I have been playing (practicing) for a couple of months and enjoy my new tin whistle obsession very much. The volume of the Susato Kildare is extremely loud and I’m concerned that my neighbors may not appreciate my new musical instrument as much as I do. I muffle the sound with a metal band that I made that can slide over the window to adjust the volume. It works pretty well.
My question is: How do other whistles compare in loudness? At some point I’m sure that I will want to upgrade. I have been looking at the Burke DABST and Burke DAN. Any help would be appreciated.
My first whistle was a Susato. I quickly got a narrow bore version replacement because of the same problem. Either way the Susato tends to be more shrill than others. I got a Burke DBN and it’s almost too quiet to play with others but it sure is sweet. It’s wonderful for solo playing.
You could also get the a cheap tin whistle that is more chiffy or just blow over the top (air whistle) to practice your fingerings.
no getting around it. the susato is loud. for very quiet times, i have a dixon polymer tunable and a dixon polymer with brass tuning slide. both are very good and both are VERY quiet, the one with the brass slide is more so.
a dixon polymer tunable is around $20 or $25… i paid $40 for my polymer with brass slide.
if you like the sound of the susato, the dixon polymers will appeal to you very much. if you are looking for a little more traditional sound, then…
a dixon traditional (brass) is a bit louder than the polymers, but noticeably quieter than a feadog that i have.
also… if your susato D is a small bore, the very small bore will be quieter… not a lot, but quieter… (bonus with a vsb… the upper register comes in easier!)
Well, based on my own experience and my own whistles, and with the disclaimer that your mileage may vary,
The quietest whistles are the “quiet” models made by Mack Hoover. If you want a whisper-soft whistle but that you can still actually play, this is it. (He also makes session volume whistles that are about as loud as a Feadog and very suitable for medium to large sessions.)
Some pretty soft inexpensive whistles are the Generations and Clares. On the expensive side, my Burke narrow bore has about the same volume as a Generation, but with a much different tone: the Generations and Clares have a bright, chiffy, complex sound. The Burke has a smoother, purer sound…“buttery” is a word that gets used from time to time to describe the Burke sound.
A little louder are the Oaks, Feadogs, and Waltons.
Then you have whistles loud enough for large sessions. The Burke session bore (mine is an AlPro, the “ancestor” of the session bore), even though it still has that buttery sound and easy second octave, has quite a bit of volume and projection. The O’Brien narrow bore brass D fits in about here, as do the Susatos (once the player learns to control them), the Waltons Mello-D, and the Overton.
Then you have the loudest whistle I’ve ever encountered, made by Michael Cronnolly of M&E Flutes. I don’t know if he still makes these. I would call them a “special purpose” whistle, suitable for outdoor play in open spaces. They are very much louder than the Overton or Susato ever thought about being, as loud or maybe even louder than a clarinet at full volume. Quite a nice whistle, well balanced, but does take some serious air. Unless you want a seriously loud whistle, don’t get one of these: the sound they make carries for several city blocks.
Blow more softly? Although I consider the Susatos I have (D/C/Bflat set; Bflat, G) to have strong volume, I never thought of them as loud. The D and separate Bflat I like very much.
Philo
Seriously, some feedback from more experienced players - are you not able to play the Susatos as others at lower volume, i.e., without losing the note or unintentionally changing octaves, or any other problems?
Mine are (I think) “S” series, which is the standard narrow bore; the “V” series are the narrowest bore and perhaps the quietest, but, for example, I don’t think the V comes in Bflat, which is my favorite Susato. Among the first whistles I ever got were a D/C/Bflat set (long time ago, probably about $20) - still have them and they’re great. Two or three summers ago in Ireland, Kenmare I believe, I fell in love with a Bflat in a shop, that had a white delrin fipple - just a lovely player; even my wife and daughter said, “you have to take that home.”
Protean, i have a very small bore D, a small bore D and a low D. the V is quiet. the S has a lot of presence and volume. i love the sound of the small bores, but particularly the small bore Bb. (hmmm… sounds familiar.)
the Bb is avail in small and med bore… the small is quiet… the med has lots of oomph!.
i also really like the sound of the small bore C.
so far, i have seven susatos. i think they are great.