first learning a tune. Eventually it broke at the ‘A’-hole crack (and boy do I feel uncomfortable typing that!) and I put it back together with superglue…twice. Once I superglued it, it carried a tune a lot better. I don’t know if the whistle was cracked by the previous owner, or in shipping transit, or how it got that way, so please don’t get the impression that I think Mack sent out a broke whistle, becuase I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t!
I recently mentioned to Mack that I’d love to review the whistle, but that I didn’t really think I should review one that was abused. He offered to take a look at it and see what he could do in the way of repair or replacement. And in the meantime, he sent me a Hoover Whitecap to review! How nice! It just amazes me that in these days of impersonal cutthroat business practices, most of the whistle makers I’ve dealt with have been ready to bend over backward to make their customers happy. And I hadn’t even bought this whistle from him. Mack is surely a gentlman.
At a Glance
Whistle Reviewed: Hoover Whitecap
Models Available: CPVC mouthpieces that fit a variety of keys. These can be sent with or without bodies. I got the one that fits on an Oak. Mack Also makes other types of whistles from a variety of materials.
Construction: White CPVC.
Price at time of review: $20.00 US dollars for the cheapest Whitecap. $65 for a low D Whitecap with an included aluminum body.
Available From: Mack Hoover.
How Acquired: Product Sample from Mack Hoover
Bottom Line: Medium loud, slightly complex. Takes a little push in the 2nd octave. Sweet and satisfying. Not very moisture friendly.
Appearance/Construction
A Whitecap is a basically a whistle head that Mack sells to be placed onto other whistle bodies. This one was put on an oak, but also fit my Generation bodies just fine. They come in a variety of sizes, and are very tastefully done in white CPVC. I especially like the look of the white head on nickel bodies. It’s very ivory-on-silver.
Here’s a closeup of the mouthpiece. It came on an Oak body, so I won’t bother with the usual picture of the “full whistle” or close-ups of the holes and the like. The whitecap is numbered 2313, and signed by Mack. It looks a lot like the mouthpiece on my #410 whistle. But a closer inspection reveals lots of improvements and interesting features.
Here are some of those interesting features. Looking down into the whistle head, take note of the the squared off internal area. This is made by a couple of “tabs” (or “wings”) extending off the fipple block. I’m not sure who invented this innovation. Phil Hardy (maker of Chieftain and Kerry instruments) says he’s been doing it in his whistles since 1997. I know that Chieftains, Hoovers, Albas, and Gary Humphrey’s whistles may have this feature (depending on the model. All of these makers make several different basic types of instrument, and I can’t speak to this feature being in all of them). I believe these are here to stabilize the tone.
Also, the whistle has a brass lining to act as a tuning slide. I had expected this to just be PVC at this point, and was pleasantly surprised by the additional work I saw here. It’s nice to see that Mack hasn’t taken any shortcuts with this whistle.
Here’s a shot of Mack’s signature and the instrument number.
Playing Characteristics
After playing #401, and seeing that Mack calls his signature sound “quiet”, I was surprised to find that the Whitecap wasn’t nearly as quiet as the old whistle I had. It actually had a volume closer to a Sweetone or Feadog. The old whistle was very pure toned, but this whistle is not nearly as pure as my old Hoover..it’s got a nice complexity to it’s character. It has a touch of back pressure. It was a bit squeaky when I got it, but I later found and removed a salt-grain-sized piece of matter in the windway and that cleared up a lot of issues.
A sound clip of the whistle:
Wild Mountain Thyme (Go Lassie Go), slow tune.
Morrison’s Jig, a bit faster.
Volume: Average..about the same loudness as a Generation or a Sweetone. I assume that this is individual variation, as Mack says his signature sound is “quiet” but that he can make them louder upon request.
Responsiveness: This whistle is pretty responsive. I didn’t have any trouble with ornaments. I have found on some brands of whistles (my old Silkstone was one of them), cutting high D with the A note (3rd hole from the mouthpiece) can sound a bit choppy unless you vent D like this OXXXXX. This whistle has a bit of that same characteristic, and seems to be common among whistles where the breath pressure gap between the first and second octave is wide (ie: where it takes definite push to jump to the 2nd octave). You can also solve this by cutting with the finger above the note played, rather than always cutting on the A note, but I’m a creature of habit.
C-Natural: I’m not sure how much we can really talk about tuning on these whistles, since the tuning is more a matter of the hole size and placement. Since you the head is meant to be stuck on your own body, you will get variable results based upon the body you stick it on. On the Oak body Mack supplied with the sample, OXXOOO produces a C-natural that is pretty well in tune.
Tuning: Again, I’m not sure how wortwhile it is to discuss tuning. But on the Oak body, the whistle is in tune up the scale, but you have to push E a little bit to get it there.
Hole Size and placement: Entirely dependent on the body you put with it!
Air volume and pressure requirements: This whistle is low on air volume requirements. It’s medium on back pressure, though, which was a shock to me. It was so unlike his #401 that I had. You can lean into this whistle–even more so in the second octave–in a very satisfying way. This does mean that the second octave requires a bit more push to keep it stable, more than a Sweetone or other cheapie, but perhaps not as much as a Susato. I’d bet that Mack can adjust this to a greater or lesser degree, if you had a preference on the matter. I myself like a little back pressure.
Clogging: Light, but catastrophic. I wasn’t sure how to classify this..the whistle doesn’t condense much. But if it condenses a little bubble of moisture just right, it totally cuts out the whistle. I had played about 5 tunes in a row when suddenly the backpressure really swelled on me, and then the whistle cut out. I blew out this infintesimal amount of moisture, and it solved the problem. Then I was able to play for quite some time before it clogged on me again. This random clogging is similar to how the other one I own behaves, so I assume it’s not unique to this whistle. I would definitely need to Duponol this to play it professionally. Sudden death in the middle of a tune is no good.
Misc Notes: Does not respond well to wind. Because it has a little back pressure, this one is better than my old one, but it’s still not very wind-friendly.
Summary
This is a very nice whistle, and a lot more traditional sounding than my old one, which I like. It’s not as quiet as my first one, so I probably won’t use it while everyone’s sleeping. But I’m sure I’ll take it off in the bedroom to practice tunes on it like I did the old one, because it won’t be so offensive when I make mistakes. It’ll become my “people are watching TV in the next room and don’t wanna be disturbed”, rather than my “people are sleeping and shouldn’t be woken up” whistle. The session I play at is pretty loud, so it probably won’t get much use there. I do find that whenever I’m leaving the house, I’m picking it up more as a “travel whistle” than any of my others.
