Oh yes they do. That whole aspect is grossly overrated, I have several times given the example of Brid O Donohue’s whistles which are nice examples of the species but nothing anything earth shattering. But does she make them sound
A few weeks ago I came upon one that used to belong to Josie Hayes, not a vintage one interesting enough, the loveliest and sweetest I have seen in ages. But an off the shel one. I have a few C whistles Micho Russell used to love and if he could he’d borrow them off me for concerts. You’d find othing special about those either.
And the example I gave of the ten tried at Custy’s meant to say these off the shelf/straight out of the jar were perfectly suitable for a beginner or anyone else. So, surely, soem are nicer than others but both the ‘crap’ and the ‘special, hard to find’ end of the argument are a myth. By the end of the day you just have to learn to play them.
Sean Potts had a special custom job done on his by Peter Hunter. That’s true.
I would agree that this is sound advice, and we’ve certainly given the original inquirer a taste of the divergent opinions on this topic.
And I would add that there may be availability issues involved here as well. I live in the middle of the US, and in the unlikely event I should decide that I want another Generation, I’d have to order it. But there are four places in town (and this is not a large town) that carry Sweetones. Indeed, that’s how I got started – I wandered into a toy store and found a display of Sweetones and bought one because my kids were taking dance lessons and I had just found out what those whistle things were. (I bought a C, which I learned very quckly was not what I wanted, although why people insist on using sharps and flats when C is a perfectly good key I’ll never understand, but that’s another story.)
But I’ve only seen Generations in one music store (Postsdam, NY) ever, and I travel lots of places and wander into just about any music store that I pass just to see if they have whistles.
So it may be that what Peter finds commonplace where he is may be the exception to us out here on the prairie.
In any event, it’s unlikely I would need another Generation because the four I bought were bloody awful. They buzzed like they had gravel in them – every one of them. And this was not just when I started. I put them away for three years and got them back out again and they still buzzed and were bloody awful. I would think that anyone who got one of these as a first whistle could get very discouraged about whistling very quickly.
On the other hand, the worst Sweetone (or Meg or even those Woodstocks) I’ve even gotten was at least tolerable, even when I was new. I don’t play them much any more, and they may not be high-grade performance quality, but they work. And I wouldn’t hesitate to give on to my kids if they wanted to learn how to play.
(And I didn’t really stick them in ivy pots. I put them in the Christmas boxes we put together for poor kids, which is probably why they hate us in Africa now.)
On the one hand, I keep thinking that Paddy Moloney told me that one has to search through a lot of Generations to find a good one and that he thinks they have to be tweaked a bit even then.
On the other hand, Peter’s right, I suspect, that this issue may have been overplayed at the expense of learning how to make the whistle sound good.
Those were my exact experiences with the two mentioned brands. For a beginner the Gens were a little frustrating and discouraging. I can play them now, as an experienced whistler, just fine with only some minor tweaks. I think Clarkes are, because of their construction, easier on the ears to a beginning student. Either way, the two are inexpensive and it couldn’t hurt to get both and decide for yourself. Whistling is definitely easier to get started on than most other instruments… you can get several new instruments for way cheaper than you could buy one used… saxaphone, for example.
hi Pieman
I’m new to whistles too, and as you can tell this is a great place to get many opinions!
If I may add my newbie two-cents worth- you may want to get at least two whistles to start with. I didn’t, but placed two more orders after receiving my first! That’s the wonderful thing about whistles, you don’t have to spend alot ( though I’m sure there are plenty of folks here willing to nudge you in that direction )
My first whistle was a Clarke original, then I ordered Sweetone and a Feadog, then a Clare (and another Sweetone for my daughter so she would stop stealing mine ) They are all D’s, and I haven’t spent anywhere near what I’ve spent on my daughter’s (concert) flute and saxphone!
It has been very interesting to me to see the different personalities of these whistles, and I find I’m enjoying playing each one, depending on my mood (and the alignment of the planets, barometric pressure and how much coffee I’ve consumed that day… )
Anyway, have fun with whatever you end up purchasing (and I hope you will consider more than one kind)
hi Pieman
I’m new to whistles too, and as you can tell this is a great place to get many opinions!
