Sorry to resurrect a dead thread, but I finally got a chance to try an MK low D over the past weekend, and there was nothing about it to make me want to abandon my Burke “pro viper”. The voice was nice especially in the second octave but the bottom D was rather weak. Coming from flute, to me a strong honking bottom D is the sine qua non of a low D whistle, and the Burke delivers on that. Now I admit that I only played it for around five minutes, which is certainly not enough time to get a feel for the style of playing that I would adopt on that instrument, but it was enough time to test the strength and sound quality of each note.
Who says the thread is dead? It Lives! I got the MK yesterday! Coming from a flute background, I did not expext the MK to be a flute. It’s 100% low D whistle!
I don’t understand people who praise a certain whistle because it sounds"flutey" or it has a slamming D that really honks. If one wants a flute sound one will be best served by playing a flute.
The MK made the trip from Scotland in a week and a day. It was packed in a stout tube and arrived in perfect condition. I was pleased to find it came in an attractive corduroy pouch with velcro closure.
BTW, I orderd the green finish and it is flawless. I have never seen better fit and finish on any whistle. It has that aura that says; this is a professional grade "instrument’.
What I find most important in any instrument is balance, and this is an attribute in which the MK shines. If I were to rank my low Ds, the clear winner is the MK followed by my Overton, Copeland, Burke, and ALba. In the “playabilty” arena, it’s that dark horse that smokes the competition; agile and fast.
If I had recording session gig, I would take all my low Ds, as they are all first rate, each having a unique voice. If I was off to a pub session, it would be the MK, my Reyburn Session high D, and my Terry McGee Rudall Perfected; good running mates all.
If there is interest, I would be glad to write a review. Suffice it to say on the MK, all my expections are exceeded. Thanks for all your posts. Best, Cyril.
I tried that very same MK at the tionól (in fact, I passed it to you!), and my impression was similar to yours. On the other hand, I heard Ben Power play his MK with Paddy Keenan a few weeks ago, and it sounded stunningly good. So who knows. What makes a particular whistle from a particular maker in a particular player’s hands sound and feel good is an exercise in multivariate complexity. Everyone’s mileage always varies. 
What? Abandoning Overtons after you so recently defended them? 
I’m kidding! I’m kidding! I just couldn’t resist!
I too am currently waiting for a green MK low D, thanks for making my wait all that much more unbearable! 
Maybe I’ll go bug Misha.
Also, in the other low D thread, you said that the MK you got to try previously did not match my MK low f review. I was wondering how they differed? Is the one you have now different to the one you got to try before?
Thanks!
That’s funny. I deserved that. However, the Ovetons are not being thrown out into the street and under the bus.
The MK that I own and the one I tried are not breathy. That’s about it.
Back to Overton and MK. The Overton is the standard large hole with above average back pressure. It’s loud and has a rather amazing, turbulent bell note. It’s a real cannon of a whistle and almost as loud as a flute.
When I’m in my favorite spot on the couch in the living room, about seven feet to my left is my National Tri-Cone guitar on a guitar stand. As you may not know, it has a nickel plated steel body with three resonators and is very responsive. It is usually in open G tuning.
When I play the Overton in this spot, the TriCone resonates whenever I hit the bell note. When I play the MK, it makes the Tri-Cone resonate all the way to B5 or high B in the second octave.
When I play in another room, the Overton sounds louder (to me) than the MK and has a stronger bell note (to me). But, in the same room while comparing the two whistles to my wife when she is about ten feet away, she maintains that the MK is the louder of the two and has a stronger bell note. Hmmmm. What’s going on here? My guess is that the MK has greater projection.
Medit, hope your wait isn’t much longer. All the best, Cyril.
If someone doesn’t understand somebody praising a whistle that has a bottom D that really honks, they perhaps haven’t listened/absorbed enough of the playing of older, traditional players and styles. I forget- is it in the liner notes to the old Paddy Carty vinyl LP? where the person talks about the music of the flute rising up from the bottom D.
The uilleann pipes have a special timbre possible on bottom D called “hard bottom D” (which one leading piper called “the only bottom D worth playing”) and generations of flute and whistle players have striven to emulate it. It’s simply part-and-parcel of Irish wind playing. To somebody weaned on the old guys, I just can’t play a whistle with a wimpy bottom D. Which of course is NOT to say that MK whistles in general are like that, only that that particular MK was like that.
I’ve played most of the high end low D’s and I have to say that my Limited Edition Chieftain is the best. Sorry Mates!!! This whistle with the aluminum head and brass body is even louder than my low D blackwood flute. And when I bought it on Ebay for $250 I had no idea what I was buying. I’ve never read any reviews or anything on this site about the Limited Edition. It was just luck. I wonder how many were made??? But I will always love my MK whistles. Playing them is like driving a BMW. My Limited Edition is like driving a Volvo. Strong and dependable.