Based upon the advice of MTGuru and Jerry Freeman, I ordered one of Jerry’s mellow dogs. I was wanting a whistle louder than a Dixon Trad, but not as loud as a susato. This is Jerry’s “new” Mellow Dog - Jerry commented in my other thread (where I was looking for advice on which whistle met my needs) that the blackbird was based on mellow dog techniques, but building the blackbird he then learned things that he applied to the current mellow dog design…so that’s why I’m calling it the new mellow dog. My only prior mellow dog experience was trying a mellow dog a friend has that’s probably from one of the earliest batch of mellow dogs (I think I tried it 3 or so years ago). I must say I was surprised not to see the barrel extension found on the early mellow dog, yet the low D was in tune on my new one.
As for the new mellow dog, I think it’s the ideal medium volume traditional sounding whistle out there. I love it! The tuning is phenomenal, the tone great in both octave, and it jumps between octaves flawlessly. I put it through my “Dusty Windowsills” test (if a whistle can’t handle Dusty Windowsills played aggressively, I won’t play it) , and it performed perfectly. I was also playing Crested Hens, a nice Brittany bouree-ish tune, and it was lovely for that as well.
One additional thing about Jerry’s whistle that I love, and other flute players may as well, is that it has a cheapo whistle head. For me, there is something about that thin beak that is ideal for the flute embouchure. Even the Dixon trad with it’s thicker beak makes it harder for me to transition between flute and whistle (and the susato really sucks for this), but there is something ideal about the shape and size of a cheapie beak that is just perfect for my embouchure when I return to the flute.
It’s going to session here in 30 minutes…I’m sure it will have fun, and so will I.
Eric
