Tell me all the wonderful whistle-related stuff Santa left for you under the tree!!! 
I hope he was good to all of you, because everyone on the board surely deserves it!
love and happiness,
Andrea ~*~
I got an electric tuner with a little electric needle that goes back and forth to let me know how in or out of tune a note is.
My husband ordered me an Abell whistle set (C,D,Eb) for Christmas. Hopefully they will arrive within the next month!
Drool…
The WONDERFUL Whistle Jewelry that Jessie has produced. I just LOVE IT!!!
There will be no doublt as to what instrument I play now.
Merry Christmas, Lolly
dhigbee,
I too have an Abell set due, hopefully the first week in January. At Loren’s suggestion and also keeping in mind what Jessie has reported, I went with the Madagascar Rosewood. Let’s keep in touch and compare whistle sets.
In answer to the question of what Santa left:
I woke up to find a tune just beyond my ability to play… barely. I don’t know the name and it doesn’t matter anyway. What a gift to have a tune to challenge and nurture and push me to practice and learn new skills. Actually I wake up in that place every morning but given what this day is and the question asked, I’m also given the gift of awareness and hope to wake up every morning in the year to come with that awareness. Another part of that awareness is how rich my life is with music and people like y’all with whom to share that joy.
blessings to all
(edited for grammar or is that grandma?)
Peace
Namasté
jim
[ This Message was edited by: livethe question on 2002-12-25 13:28 ]
My Christmas present to myself is a Copeland low D (gosh,how thoughtful,just what i always wanted!),I’ve been waiting a WHOLE 10 DAYS NOW! But seriously,I have been given two new albums to listen to;‘The Rowsome tradition’,by Kevin Rowsome, and Paddy Canny’s ‘Trad. music from the legendary East Clare fiddler’.
[ This Message was edited by: kevin m. on 2002-12-25 13:44 ]
Tyghre got a Hoover D. . .I will keep my paws OFF his whistles. . .I will. . .I promise.
I got myself a Susato normal bore D…sort-of a Christmas present. So far it has lived up to its advertising: loud, perfectly in tune, and requiring lots 'o breath in the second octave, way more than all the Generation-type whistles I have. It’ll take a while to get used to. I may have to play this one in the garage. I have had it only two days and already they’re saying, “My goodness, but that’s a loud one, isn’t it?”
Happy generic winter holidays to all.
Mike Burns
I got a Dixon low D! My first low D whistle. I now see why I’ve heard so many people on the board recommend them to beginners. It’s proving really easy to pick up. I really love it!
A.J.
[ This Message was edited by: Snuh on 2002-12-25 14:25 ]
I have saved up, so for this Christmas I am getting myself a Busman whistle in Bocote with brass fittings! I can’t wait to get it!
Happy and Peaceful Holidays to All!
Mary
livethe question: (Or anyone else)
How is Madagascar Rosewood different in sound quality than African Blackwood?
Regarding an Abell whistle in Madagascar Rosewood, I’m not sure myself since I’ve never played any Abell and only had a chance to hear one in person back in August. Maybe Loren or Jessie can chime in. I’ve come to trust Loren’s and Jessie’s counsel in some of the things I don’t have experience with.
In corresponding with Loren he suggested that I consider Madasgar Rosewood because it sounded better, for some reason, to him than the Blackwood Abells he had tried and it smelled great. He liked it well enough to order an A/Bflat set in the same wood. Our conversation was about his thoughts on a Cocus Abell. As it turned out Chris did not have any Cocus available at the time I was ordering, so I went with the suggestions of two of our “elders” here on the board who have yet to steer me wrong.
We’ll see in a few weeks…or longer. It’s been reported, and I’ve found it true with my Blackwood Weasel (the “Black Weasel”) and my Rose that the tone did improve over time as I played them on a regular basis. I guess I’m resigned to working with the Abell for at least a year of regular playing even if it isn’t initially what I might be hoping for. Who knows, they may be exactly what I’m looking for from day one.
