Interested in a Burke

Whistle
1

A few months ago I visited a performance of the band Derivsh. At that moment I had never heard of them (I’m fairly new to ITM). I was astonished by the flute and whistle playing of Liam and asked him what whistle he played. His Burke Brass Session Pro in Bb (as it turned out to be) sounded just amazing ( could be the whistle or his playing or both :slight_smile: ). So I decided to buy one myself after all the good reviews I read on chiff and fipple.

I’m leaning towards a Burke Composite or Brass Session Pro D or a Composite or Brass Narrow Bore D. There are two things that I want to know, but cannot find anywhere: the volume and the size (and weight) of the whistles.

Does anyone know how the volume of the Narrow bore and Session pro is compared to a Generations? And the size of the bore of the Session pro and the Narrow bore compared to a Genearions?

It’s possible that I will eventually be playing in sessions and/or a band, so I’m wondering if the narrow bore is loud enough to be heard in a 10 men band. I hope so, because I prefer a small bore over a wider one.

2

you’ve got the taste of it hoed, no more whoa :party:

3

I emailed Mike Burke with a very similar question. I am interested in a D and I wanted one that was similar to an Oak or Gen in volume and he recommended the narrow bore. I plan on getting a D brass NB.

I should add that I do not want to play with a 10 piece band. Just by myself.

4

the brass is the quietest of the burkes, composite is the lightest in weight, much louder than a gen. i don’t think you’ll be heard with a narrow bore. the boresize of the pro session is 14.2 mm, the same as a gen high C:14.2mm. if you want to come over to maastricht or near antwerp for a try, then let me know. http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=72461&highlight=#72461

5

The bore size of the narrow bore (brass or aluminum) is about the same as that of a Generation. A Generation will slip inside the Pro Session with room to spare.

The (very approximate) weights are:
aluminum narrow bore: 1-1/4 oz
brass narrow bore: 2-1/4 oz
brass pro session: 2-3/4 oz
I don’t have an aluminum pro session to weigh. An educated guess would be about 1-1/2 oz.

BTW, I got all these Burkes thinking that I would pick out my favorite and sell the others. What happened instead is that I bonded with all of them.

6

i thought the composite was much lighter, your word doesn’t need to be questioned ridseard, i was wrong.

7

My scale could be inaccurate. The aluminum feels really light, but I haven’t handled a composite.

8

my mistake ridseard, i thought you did put a composite on the scale aswell (i’d to many thing on my head). still, your word is not to be questioned

9

Thank you kindly for all the advice! It is a great help, because I have a better idea of how the burke whistle actually looks and feels.

I haven’t decided on a whistle yet. My favorite whistle at the moment is an O’Briain “improved” Feydog and plays wonderful but a bit shrill. So, if I’d go for the narrow bore it would be like another whistle in the same volume range. On the other side… I like the feel of a smaller bore and the C is a little wide (but probably not too wide). I’ll think it over some more.

Thanks for the offer to try it out, Lixnaw! I’ll send you a private message on that one.