this morning it appeared to me that for a lot of people who don’t get the chance to test-play whistles before ordering there must come something where they can at least get an idea what the qualities of whistles are so they can look it up before deciding what direction to look.
if you members would care to help me out, by sending me PM with your favorite whistle maker/ brand and all of its things you would want to know about a whistle: air requirements high/ low, breathpressure y/n and how much, material made out of, ease of playing, key, suitable for big/ small hands, price range, pure or not, and if you can think up MORE of this sort of things, then let me know and it will be added to the list.
send me as many as you can.
for now there has not been such a kind of thing and I am pretty sure I am not the only one looking for it.
so take out your whistles and have fun…
I will then make a little something and we will see if there are possibilities to post it to the internet.
thanks for referring me to the CF website but that is not what I meant.
I mean, it should be possible to have a chart like thing, so you can look it up on ONE piece instead of having to go back and forth surfing the web for reviews.
I am after making a kind of characteristics chart so that things are made easier and from THERE you can start searching for a specific direction.
what do you say?
yes sure I was going to do so but I think the information would be completer if people could help me for a bit since the reviews do not go in a lot of detail as I would have liked…hm?
Tems like “pure”, “round”, “flat”, “sweet”, and “chiff” are totally subjective (with the possible exception of “loud”, which can be scientifically measured), so how one person describes a sound is completely different from how the rest of the population might; that’s what makes such things practically useless (but still fun to read!).
I think this is a good idea, though might involve a lot of work. There are many reviews sitting on this message board. Some reviewers are beginners and give a brief usually happy review. Some have dozens of whistles and a good basis for comparison and often go into great detail. It may be useful for you to go through and mine the data already posted. If you are going to repost anyone’s opinions on a website you need to get permission. A better option might be to provide links to the various reviews and their threads so a person can go through and see it in context.
If you want to go the extra mile, include links to speciific sound clips from Clip & Snips or other sources, so a person does not have to go searching for them. http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/index.htm
As for soliciting new reviews or getting repeats, you might post an outline of what you want to receive, in the form of your own review(s) on some of the whistles you play. Even if you do that, you will probably receive a hodgepodge of formats.
Another idea is to solicit the whistle makers for their opinions on their whistles. Tell the person or company about your project and give them an idea of what kind of information you are looking for. Of course no maker is going to say that they make a “bad” whistle. However the makers might be able to wax poetic on their workmanship and materials. Perhaps indicate whether a whistle is loud and suitable for sessions, or more suited for quiet areas. Whether a whistle is better for fast play and ornaments with lots of chiff, or better suited for slow airs and more of a pure sound.
Now some whistle makers may claim all of the above, that their whistle is loud enough for a busy session and yet soft enough to play over sleeping babies, and in some rare cases that may be true. However, the rubber meets the road when you include some owner reviews. Amazon.com gives an editorial review followed by customer reviews, and I find this to be an effective format.
Good luck with this project. I hope it comes to be. If done well, it will be a great resource, above and beyond the work that has been done by others before you.
I have done a TON of reviews on various whistles over the years. They can all be found by searching for my C&F name and the word “review.” I don’t feel like conerting them to charts, but good luck.