So my first whistle ever was a Walton D brass that my parents bought for me, and since I didn’t know any better I thought that either whistles were squeaky, unable to reach the higher octaves, and tempermental or I just plain suck at playing them.
Then I bought my Walton’s C brass, and oh boy! What a gorgeous sound, at least compared to my D. I love the richer, deeper tone to it.
My question is this: at the same store where I bought my C they also had Walton D “mellow” whistles. The bore was wider. Has anyone compared the “mellows” to the regular ones and can tell me if one sounds better? Also, what sort of things can I look for in an inexpensive whistle in the store before buying it?
walton is a pretty good instrument for me. with inexpensive whistles, its hard to tell how to find a good one. you just have to know what brands are good or not. but there are a lot of different opinions on what people like. my favorite inexspensive whistle is sweetone by clarke. it lives up to the name. you should be able to get them at your local music store, if not then the easiest way is on ebay.
I have a Walton’s Mellow D which I didn’t like too much until I tweaked it with some sticky-tac. Now it sounds great. It has a really nice traditional sound to it. My Sweetone has a nice sound, but is a little more “fife-y” if that’s a word. It’s okay but not quite as nice a tone. I think this is the thread to see for tweaking:
I started out with a Clarke D and a Feadog. Liked the Clarke, hated the Feadog. My squeaks and sqawks didn’t really leave until I bought a Dixon tunable. Not sure you would find too much difference between the Mellow D and the regular Walton’s whistle. If you can’t find whistles locally (and boy, I sure can’t!) the internet has some great resources like Whistle and Drum, Elderly Music, Big Whistle in the UK, and others.
Hate to say it, but … the best way to get rid of squeaks and squawks is, really … practice.
I have to agree with Bill on the poster tac tweak. It improves the Mello D considerably. It’s my favorite low priced whistle. I have several that I carry with me in the car , briefcase , etc. and they sound just fine. In a pince , I have even used them in performance. A couple of weeks ago , I was called into service , at my church , to play some special music. All I had was my Walton Mello D whistle in the glove compartment. Worked just fine !!
Can’t say much for the Walton Standard D , however , my experience with them has been very similar to your own.
I have a both a Walton’s C and a Mello D. For me, the Mello D is pretty good whistle. It has the same diameter barrel as the walton C. Unfortunately I have not tried a “regular” Walton’s D (aside from the LBW which I don’t really care for) so I can’t really give you a good comparison.
Probably the closest thing I can compare it to is a Feadog, but now we are really getting into Apples vs. Oranges (but out of the two I do think the Walton Mello D is, well, mellower).
My Mello D is nickel plated, so I find it to be a little bit slippery to hold on to, but the tone is good. I typically play on a Clarke, but for a cylindrical barrel cheep whistle I find the Mello D to be quite good. Who knows, maybe I was just lucky and stumbled upon a good one. I purchased it as an impulse buy walking through Elderly Instruments a while back, and I think it cost about $7 or $8 dollars.
