I had thought all Susato whistles were pretty much the same.
I had only played the tunable models, though.
I’ve tried a high D non-tunable, and it’s a very different whistle.
I’ll post my thoughts and do a review later, but I am very startled at the difference.
Now I’m wondering if Susato has recently changed its designs, or if there is just that much difference between the tunables and nontunables.
–James
Which sounds better to you? I have recently re-discovered Susatos. If Lunasa uses them, they can’t be all bad. I have a C and an Eb that are as good as whistles get.
You got a Dublin model, like these?
Yeah, an entirely different beast than the Kildare model.
Thicker PVC, methinks. Seems like a different window design, too.
Perhaps Kelhorn, Mike will drop in to expound on my wild conjecturing.
Well, I have a high D, C, and Bb tunable set, and have owned either two or three other high D’s (which have been given away to folks over the years).
I’ve just the one high D nontunable to play with, so I hesitate to say for sure this represents them all.
For what it’s worth, though…
The volume is a little more subdued, though still a pretty loud whistle. The tone is different, a bit breathy at the very top of the second octave and at the bottom of the first. The low D bell note isn’t nearly as strong or the first octave in general as complex as on the tunable, but the whistle seems much easier to play and control. The second octave is pure and a bit sweeter than the tubable, even though you have to blow harder, particularly at the upper end of the second octave, where the notes on the nontunable really take quite a blast of air to sound cleanly. Intonation is pretty good but I think overall not quite as good as on the tunable (I mean intonation to itself, of course, not to other instruments.)
So I’d say it’s a trade-off…an easier-playing Susato but with less meat and can’t be played quite as aggresively, doesn’t quite have the flexibility of its tunable cousin but is a hell of a lot easier to control.
These are my initial thoughts…your mileage may vary: every whistle is different, and so is every whistler.
–James
I have 15 Susatos most of which I think are great. Some keys are superb IMO: Eb, B, Bb, low F. An interesting thing is that Susatos in the same keys do not always sound the same. There were one or two Ds and Cs that passed through my hands that sounded quite plain and ordinary to me yet the majority have a rich sound with a bit of bite. I wonder if different molds have been used.
I think you really need to give Susatos some welly to get the most out of them.