hi everybody,i’m christina and i’m from hong kong.i’m going to buy a tin whistle.but i don’t know which brand has a good sound.i don’t want my whistle to sound like a recorder.so which brand shold i buy if i want a more clear,not breathy sound?pls reply as soon as posiible coz i think i’m going to the TomLee to get one tomorow.
thanx!
Hi Christina,
Welcome to the board.
I don’t know what the TomLee is, but if they stock many different whistles, it is worthwhile asking if you can try them out (someone recommended bringing a swab and some alcohol in case they give you trouble about hygiene).
One of the cool things about tinwhistles is that they are very inexpensive, and that even the cheapest whistle sounds like…
a whislte.
If you can afford it, buy a few, since they all have different characteristics (said the WhOA advocate).
Most shops stock Generations, which can be really good. I personally like the Oak whistles (ask about tweeking methods when you have one).
Clarkes are also really nice, and very different from the plastic fipple ones.
Good luck with your purchase, and let us know how it turned out.
Jeroen
Hi Christina,
A really nice whistle to begin on is the “Clarke Sweetone”. The whistle is conical in shape, with a plastic mouthpiece (aka fipple)
and comes in a variety of colours, though my choice was plain black. As above, if you can try one in the shop all the better. Some find conical whistles breathy, though this model is much less so than the “Clarke Original” or a Shaw, the other two most common conical whistles.
For a straight bore (cylindrical) whistle, the Generation is what you are most likely to find in a UK shop, but in Hong Kong I would have no idea. An alternative which has had good press on this site is the “Waltons Mellow D”. Slightly wider in bore than the Generation, and thus takes slightly more puff, but I found it more forgiving, i.e. less chance of squeaks.
Either whistle retails at around £4.50Stg, or 50 Hong Kong Dollars.
You don’t mention what Key you are buying your whistle in, so I assume D which is the standard. Higher Keys (Eb, F & G) give a shorter, thinner whistle, but can be a little shrill, and lower keys (C or Bb) would be larger. C is quite common, one tone down from D, and several companies make C whistles. The other Keys I have only encountered from Generation.
All the best with your whistling!
Hi Christina,
I would think that a “breathy” sound is in fact a characteristic of whistles, as opposed to recorders. The breathiest whistles around, the Clarke’s traditionals, have never been accused of sounding like a recorder, whereas some of the purer-sounding whistles being made by expensive makers have been taxed with sounding recorder-like.
Jeroen is right, cheap whistles sound like whistles. You really should try the whistles, as he suggests, and just pick whatever sounds best to you.
A word about Sweetones, since Martin mentioned them: in my experience, they are reliably good, but cannot be tried because the head is shrink-wrapped. But I have to say I dislike them - there’s a hollow quality to the sound that I find disagreeable.
thanx for ur sugguestiong..just wait and see..which brands TomLee has…
Get a Waltons, brass or little black, or a Dixon.
I agree with ThorntonRose here - best cheapie whistle in key of D IMHO is Walton. I personally do not like the Sweetone or the Oak. Enjoy
Hi,
Tom Lee Music has original Clarke whistles listed on their Web site (http://www.tomleemusic.com/).
Hopefully they’ll have more in the store.
Oak (brand name…not wood) whistles are my current favorite.
-Brett
[ This Message was edited by: Bretton on 2001-11-29 20:25 ]
I have a sweetone and I rather like it. The C# is a bit off, but oh well.
I must say,of all the inexpensive whistles
I’ve tried,I think the Clark-sweetone is
tops in my book(not that I have a book)
It is very easy to play.The low notes on
a cylindrical bore whistle can be difficult
to achive for the beginner.It also requires less wind than the standard conical bore whistles,like the original clark or a shaw
I especially like the foot-tapping-whistle
playing guy on the decal…It’s the little things that count..
hi..just bought a clarke original and a tin one.they are fabulous..