Dale has put a review of this brand/type of whistle in the Low Whistle section of the C & F site.
This is my experience.
As described on ebay.
A new and unique design of Irish Low Whistle both in appearance and sound quality. Handcrafted by (Calmont). Made from black High density Fiberous polymer a very hard type of plastic.
Features are:
1.Tunable head with smooth action. A at 440. Tested on an electronic tuner and suitable for playing in sessions etc.,
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Round tone hole. This gives the instruments its unique flute like tonal quality with a breathy edge
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No beak. Instrument played with the sound hole facing towards your chin. This has a number of advantages. You can determine your own holding angle and support the instrument next to your body .This has the added benefit of being able to flatten notes by simply moving the instrument backwards and forwards.
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Removable ring to enable the airway to be cleaned(This feature is not found on other low whistles.)
5.Two piece tunable with name stamped on headjoint.
6.Smaller than usual tone holes and closer together making it much easier to play
7.Little pressure difference between the octaves means you dont have to blow your lungs out to get up there.
8.Offset holes are available for people with small hands
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Bell end on lower foot for enhanced low “D” .(This feature is not found on other low whistles.)
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Light brushed effect to simulate wood grain with a final buffing to give a nice natural shine.
11.Latest improvement is a Power Octave adjustment plug in the windway. (see photo) This means that you can now set the whistle to your personal preference. Whistle is currently set at the most powerful setting of 7.5mm.(see photo) This has the effect of giving the whistle max volume and power in the lower octave. If the plug is moved backwards to open more of the hole it has the opposite effect.
FOR MORE DETAILS VISIT http://hometown.aol.co.uk/calmontmusic/poweroctaveadjustableplug.html
Postage uk £5.95
After the package was opened!
Appearance
After opening the package, and putting the two piece whistle together,
the first thing I noticed was the appalling finish - see 10 above.
The whistle looked second hand and battered.
Indeed it looked worse than my Dixon Low D that is several years old, that has had a tough life being lent out on several occassions, and used at many sessions in ‘excitable’ places.
The bottom gold plastic ring was loose, i.e. the glue hadn’t worked properly for whatever reason, and the tuning slide bulge had obvious heat damage from the enlarging process. The windway workmanship looked clumsy, although it did work. The cork bung lets down the appearance badly though, and could be either replaced (by a black bung ?) or left out.
In short the politest this to say, is that the appearance of the whistle is seriously dissappointing.
Also there is an issue regarding the p&p.
The postage was actually £1.15 and the cost of an overlarge padded ‘jiffy’ bag. This doesn’t amount to £5.95. In the UK there is a Special Delivery that costs under £4.00 that guarantees next day delivery before 1pm.
So the delivery time was also dissappointing considering the cost.
It is the first whistle I have ever bought that didn’t come in some sort of tube. Even my Low Bb from Alba (cannon size whistle) came in a tube!
This might protect the whistles better on the post, and the tubes are not expensive.
So buyer beware!
The sound
If you want a whistle that sounds like a flute. this is the one to get.
The unusual mouthpiece works. Basically it is a variation of the bamboo style Native American Flutes, except your mouth plays the part of the first wind chamber.
I had some friends listen to it playing a variety of pieces on Kerry Pro, Dixon Low D, Dixon one piece D flute, and the Calmont.
The Calmont sounds almost identical to the Dixon Flute.
Tuning matched not for note, both to human ears, and my electronic tuner.
Volume is louder that the Dixon whistle, but not as loud as the Kerry Pro, or the Dixon Flute, according to my friends.
The playability is good, double jigs and reels are no problem, and sling/slurring notes is possible. I used pipers grip, but could play with fingertips too, so the smaller handed people might find this whistle easier - if they can’t master the pipers grip.
So… subjectively
Appearance 2/10
Playability 8/10
Sound 8/10
I emailed Calmont the same morning as the whistle arrived, expressing my dissappointment, and very much to his credit, an immediate full refund was given (via Paypal). I had to ask for a return address for the whistle to post it back in a separate email.
I would suggest not applying the brushed finish to the whistle, it makes it look battered and scratched.
I would suggest replacing the cork (real cork!) with a black plastic bung or similar.
I would suggest either sending by Special Delivery, or seriously lowering the p&p to actual cost.
Apparently you can only buy through ebay.
If Calmont were to sell this whistle directly to customers, then it would be fair to compare the price favourable with a Dixon Low D. However the appearance needs serious improvement at any price.
This is what happend to me, make of it what you will.