So lately seems there has been a lot of discussion on what constitues the perfect whistle and how one man(or woman’s) perfect sound is anothers most hated one.
For me the perfect sound is my Original Clarke. The good ol wooden fipple one. It still has the best overall sound to me of all my whistles. Smooth and Pure. But it takes a huge amount of air to blow into the second octave G and up.
Anyone know of a mid-priced(less than 100 USD) whistle that takes somewhat less air requirements but still has that pure tone?
All my other whistles have more chiff than I really like. The sweettones I have are not near as pure sounding as the Original Clarke.
I would hardly call a Clarke “pure.” I would think a Burke DAN (D aluminum narrow bore) was pure.
Sounds like you want that rich hollow sound that comes with a good conical bore. Of the whistles I’ve played, here’s the progression up the quality ladder in conical bores.
Original Clarke
Freeman Tweaked Shaw
Sweetheart Professional
Copeland
Based on what you wrote, I’d say be patient and save a little more cash. Then buy a Sweetheart Professional. That puts you in a whole different league than the Clarke or Shaw, but stays with a voice character you seem to favor.
Pure is how I define it Cause to my ears my Clarke doesn’t sound hollow.
Sounds like you want that rich hollow sound that comes with a good conical bore. Of the whistles I’ve played, here’s the progression up the quality ladder in conical bores.
Original Clarke
Freeman Tweaked Shaw
Sweetheart Professional
Copeland
Based on what you wrote, I’d say be patient and save a little more cash. Then buy a Sweetheart Professional. That puts you in a whole different league than the Clarke or Shaw, but stays with a voice character you seem to favor.
I have been looking at the sweetheart for some time now. Perhaps you are correct. Although I have a Freemen Tweaked Gen that I like so perhaps a tweaked shaw as you mention. I have a serious case of Whoa so an extra whistle won’t kill me or it might one never knows is Whoa terminal?
Another vote for the Sweetheart Professional D. It’s over $100, but really does put you into a whole new class. Certainly the time and effort you invest in learning the whistle merits spending a little extra for the best.
If staying under $100 is important, I’d consider moving to the Syn. It’s not conical, and plays differently from the Clarke/Shaws, but it’s a whole lot of whistle for the money, and you’ll love it.
You can get a multi-body set and still stay under $100.
You can tweak that Clark to make it take less air. The only tool required is your thumb: CAREFULLY press the top of the windway down a LITTLE BIT, lowering the roof of the windway. Test play it (live with it for a couple of days) then do it a bit more if you feel it needs it. If you go too far, you can re-raise the roof with a pocket knife blade.
Just so happens that I made a diagram a while back to illustrate the above mentioned Clarke Original tweak:
Something that wasn’t mentioned thought; you should pinch the sides of the fipple while pushing on the top of the windway, otherwise the metal around the fipple will flex out under the pressure and break the glue seal around the fipple block. Then it’s gonna take more air to play and won’t sound as nice as the air escaping in through the side does no good for the sound. You also risk the fipple moving in or out and that could make your whistle unplayable.
That may be a good thing to do to make your whistle more playable in the meantime. A $100 budget is pretty decent. Although I would highly consider, if I were you, saving up another $40 and buying a Burke. I think they have very similar sound characteristics to the Clarkes… as close as you can get without being a conical bore. I was always a Clarke man back in the cheapie days ( I still use one in my car) and now I’m a Burke man. 'Tis better to save a little longer and get a whistle you’ll really love than to blow $70-$100 on something that you won’t like as much. Michael is all about customer satisfaction too so if you don’t like it he’ll usually let you return it as long as it’s in new condition. Hope this helps.
You may have already come across it, but if not perhaps it is another option for you to try. This modification results in a Clarke that requires less air, but at the expense of volume. However, if you get is just right it will retain the classic Clarke tone that you seem to favor.
Just be sure the piece of wood in the windway is snug so that it doesn’t slip.
hmm I wonder if you could lay in a thin piece of balsa all the way across… I have two clarkes so I might have to experiment on one of em. And I know where I can get others if I want to really try to get a good tweak going for them hehehe
Burkes don’t sound like Clarkes at all to my ears (although I admit that the last Burke I played was a few years ago). When I consider buying a whistle, I go for ITM sound. Burke doesn’t do it for me. (Let me stress the fact that this is my opinion.) I haven’t played Sweetheart or Copeland. In clips I’ve heard, Copeland seems to sound a bit more trad (maybe due to the conical bore). In my experience, the “high end” whistles just don’t capture that traditional sound that I love. If that sound is what you’re going for, I’d say stick to the Clarke.
I concur. I don’t play mine much because I’m more adapted to a cylindrical bore, but if you love your Clarke and its conicity, this is a step up. Lovely whistle tone.
Plus, it’s got such a traditional pennywhistle look about it. The nickel-silver gives a kind of pinkish cast next to aluminum whistles–very nice. If you’ve ever wanted to masquerade as a Dickensian street urchin, a tweaked Shaw would be your whistle.
Doc Jones has them available for immediate purchase. I think they are $85 from him. From what I have read this is a good bet. Another to try is a GFM Aluminum Whistle.
