I’m looking for another whistle, can’t afford other than the very inexpensive ones right now. I like the looks of the Walton little black whistle, and the Guiness whistle. How is Walton? Does it produce a clear sound? Is it easy to play the second octave? What other brands would meet these two criteria? I have some Clarkes but I don’t like the sound of them. I often read about a “breathy tone”, what does this mean? It sounds like it would be the way my Clarkes sound…(both Sweetones)
In my opinion, A Walton is the best cheap whistle you can come by. I have a Nickel C, and hail it as my BEST whistle. However, I don’t like the Little Black Whistles. Much to frail, and just a tad too shrill for my taste. If looking for a D, a good one would be the Walton’s Mellow D. Just wish I hadn’t given mine away…
I don’t care for the standard-bore Walton’s D whistles.
But both the Mello D and the Walton’s C whistle (same head, different bodies) are very good whistles.
If you want a C whistle, go with the Walton’s. For a D whistle, I’d recommend the Walton’s Mello D or the Feadog. I like the Feadog more, actually, but it may require a touch more breath control to make it sound its best.
I’ll second the Feadog. I love mine, and now that it has a Hoover cap on it, it sounds very nice. It does take some breath control in the low D and some of the upper octave notes.
Well, I’m going to throw a wrench into the consensus, I think
I really like my Little Black, which I have blu-tacked. Before the blu-tacking it was unplayable (squeaked all the time, and couldn’t play above high G).
I do not like my Mellow D, which is overly raspy and not very well in-tune.
I am a fan of my Walton’s C (in brass), though. It’s a bit like my Generation C (which I also like), but more responsive.
On the other hand, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY FEADOG.
Also, just because no one else mentioned it, I believe that, other than the colors, the Little Black and Guiness are the same whistle. I might be wrong.
I really enjoy my Little Black D. Though, as Shadow said, they are frail. At least it does feel that way when I hold it. But what can you expect from Aluminum. But I do love its sound. I’ve yet to own a Feadog (or play one at least). But I’ve heard nothing except good comments on them.
I think the little black whistle and the Guinness whistle is the same whistle, I read that somewhere. But what about the second octave? Does it play well in the second octave? I also tried the Walton Mellow D, I bought one for a friend some years ago, I didn’t like the sound of it, like my Clarkes, too much blowing noise and too much out of tune.
I just ordered a Feadog nickel D from (I think) Shanna quay. I also ordered a Walton Little Black D from Hobgoblin, only about 3 UK pounds or if it was euro, don’t remember, I hope my order went through, I may have made a little mistake. I’ll see in a week or so!
My Little Black D plays well in 2nd octave. Actually, I enjoy playing that whislte next to my Nickle Generations.
And I’m with you on the Clarkes, I think thats why I rarely touch them. Though I am glad that I have them.. makes them handy to have if I want to go out and about with a whilste and not have to worry about if something to happens to it (god forbid though)
This is so insane. This means that you in fact do NOT like the feadog, but rather that you like Mack Hoover’s whitecap. I would put a hefty bet on it that you would be unable to tell the difference between that cap on just about any D whistle tube.
The only D (high) whistles that I would consider as NOT having an easy second octave would be ones like the cheiftains or overtons. In other words, ones that are designed to have a lot of backpressure, which none of the “cheapies” are. So take some time (say about a month) and get used to your whistle.
I don’t think you have enough experience yet to really understand the terms you are using. Specifically “clear” and “breathy”. I’m pretty sure that a Sweetone is not “breathy”. At least, not compared to Clarke Originals or Shaws. I don’t really know what you are trying to say with clear, but in my experience, Feadogs are not what I would call “clear”. Which is why I like them. They have character, and take time to play properly.
Ahh, but there is a need. It’s apparent you are unaware of how much a whistle body actually matters in terms of the difference in sound. So your advice is flawed. So there is a need for the originator of this thread to know this, so that he does not purchase a feadog because you like Mack Hoover’s Whistle Heads.
No, I do not have enough experience to know what certain things mean in the whistle world. I was using “blowing noise” because I don’t know any other way of expressing it, don’t even know if you know what I mean… I asked what “breathy” means, haven’t got an answer to that yet though.
I ordered a Feadog and a Walton Little Black D, they’re both cheap, it’ll be interesting to see what the differences are between them. But yeah, i’ll give them some time, mabye whistles are like fiddles and mandolins or new strings, they need time to be “played in”? Many people talk well about Feadogs, it seems.
I don’t know what “clear” would mean, other than just “clear”, a clear sound, bright sound, without noises. My Clarkes have too much “wind noises” if you know what I mean. But I don’t know if this is because they are bigger than my Generation F, which in my opinion has the nicest sound of my whistles, apart from that it’s a bit too high, the higher notes in the second octave are unbearable.
Thanks for clarifying. But, this is what you said first:
First you say that you also agree that the Feadog is nice. However, you then say that it sounds nice now that it has a Hoover cap on it. In other words, you are implying that it did not in fact sound nice before hand. I think it is insane (or absurd, see below) to promote a whistle as good when you have another whistle head on it.
I suppose you think insane too harsh. If so, fine. But it isn’t. From dictionary.com: insane: … 3. Very foolish; absurd: took insane risks behind the wheel.
I supose I could have easily used absurd. If you find absurd less harsh, just assume that’s what I wrote.
I’m glad you think my views are staggering. However, in view of my previous misunderstanding of your intended meaning, perhaps you could more precisely explain this view.
Ennis: I would use breathy as having a large amount of wind noise.
I would clarify clear by discussing purity, absence of breathiness, and so on. I guess I thought clear was a bit vague. Sorry! Also, I was not at all implying that the whistles have a “play-in” period. Rather, I was implying that you have a “play-in” period. You need to give it more time before you will get completely comfortable with any particular whistle, second octaves, and fingering.
I asked what “breathy” means, haven’t got an answer to that yet though.