Other Abell players with whistles in various woods, please give us your feedback.
thanks
jim
(edited for grammar x3)
[ This Message was edited by: livethe question on 2002-12-25 15:10 ]
[ This Message was edited by: livethe question on 2002-12-25 15:12 ]
[ This Message was edited by: livethe question on 2002-12-25 15:14 ]
My dear doggie (with some help from my dear hubby 
) gave me a really nice multi-whistle gig bag from The Whistle Shop! Now I won’t have to be juggling whistles and cases wherever I go.
My kitty cat (also with a lot of help from my husband) had planned to get me a Dixon Tunable, but they were all sold out, so he got me a case for my new Palm Pilot instead (actually, he wanted to get me a dead mouse, but my husband talked me out of it…you know how cats are – they tend to think in terms of what THEY’D like). Also very nice, as I’m VERY excited about the Palm Pilot (from hubby, with no help from the critters). I may just buy myself the Dixon as an Epiphany present .
Not whistle related, but something else I’m excited about…my in laws gave me a San Francisco Giants team jacket (the nice one that the players wear).
Merry Christmas, everybody!
Redwolf
Gave myself a Burke brass pro session D, but I got it a couple of weeks ago and couldn’t wait until Dec. 25 to start playing it regularly. What a whistle! Meltingly gorgeous tone with enough volume for use in an ensemble.
I got a couple of cd’s Celtic Christmas vol 2 and 4. They are very mellow (not session tunes ) some are a bit over produced, but, overall, I really like them. Great background reading music. I’ll bring them to my sister’s house this eve for the family dinner. I also got a bottle of Irish Mist, which I don’t plan on sharing. heh, heh. No whistles (hint, hint, Ronaldo. Is it done yet?)
Abell note: I’ve had a blackwood d for well over a year. I can’t compare it to other woods of the same whistle. I’m betting differences are more to the individual voicings rather than the woods. From peoples’ descriptions, there seems to be a bit of variance between Abells of the same key/wood. So, how are you going to compare wood tones?? People say they notice improvement in the tone over time. My argument is that your playing improves and your adaptation to the idiosyncracies of the whistle. It has to sound better if you practice. So you know where I’m coming from, my Abell is my favorite whistle way above any other. No close seconds. It has a particular combination of tone/chiff/breathiness and playability that works for me. And that doesn’t mean I don’t love my other whistles. The sound of a whistle has a magical quality for me. The Abell contains all the elements and I can’t imagine improving on it. Still, no harming finding out for sure by ordering more whistles!
Tony
Re: wood instruments improving over time: I believe that they do. I have a Powell (Boehm system) African Blackwood flute that’s one year old, and just sounds better and better, unlike my silver flute that doesn’t seem to change. The tone on the wood flute seems to become more colorful, and smoother with age. I have an old Powell piccolo (1958) that I could sell in ten seconds, if I wanted to.
(Forgive me, all for my digression from the theme of this thread).
At the risk of hijacking this thread, I have to agree with Tony about how a whistle may seem to “improve” over time. This even happens with metal whistles, which obviously has litle to do with the instrument itself, but rather with player adaptation.
IMHO, nothing in all of whistledom has the responsiveness of a good Generation, but in the search for the ultimate whistle, there may be several which have a superior tone (or at least a tone which appeals more to the player). It is definitely worth a struggle to get used to the idiosyncracies of the instrument in order to take full advantage of the tone.
Stability is another issue. Responsiveness and stability are to some extent incompatible. For example, a whistle either has very easy octave transitions (responsive), or it doesn’t (stable). You can’t have both. The best you can hope for is a compromise.
The Abell is an understated
whistle, so that one doesn’t
realize quite what it is for
awhile. Then it keeps getting
better.
Could we please not talk about Abells anymore? You’re making me sad… 
Chris
Mr. Claus was exceptionally generous this year:
My O’Riordan C/D set arrived this week. The wait was long (35 months), but worth it; these are phenomenal whistles.
Also, though not exactly whistle related, I found a copy of Akira Tsumura’s “1001 Banjos” under the tree this morning. For you poor unfortunates who are unfamiliar with things banjo, this is a limited-print, 900+ page, 18-pound tome chock-full of photographs of some of the world’s rarest and most beautiful banjos. Excruciatingly expensive, but also worth it.
Happy Holidays!
–
Mark