If I may add my newbie two-cents worth- you may want to get at least two whistles to start with. I didn’t, but placed two more orders after receiving my first! That’s the wonderful thing about whistles, you don’t have to spend alot ( though I’m sure there are plenty of folks here willing to nudge you in that direction )
My first whistle was a Clarke original, then I ordered Sweetone and a Feadog, then a Clare (and another Sweetone for my daughter so she would stop stealing mine ) They are all D’s, and I haven’t spent anywhere near what I’ve spent on my daughter’s (concert) flute and saxphone!
It has been very interesting to me to see the different personalities of these whistles, and I find I’m enjoying playing each one, depending on my mood (and the alignment of the planets, barometric pressure and how much coffee I’ve consumed that day… )
Anyway, have fun with whatever you end up purchasing (and I hope you will consider more than one kind)
I know what you mean about different stores carrying different whistles. I’m fairly sure the store near me doesn’t even carry Clark Sweetones; just Megs. But if there isn’t much of a difference, I don’t think that should matter. Maybe if I get into whistling some more, I’ll order some. (I’d really like to try a Feadog, but again, the store near me doesn’t carry them).
So I’ve decided that I’ll go for a Meg (or Sweetone of they have it)
Thanks
EDIT: Well, I just bought my whistle (a silver meg), and It seems to work pretty well. Some notes seem to be out of tune by a few cents, but I have a good feeling it’s just because I still suck.
Here… I’ll buy a Generation D from the Whistle Shop. And I’ll buy a Sweetone from there as well. I’ll make recordings using both whistles, and see how they sound. My honest bet is, unless I’m just “unlucky” enough to find that rare gem of a Generation, the Sweetone will come out sounding more pleasant. As far as tuning issues go, The C Sweetone and Megs are the ones with it. The D’s are fine for the most part.
And as far as “top players using Generations..” Isn’t there an interview with Paddy Moloney and Dale, and how Paddy clearly says, “Usually Mary can always get me a good one” a good one meaning that “rare gem” generation… Not some random whistle…
I have a Clarke Meg, in D. Which in all honesty, is the same thing as a Sweetone. And, I’d put it up to any whistle. My only complaint is that it’s just not very loud. But it certainly doesn’t sound like a toy, Thats what recorders are for. It plays easily, and beautifully.
I’ve honestly never owned or ever played ANY Generation D. But I have played them in other keys. So, I’ll have to just buy myself that D then won’t I?
And if Clarkes aren’t instruments… Then what are they?
I would be happy to supply a recording using off the shelf Generations
And as far as “top players using Generations..” Isn’t there an interview with Paddy Moloney and Dale, and how Paddy clearly says, “Usually Mary can always get me a good one” a good one meaning that “rare gem” generation… Not some random whistle…
Yes there is, everybody is always looking to find something better but I also said that the significance of that mythical special one is greatly overrated. First of all: players like Moloney and Potts have different needs and look for details many won’t even notice. Have no doubt that if you can’t make a straight forward off the shelf example sound well, you won’t sound any different on the one Moloney plays. There’s no magic there.
I gave a number of other examples of whistles played by people I happen to know, whistles I have a first hand experience with (and was scorned in PM for ‘namedropping’ for it). Yes, top players using Generation whistles.
And if Clarkes aren’t instruments… Then what are they?
Who is to say, the C I have is beyond description, without any redeeming factors at all. The D I bought at the same time I gave away so I can’t check. I thought at the time it was in the same league as the C.
Get the Generation. It is a real whistle. I have a Sweetone and a Meg that are never played because they are toys in my opinion. You might also consider a Feadog or a Walton’s Mellow D. Play them until you learn to play them. They may be hard to play at first but hang in there.
