Michael Cronnolly has now made it official that he’s selling whistles:
http://irishflutes.net/mef/Whistles.html
It’s US$100 for plastic or US$150 for cocobolo.
Has anyone here tried these whistles? I heard good things about them a while ago, in the WOODENFLUTE list. Basically, they seem to be very loud whistles. I wonder about sound, tuning, etc. Anyone?
g
I had the pleasure of meeting Michael last time I was in Ireland, and played one of his whistles. The sound is quite loud and very…I don’t know how to put it…earthy, or throaty. There are many overtones, so you don’t have a purity. There is no ‘sweetness’ to it. Its is NOT a whistle for the shy and retiring. It also requires good lung power. There isn’t much in the way of back pressure. The finger holes were larger than average.
The price was nice, the sound was different from anything in my quiver, but I wouldn’t have played it much because of the volume, so I thanked him and did not buy.
Sounds like something I need for our Tuesday night session, with only two whistlers, five fiddles, three quitars, one banjo, one madnolin.
MarkB
Now where have I seen that head design before? 
They look very well made, although the pics are really too small to properly show off the details… and I wouldn’t have posted that horrible quality sound clip to show off my own work! 
It is possible to make a quiet polymer whistle if the windway is unusually narrow (which tends to clog) or unusually tall (which tends be chiffy).
As a general rule though, polymer whistles tend to have a good degree more volume than most others.
I would say that these whistles would be a great choice for someone who likes extra volume and isn’t turned off by the look and/or feel of a polymer whistle… but I’m just basing that opinion on what little information has been presented, so don’t hold it against me if I’m wrong! 
I had one here for a couple of weeks and didn’t like it at all. It wasn’t in tune with itself (the tube was still full of filings) , was rough sounding and the mouthpiece wasn’t well finished either - the fipple block was in at an angle and the ramp somewhat rough. The tube was also bigger diameter than I expected.
I sent a polite email, but there was no offer to replace or refinish, only to refund which was done promptly.
Trisha
I have one, and like it a lot.
Not everyone thinks a whistle louder than a clarinet is a good thing, though, so be aware: it is vastly louder than a Susato.
I don’t have any intonation problems or finish problems on mine, though. Having not seen any others, I can’t speak to consistency, but I do like mine a lot.
It is too loud for playing except in good sized sessions, though, or for open-air performances. This is a good whistle to consider ear protection for.
If you’d like to hear it, there is an (old) clip of mine at
http://www.flutesite.com/samples/cronnolly2.mp3
–James
P.S. Michael also sent me a second head which has less volume and less air requirements, but still is quite loud, much louder than a Susato. He told me he makes these whistles as a teaching instrument for those going to move to flute, to teach them breath support and get them used to the greater air requirements of the flute.
I dunno if I agree with that. I also don’t know if you’re talking about polymers in general, which includes PVC and ABS, or just delrin. Yes, Water Weasels, O’Riordans, and Susatos belong to the polymer family and are generally considered loud. But so do Dixons and Burke Pros, which are not at all loud. (The latter have Delrin heads with an outer jacket of aluminum or brass these days. Having both the old and new designs, the delrin design isn’t any louder.) Also, in almost every key in which I have both, Thin Weasels, made from wood, are at least as loud as Water Weasels in the corresponding key. The exception is E, in which the WW is of a much larger diameter.
I would say the loudest D whistles I have are probably Bleazey (all wood), Copeland (nickel w/delrin plug) and Sweetheart (all wood). Also pretty loud are Weasels (PVC or wood and metal with composite plug) and Silkstone alloy (metal and plastic). But for each of these, you can find a whistle of similar construction that’s not at all loud, like Swayne, Busman, and Burke.
I bet Cronnoly’s wooden whistle (which I’m probably gonna get in the not too distant future) is just as loud as the polymer.
At least, it’s a “honest” clip. Yucch… Now I know I don’t want one.
Btw: to those around with a perfect ear: is this .mp3 scale by M&E in tune, or do I have sand in my oysters (as we say here…) ???
If any of you are ever going to be in the Texarkana area, we do have sessions and you can consider yourself invited.
You can check out the Cronnolly whistle–which I really have found to be a very good whistle albeit not a very soft one–in person, along with my other odd and varied instruments.
–James
Chas, by way of example consider also whistles made entirely of delrin. Seery makes a delrin soprano D, which is quite loud and requires a very tight focused air stream in the upper octave to avoid screeching. OTOH, ABell makes an all delrin soprano D that looks and sounds very much like its blackwood sister; it’s one of my favorite whistles, with a strong full sound at moderate volume - really lovely and easy to play through both ends. The Seery and Abell have about the same bore diameter (I don’t have the Seery anymore, Jessie has it, so I can’t say exactly what the head design is).
Regards,
Philo
I have to say that the clip didn’t sound ANYTHING like what I played, nor did it sound like what Michael played for me. I’d say it was a poor representation of the whistle.
The mind boggles! 
Probably everybody following this thread has already read / heard this, but just in case:
Since the Cronnolly polymer whistle has been discussed in several threads lately, I thought I’d record a new sample on mine. Here’s Jenny’s Chickens:
http://www.flutesite.com/samples/cronnolly3.mp3
The only complaint I have on this whistle is that it is so loud it is very hard to record. I am sitting about ten feet from the mic in this sample, the mic is turned away from me, and the gain is turned down to 30%. The recording software is Goldwave, the sound card is an Audigy.
–James