Sorry for beating a probably quite dead horse, but I tried to do a search and came up with 10210 hits…
I need to buy a whistle. I am finding myself to be increasingly unhappy with the whistles I have (a Feadog that is squeaky and disgusting, and a Clarke that takes too much air and is unacceptably flat). But here’s the catch…I can only buy one whistle. Money is a little bit tight, so I need to buy an inexpensive whistle (<$20) that is virtually guaranteed to play well (for example, I know some Generations are fantastic but some are terrible). I’m not picky about sound quality except that it not be squeaky and not sound too much like a recorder.
For $20, you can get a Whitecap and stick it on your Feadog tube. That’s what I did. It’s fairly quiet, but has a very nice sound, and is extremely easy to play.
The only thing is that it was a little too tight. I sanded it out a bit, and got it on, but I wish I’d taken it a bit further, as I don’t think it’ll ever budge again, so tuning is out of the question. Still, it sounds great, and it’s not off by much.
I haven’t checked the tuning, but I’ve got my Clarke Original into pretty good shape by hammering down the top of the windway a bit, then pressing the blade in to get the sound back. I thought I’d ruined it at one point, but kept hacking at it till it got its sound back.
Now it takes a reasonable amount of air, and is reasonably in tune with itself. It’s very quiet, and the sound is rather “plain”, but I can actually enjoy playing it now. Also, the wooden fipple block has loosened up, and I can make it even quieter by sliding the block in a bit.
For a little bit more than this, you can get a Dixon soprano D tunable (non-tunables are only $18, but I recommend tunable). I love mine, it was my ‘move up’ from the cheapies and the difference is amazing. It took a few days to get used to it, but I wouldn’t give it up for anything now. I bought it from The Whistle Shop, great, fast service. Good luck!
For $38, get a Syn. Available from http://www.gaeliccrossings.com
Alternatively, get a tweaked Sweetone and/or Generation from Jerry Freeman. A good Sweetone will probably make you happy, but buying one from Jerry instead of buying it from a store, ensures you get a good one (removes the uncertainty).
While I am not a great admirer of the faedog, I never thought of it as squeaky. Are you sure the problem isn’t somewhere that will not change when going to another whistle? You could do like Jerry and backfill the mouthpiece with bluetack.
Clarke Sweetone and Oak are two suggestions that I have heard over and over on this message board. You can also get a Jerry Freeman tweaked Sweetone for a few bucks more than the basic model, but still under $20.
Is that a Clarke original that you have? If you are a beginner it may be that you need more practice time to get a cleaner sound. I have a Clarke original and it took me a very long time to be able to sound the second register without squeaking or running out of air. Ironically, it was a cold and congestion, that was the catalyst for me to become much more comfortable “leaning into” my Clarke.
I second Darwin’s suggestion. I had several high D whistles (feadog, susato, sweet tone, etc.) that I was just not satisified with. Several months ago I got a Whitecap and put it on my crappy feadog tube and it turned into a superwhistle. It is now among my favorites. Can’t go wrong with this $20 solution. Mack Hoover is also great to deal with.
I agree with the Jerry Freeman Tweaked recommendations. The Tweaked Generation is outstanding. If you don’t want to spend the money a brass Clare from Lollysmith.com are good. I just got two brass whistles (with green fipples) that are just wonderful without any tweaking. They were under $10.
I’d not recommend a Syn for a beginner. I love mine, but you need to be a lot firmer with the top notes of the second octave than most beginners are comfortable with. For a more experienced whistler, they’re wonderful. I’d also warn against an Oak D, for similar reasons (there, it needs very precise breath control - not as low-air as a Hoover narrow bore but towards that end of the spectrum).
For cheap:
standard Sweetone D (not C!) - $5
Jerry-tweeked Sweetone D - $15 (going by reputation here - I’ve not played one)
Walton’s C (not D) - $5
Walton’s Mello D (not standard) - $5
Dixon D non-tunable - $18
For a lot more money (>$100) I really liked the Burke Session Pros I had a chance to try (Brass and Aluminum versions) but quite honestly I think it’s utterly unnecessary until you can already get a good sound with the cheapies.
What high whistles do I play most?
Serpent Polly (original model), Serpent Brassy Polly, Syn, Dixon D & Bb, Walton’s C, Oak C
I love them all, but except for the Dixon D and the Walton’s C, they all take a bit more technique to get the most from. And though not bank-breakers, they all cost more than twice the price of a basic whistle.
But I’ve got to say that if you want the most bang-for-the-buck it’s hard to go wrong with a Sweetone D. No real peculiarities to work around, easy to play, decent tone. My daughter quit playing her Feadog and annexed my first Sweetone as soon as she had a chance to try it; Sweetones are a lot easier to deal with than the Feadog/Gen/Waltons style whistles. Buy a couple, if you’re worried about getting a dud; they’re cheap enough.
I would stick with the Clarke for the time being, and smash the mouthpiece a little. That tends to help.