The Sweetone is super easy to play, and would be less discouraging to a beginner, but just isn’t worth the bother. My D and C are both horribly out of tune. Well, the D is gone now. Got squished accidently. For a while the C was my only C but now I have a Freeman tweaked Feadog C and it’s wonderful.
In fact, I think an off the shelf Feadog black head model would be a good choice too. The little shop near me has them and they’re pretty consistent.
Make a Generation sound good? Of all the talk I’ve heard about (key word here, and that is finding, not making) those amazing Generations, is people trying a bunch of them out in a shop if they can, or buying one untill they get one. I never hear about people “making” or tweaking a Generation so that it becomes that “rare whistle.” There is of course Jerry Freeman’s tweaked whistles, and I’ve heard good things about them. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I guess this talk I always read about, must be innacurate huh?
I don’t have a problem playing Generations, I have a problem with how most of them sound. Out of the box of course. And that is, usually screachy and scratchy in the upper notes, and buzzing disgustingly on the bell note. And that’s not putting Generations down, I enjoy their G, F, and Bb whistles much. I’ve never had one single Clarke, any model, sound horrible like what I just mentioned. And that’s in my experience. I obviously can’t say the same about everyone else’s experience. The Sweetone and Meg C whistles have tuning issues, big noticeable ones, and that’s already been said. But, if they’re so much like toys, how come it is when I play them for people, they tell me how pretty that sounds, or how amazing that was to hear? Seems to me, toys don’t sound beautiful or amazing… I guess it’s what your definition of a toy is right? …
I don’t have a problem with people not liking something, or preferring something different. I have a problem with people putting down other people’s work. How’d you like it if a bunch of people put down whistles you worked hard to make/design?
But this topic has really got me interested in Generation D’s. I have two Feadogs in D, the green fipple one in brass, and the black fipple one in nickle plating. I like them honestly, although mine have a little screachy ness in the upper octave. So, I’ll try them out. All I’ve ever heard about them is bad things, and that is the un-tweaked ones straight out of the box so to speak. So, we’ll see.
I have two Clarke D’s a Stock sweettone D and C and a Freeman Tweaked Sweettone D, a stock and freeman tweaked generation D. Love them all. My fav of those is probably actually the standard Clarke for sound. For playablity the Freeman tweaked Gen.
My sweettone C is a very nice sounding instrument. At least by itself. I purchased a chromatic tuner today so I can finally see exactly how in or out of tune they are rather than the ballpark I did with my guitar tuner hehe.
sweettone are inexpensive. No reason you can’t buy a couple and a gen.
you might consider a Freeman tweaked model of one of those. hehe next I am thinking I want to try a Freeman tweaked Shaw myself
I have an untweaked sweetone in d. I would like to get some generations but people from the forums scared me out of trying 'em. From what it sounds like searching for a good generation is like trying to find the holy grail or something.
I ordered my Gens off the web sight unseen and they are fine. They sound nice and chiffy no realy problems. Any problems with playing them I attribute to my skill or lack there of not the whistle itself.
I’ve read most of this thread and all I could add is that once you’ve spent anytime at all with whatever whistle you get, Meg, Sweetone, Clarke, Walton or Feadog you’ll fall in love with the instrument and want a really awesome one so, in the grand sceme of things I’d like to introduce you to the word “Chieftain”
…Ask and ye shall recieve, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you… You see, Jesus spoke these eternal truths at the end of his first set at the “Session on the Mount” switching from His Chieftain tunable Low D to His Chieftain Mezzo A for an aire He called the Beatitutes…
Yeah, this really could go on endlessly, but I’ll have to agree with Walden. Generations have issues, but they also have something pretty special in them, if you’re willing to work for it. I have several keys, and only my D really is less than decent. I chalk that up to a quality-control “lemon”. I’ve been listening to Mary Bergin’s recordings lately, and have fallen back in love with that Generation sound. For a few bucks, pick one up and decide for yourself.
) They are all D’s, and I haven’t spent anywhere near what I’ve spent on my daughter’s (concert) flute and saxphone!
From what it sounds like searching for a good generation is like trying to find the holy grail or something. 