In, I think, 1995 or so, I called Patrick Olwell and asked him to sell me a whistle I had heard he made. We had an interesting chat and he ultimately and somewhat reluctantly agreed. I’m not sure if he had a few on hand or if he made it after the phone call. Anyway, I have it here with me and I’m glad I have it. It’s bamboo tube, in D, with a Susato headjoint. To my ears, it’s hard to distinguish from a garden-variety Susato. I wonder how many are out there. I understand he quit making them. He told me at the time that it’s hard to find a length of bamboo appropriate to the task.
It does have a certain rustic cool factor. Although it feels odd to describe anything “Olwell” as rustic. I have yet to hear a bamboo whistle that was in tune and with a good strong volume. Seems like the Olwell might be. I agree that sound clips are not generally very useful for judging whistle qualities but I wonder if those produced by Erik the Flutemaker sound the same?
Is that really a pink head, Dale? Susato made pink whistles? OMG, that’s … precious. Where’s the Hello Kitty logo?
I always encourage people to experiment swapping heads and tubes around. You never know what you’ll come up with.
My rule of thumb is that a whistle’s head contributes about 2/3 of the characteristic sound, and the tube about 1/3. So I’d expect any bamboo tube with a Susato head to sound mostly like a Susato.
I had hoped it was one of the brick red Susato heads that just looks pink as a result of a flash photo at close range. Or maybe that was the reason Patrick was reluctant to part with it.
I had hoped it was one of the brick red Susato heads that just looks pink as a result of a flash photo at close range. Or maybe that was the reason Patrick was reluctant to part with it.