I like to stick with the Clarke for learning new stuff, as it’s a little more difficult to play the high vs. low notes, and it doesn’t hide my mistakes as much.
O’Briain Improved or Clare whistles. Though somewhat harder to obtain they are worth the extra effort and are still inexpensive, especially the Clare. Look em up on the cheapo whistle listing in the main part of C&F.
Glauber, I don’t know if my Syn is a “new” or “old” model - I got it from Gaelic Crossings. No “D” stamped on the tube, so it may be an older one. It’s a great whistle, and fairly easy to play, but it does need a touch more breath support in the upper register (and can make some awful squawks if it doesn’t get it).
I’m pretty much still a beginner - intermediate level at best - but there are a LOT of whistles I had trouble with early-on that I’m quite fond of now. (I used to think my original-model Serpent Polly was hard to play because it had more backpressure than the cheapies. Now I think it’s the easiest-to-play, best-balanced whistle I own.)
But the great thing about whistles is that you don’t really NEED to pay a lot of money, at least in the standard whistle keys. A professional musician forced to play nothing but mass-production whistles might have to do a bit of picking and tweeking, but wouldn’t really be handicapped too much (some do this from choice, even now). How many top pianists, or fiddlers (much less violinists ), or Sax players would be happy with a beginner’s instrument? (And the “beginner” instruments for any of these cost more than most of the high-end whistles out there.)
Let’s face it - with high whistles, once you get above $100 or so, you’re paying for that last half of a percent difference in performance, if that. The big difference is in the feel in your hand, and beauty of the workmanship. I’m not immune to this - I’ve currently got a couple more whistles on order - but I don’t expect any of them will magically make me a better player. (Would it were true )
Maybe you need to concentrate on tweaking the whistles you have now. I’ve got feadogs and clarkes, and have tweaked on all of them, and they’ve all turned out pretty nice.
That way you won’t even have to order and wait on a whistle. Sounds like you don’t have too much to lose anyway, being that you are unhappy with them at present.
The clarke would probably be the easier to tweak well. Careful flattening of the windway is about all it takes. Start at the end of the windway, and flatten with your thumb just a bit at a time, working your way up. I usually don’t flatten it all the way to the top, but only about halfway. Usually wind up pushing the blade down just a tad as well. Five to ten minutes. Easy enough to undo as well.
When you are done, your clarke won’t take that much air, and will sound much more focused.
I have a couple of feadogs that I’ve reduced the air requirements down to the Hoover range almost. They even sound a lot like the hoover I have. Do a search for the guitar pick tweak. (although I don’t use guitar picks)
Thanks all for your advice so far. Consistency is the key, since I can only buy one, and the first two I got have been duds. Just so you know, here is what I’ve done to my whistles so far:
Feadog: Filled the cavity behind the windway with wax (incidentally…all we had was a vanilla candle…it smells pretty now ) I’ve been playing it more than my Clarke, but the bell note is terrible and the whole thing sounds really bad in the upper octave. I don’t think it’s me…I’m studying clarinet full time at college so I have a pretty good control over my lungs.
Clarke (original): Haven’t done anything yet, although I do plan to flatten the windway once I get the right tools (I’ve heard that the wood block can fall out if you don’t apply pressure to the sides while you squish). That should make it a pretty good quiet practice whistle so I don’t drive my apartment-mates crazy! The biggest problem with this one is that I want something I can play with at sessions and it is too quiet and too flat.
Well, the clarke is liable to keep its volume through the tweaking. Unless you really really flatten it. You can either glue the block in or knock a spot on each side with a nail or punch to secure it.
The feadog needs the “guitar pick” trick. That’s the one that is liable to be very quiet. In fact, the last two I did found thier best sound at a vastly reduce volume. You can stick on the extra plastic with blue tac, so it’s reversable, as well as adjustable.
I’ve uh, become a little obsessive about tweaking whistles lately…
Feadogs take some adjusting to. The wax/putty tweak can strengthen the bell note, but now I’ve got used to the different amounts of air Feadogs take compared to Gens or Sweetones I don’t bother with the tweak as it can make the second octave unstable - and squeaky.
I have Gens, Waltons, Doolins, Sweetones etc, and the Nickel Feadogs are my best all-rounders. The Doolin 2 piece I had was almost unplayable until I stuck a Feadog head on it, now it’s great. I’ve never managed to find a really good Gen in D or C, although the other keys are fine. As for Waltons, I can’t stand them. Give yr Feadog a while longer before you give up on it… oh, and make sure the head is a Mk III.
I agree with you about the standard-bore Walton’s D. After tweeking (and a lot of practice) mine sounds “OK”, but nothing more. The Walton’s C has different head and a wider bore - it and the “Mello D” (same head, on a wide-bore D body) are pretty nice whistles.
), or Sax players would be happy with a beginner’s instrument? (And the “beginner” instruments for any of these cost more than most of the high-end whistles out there.)