I’ve fallen in love with Killarney whistles, but my understanding is they don’t have plans to extend their range downward below Bb at this point. Is anyone aware of an alto G and A whistles that play like Killarneys? Very air efficient and sweeter tone.
Thanks!
Perhaps Tony Dixon’s work? I’ve been doing a lot of researching and experimenting as I expand the range of keys I offer, and I’m stopping at Bb as well - some of the factors that make my high whistles so good simply don’t scale in any kind of attractive way once you get down that low.
I have a Thunderbird ‘A’, Tony Dixon trad brass ‘A’ & ‘G’, an aluminium ‘A’, & an ABS ‘G’, they have become some of my favourite whistles, (along with my 2 low ‘F’ whistles).
You can get a Sindt A and Bb that will be superior in my humble opinion. He is still taking orders. He did not make a G at last count. But you could always ask.
I’ll second the Sindt recommendation. I had a Sindt A/Bb/B set which was superb.
Sindts, good Killarneys, and good Generations are my favourite high whistles. I use Generations down to A, what I did for A was make a body from brass hobby tubing to fit on a Generation Bb head.
For G and F I’ve been playing Burkes for quite a while now. But I’m slowly replacing my random Low and Alto/Mezzo whistles with Goldies.
The Killarney projects very precise notes and of course the tone and volume are balanced, clear and singing through the octaves. The shift to alto keys creates a shift in character, it can’t be helped. So I see two issues; the balanced, crisp precision of playing through all octaves, and the tone you like. The second issue is entirely up to you; what you like, and you’ll have to explore that yourself.
Tony Dixon A’s and G’s in aluminum will give you particularly crisp precise playing and clear tone, a very efficient use of air. I have the D in aluminum and still think it’s one of the clearest and precise players available. The brass offers something similar but a more rounded tone. Plastic is the third option, even if just for exploring tonal variety as related to materials.
That being said, I haven’t searched for exactly this Killarney comparison in mind, so there will be more. Check out multi-model comparisons, such as this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJEb_ojxM74
Good luck!
I think the weight of the brass heads scaled to lower keys would be a major issue. I have Killarney C and sindt B whistles that are, while perfectly manageable, are already fairly heavy. Think of the chunk of brass it will take to make a head that will drive, say, a low F.
Might have to shift to aluminum for the big ones.
Or delrin/polypenco.
I had a solid brass Chieftain Low D and it was just too heavy.
Yes, I had a Sindt A back in the day. Great whistle, but that large brass head did make it rather top-heavy.
It might be a bit, but I don’t end up feeling it when I play my Sindt A.
I do have a friend who is sensitive to metals and ask JS to make him a completely delrin mouthpiece on a D whistle. It definitely cut down the weight and made it a trifle mellower if I remember correctly. I am trying to picture it now, but I can’t remember if the whole head was delrin or just the portion that meets the lips.