Hello I’m new to these boards and am hoping you can be of help to me, heres my situation:
I’m a relatively new whistler, been whistling for about 3 or 4 months now and am ready to get a new better whistle. I have been looking at various different makes and have pretty much whittled it down to either and elfsong or an alba. I would love to hear feedback on these two whistles from people who have used them to help me make my decision. I really want to knwo if there are any differences in the sounds made by them. Thanks for your help in advance.
I have both an Elfsong and two different types of Alba soprano D. The original ALba I have is way too old to talk about as substantial improvements have been made, so I’ll limit to just the Elfsong and the new Alba Q1. You cannot go wrong either way. Both the Elfsong and the Alba are fabulous whistles and values and are well-made.
I think the differences are in certain aspects of playability. The tone holes of the Elfsong are decidedly larger, but for me both are comfortable and the ornaments really pop off both. Volume of both is moderate, maybe a bit louder in the Elfsong. The Elfsong takes a bit less air force generally to get to the second octave, but this is real hair splitting.
The Elfsong is copper (although now made in brass, both with either wood or new delrin plugs); the Alba is aluminum. The Elfsong is marginally heavier but not too heavy. The Elfsong can come in all sorts of colors. The ALba has I think a Tufnol (Stacey will correct me if wrong; some others have Albanite) plug.
The tone of the Elfsong may be a bit fuller.
Both whistles are great; this is a pure matter of preference. Get both.
BAHHHHH! Penguins don’t live in zoos, especially penguins that can play whistles, I must forward the crusade to free my brethren from such entrapment. But in other news, thanks for the warm welcome and advice, still haven’t made a decision so more input would be great.
I’ve only played Elfsong, and would say you can’t go wrong with them.
I have never played an Alba, but I know Stacey to be an outstanding whistle-maker (as is Sandy, the maker of Elfsongs) with a great reputation among the people here.
If you re-title your post to reflect the fact you’re asking about Elfsong and Alba whistles you’ll get responses from people who have played both. Log in, see the little “edit” sign on your post, click it, and there you go.
Well, I’ve played both in high-D, though the Elfsong only briefly.
The Elfsong is a visually stunning whistle, very pretty, weighty, with a full tone. I was very happy with the sound of this whistle. Sandy’s ability to make them all the way up to high-G and still sound good astounds me. (A friend has one, I can’t play it, my fingers are too big)
The Alba is a visually striking, giving the impression of precision engineering. It’s light, a little chiffy, very crisp, highly responsive, quite loud, and is without a doubt the fastest whistle I’ve ever played. I played reels on that whistle faster than I’ve yet to achieve on any other. It’s a great session whistle, yet the sound quality is such that you won’t drive people away in quieter settings.
yeah, you were right, thanks for the advice everyone, very helpful so far, basically now I have to choose which one to get now, and which one to add to my wishlist.
Thanks for all the great advice. I’ve decided to go witht he elfsong for now, since I can get a D and C body combo. Hopefully I’ll get an Alba at a later date though, they are beautiful.
I agree with my awesome friend Sam. You’ll be very happy with your Elfsong(s). I have the D body and the C body (and an E body), and they’re both great whistles. I like the D and E most, but the C is by no means a bad whistle.
Penguins don’t live in zoos, especially penguins that can play whistles, I must forward the crusade to free my brethren from such entrapment. But in other news, thanks for the warm welcome and advice, still haven’t made a decision so more input would be great.
