Whistle Obsessive Acquisition Disorder.
Wow… I think I’ve probably got that. 
Last weekend my collection went from 1 to 3. In addition to my Oak, a new Elf Song whistle arrived. On top of that I found a plastic Dixie whistle at a garage sale!
It’s all good 
Ecohawk - thanks for sharing your experience, I found that really interesting. Playing different whistles is a lot of fun, but I think I will choose one as my main whistle for, like you said, learning new tunes and techniques. I want to get proficient at the whistles I have before adding any more. For example if I can learn to play my alto G with piper’s grip then I’ll consider a Low D. But no sense in getting the low D if I can’t play the G well.
This really is the wisest of paths to take when you are learning the whistle. Choose a whistle, and let that be the one you develop skills on. Acquiring whistles for the sake of acquiring them will only impede your progress in the long run.
In my case, I “acquire” other whistles to, in a sense, fill the need of a certain key. I’m part of a youth choir and I’ve started bringing in a “Celtic” feel to the music-direction. With this, we’re starting to touch more and more songs that are in the key of A. So recently I splurged on a Chieftain in A (will arrive in a week or two). This is great for me because a lot of our fiddle songs in Eastern Canada are in A too.
A bit of explanation: My favorite whistle is my first one, a stock generation F. But I thought F was too high and shrill so I got tweaked D & Bb. The D is really nice and similar to the F but for some reason my fingers just don’t fly as they do on the F. I keep telling myself to give myself more time. Now I’m curious what an untweaked generation plays like so I’m tempted to buy one so that I can compare. The Bb is on hold as I want to get familiar with my D.
I’d like D to be my main whistle but I can’t resist picking put the F now and then. And then I wonder what the Eb would be like. Margin Bergin liked that one and I hear others do. If it’s some kind of combination between F & D I may like it. So I’m tempted to try it. Untweaked these things are cheap. I just need to find a store who will let me play them so I can pick a good one.
maybe I should just stick with the Gen D and forget everything else for many months and then try the other ones later when I’m more proficient with what I have..
and WHOAD, unchecked, can lead to this:
[quote="Or until I get an email from Stick saying “it’s ready to ship, Send Money”! I gotta go practice, take care.
Jude[/quote]
Ah… so has your beloved whistle arrived yet??
Mine took a looooooong time for him to make… Stick taught me patience last year. : )
Kristen
My Whoa has been reined in.
I’m saving my whistle money for a Sindt D.
By the time my name comes to the top of the list I’ll have the cash.
Should be some time in early 2012, I sure hope the world doesn’t end before I get my new whistle!