After doing a search and reading opinions on various whistles, I’m not sure what would best suit my needs. So, I’m looking for recommendations.
First off, I will not be playing sessions with this whistle. It’s mainly an alternate to my flute, and it must not drive my wife and dogs mad when I play a high B. Here’s what I’d like:
O Briain “improved.” It is EXACTLY what you describe…quiet, with a sweet, pure voice, and VERY easy in the second octave (I can even play Danny Boy without my daughter covering her ears and running for cover!), and properly in tune through both octaves. They’re about $34, I think, from Shanna Quay, so they’re not as cheap as the ones you’ve listed, but still very much in the affordable range.
If cheap is your only criterion, any of the three will do. I personally don’t like the breathiness of the Clarke Original but they’re all about equal otherwise. I think the Oak comes a little closer to a “real” whistle tone, but it’s also a little louder than the other two - at least in my hands.
None of them will come close to a Hoover Narrow Bore Brass D, but Mack currently lists those at $55. Not expensive, but not really cheap either.
I know this sounds strange…Susato.
I have a Susato C that I use as my quiet practice whistle: by putting some silly putty (blue tac would work well, too) over the ramp/blade, the volume and even tone can be adjusted. Simple and effective. This whistle is quieter than any of the ones you mentioned.
Micah
You might want to consider a “Tweaked” Clarke D from the Whistle Shop - it’s more mellow than the O’Briain, and cheaper. I think the O’B is fine whistle by the way, but for keeping the annoyance and volume to a minimum, I’d suggest the teaked Clarke.
I personally don’t like the tweaked Clarke D that I tried. It seems to be clogging a lot, and the sound is totally different than a tweaked O’Brain, not as pure and Generation-like. But again, it’s a matter of taste, I’m just quite fond of my tweaked O’Brain, this is the one I always play with at home.
Part of the reason I listed the Clarke, Sweettone & Oak is because they are available locally.
The ones listed above sound nice, but I really want to stay in the $10-$12 dollar range as a maximum. To me, I don’t play the whistle enough to justify anything more…
With the ones you listed then, you will want to visit a store that will allow you to play the whistles, and try several in the hopes of finding one that meets your criteria.
I can’t speak for the Oak, but as far as the Clarke Original and Sweetone goes, unless you get very lucky, you will have to play a few before you’ll find one that is really in tune across both octaves…and if you like a pure tone, you will be disappointed. Of the two, I think the Sweetone is slightly better…less raspy sounding than the original. A lot of people here really seem to like Oaks (I’ve never played one), so that probably merits some serious consideration.
I just found another local option, the Waltons/Soodlums Mellow D. Is it really mellower than, for example, their LBW? If I don’t like the LBW, would I like the Mellow D, or are they different feeling and playing whistles?
I recently “re-homed” a Mellow D that I didn’t like for a variety of reasons, but primarily because it wasn’t in tune with itself, and I didn’t have the patience or inclination to fiddle with it to try to make it so. A secondary consideration for me was the fact that I just didn’t like the sound…it was, to my ear, unpleasantly breathy (FWIW, I dislike the Clarkes for the same reason). Other people love them, however. Is there any chance you could play one before you make a decision?
Redwolf - I can play an Oak and a Gen, but not the Waltons (it’s in an Irish giftshop and in plastic bubble wrap like stuff).
I need to find a clarke to play because I can’t recall just how breathy they feel. However, I don’t like the concept of the Walton’s having so many tuning problems.
I think I will just stick with the Oak. I had one once but I was really new to whistling at the time so I had some problems which were most likely with breath control. Then, during a fit of garage sale madness (I tend to start selling everything in sight if my garage sale is going well), I sold the Oak and have regretted that decision ever since…
No, your best bet, with all the requirements you listed, is the Sweetone. I have all those whistles and like them all for different reasons, but the Sweetone fills the bill for what you want. Waltons and Clarkes are the opposite of what you’re looking for.
Jayhawk; If you are going with the Oak you might want to hit the Whistle shop for a Waltons fipple $3.98. The best thing I did for my Oak, besides sticking it in the wall was to put the Waltons fipple on. It seemed to settle it down considerably and it is my secound favorite whistle in my stable of cheep whistles. I know from the flute forume that you will soon want to tweak so that is a good start. I also have a super Gen D tweaked by a fellow Chiff and Fippler and it is the sweatest sounding Gen I have ever heard. So have fun and whistle on.
Well, this thread had come alive again, and I thank everyone for their advice. I happen to know that Santa is going to deliver a Clarke Original to me for Christmas…the Oak “lip numbing” issue bothered me too much to go with one of those and there just are not many other whistle options available locally.
Also, I think I opted for the Clarke because if I can’t afford a nice conical wood flute I can at least afford a conical whistle with wooden fipple!
Jay,
I don’t know if you are into tweaking whistles, but the Oak is the whistle that IMHO tweaks up to your specifications. I have two nickle Oaks in D. Both are the most flute-like whistles I’ve played. Both are very quiet. Because of the way I tweak them, they end up looking a bit “butchered” around the window…not great to look at. But they sound so sweet!
If you send me your address I’ll mail one of them to you. If you like it you can pay be the cost of an Oak plus the amount of mypostage. If you don’t like it I’d ask you to ship it back. I think you’ll like it.
Tom.
