I need some help to choose my first high-end high D whistle. I have a couple of whistles (Feadóg, Generation, Clarke), but I’m not satisfied with neither. I’m really no fan of this “chiff” sound between notes, and almost every whistle I have produces a lot of these when playing. What I would like, is a whistle with a beautiful, mellow, not ear-piercing at all, sweet sound, just like I seem to hear in most good whistle recordings. If you don’t understand what kind of sound I’m after, please tell me and I can try to explain it better. It should of course have somewhat the same volume in both octaves, even though I know this is tricky. Regarding the volume of the whistle itself, I really don’t want it to be too loud, and certainly not shrill-like in any way. Since I’m mostly playing for myself, it could actually by quite quiet (but I would prefer a little bit more volume than the Clarke C I own, which seems to be surprisingly quiet). As you probably have understood by now, I want a high D with a mellow, soft, enjoyable sound (even in the high octaves), without too much buzzes, squawks or other piercing noises.
I’m not sure whether I want a tuneable whistle or not. I bought a low D whistle with a tuneable slide, but I haven’t found use for the tuneable option this far. I think as long as the whistle itself is in tune, it won’t be any problem. And since this is a matter of price, take pro and cons regarding tuning of the whistle into consideration when recommending. I’m not sure how much money I want to use, but if there’s a great whistle out there somewhere, meeting my demands, I could probably easily spend £100+ if you could convince me. Material isn’t important, but I don’t like plastic for some odd reasons.
If you know of a whistle you think would fit me, please tell me. And I would love sound clips. Yes, I’m aware of all the great sites out there; I’ll check them out again as soon as I get some good suggestions.
Since I am about to contact him about a purchase, let me put in a word for Mack Hoover. Don’t just take my word for it. Search C&F or check out his website for some sound samples.
In case you missed this little fact in other threads, I’m completely in love with my Syn:lol:. If you’re only interested in the D whistle, it’s only about $40 American. While I’m not a terribly experienced player, I do have a picky ear when it comes to sound. This is a sweet, not-piercing whistle, about the same volume in both octaves, and was very easy for me to become comfortable with.
It’s louder than my Clarke traditional D by a long shot, but there’s no harshness to the sound unless I put it there. Compared to the Feadog, the sound is much more complex- rounded, more full and deep.
I’ll let you know when I can find a sound clip.
Happy hunting!
You might find Gary Humphrey’s whistles to your liking. They are pretty mellow, even on the highest notes, but still loud enough to be heard when playing with others. Gary also manages to keep a pretty strong low end even though the high end is mellow and not piercing. They’re also very well made…no rough edges, very semetrical.
I second (or third) the Mack Hoover suggestion for this particular sound. His Whitecap D in 1/2-inch brass likely has the least chiff of about any whistle out there.
Sweet, mellow, not much chiff … sounds like a Greenwood, or some other wood whistles. (I’ve only played a Greenwood thus far.) You may have to look for a used one to fit in your price range. Mack Hoover’s whistles are also an excellent and more affordable choice … if you tell him you want a louder whistle. Or maybe a Sweetheart Dymondwood - that’s also a good whistle.
A Dixon, that is in my opinion the exact Whistle you are looking for. Quiet, sweet, little chiff, and it was my first more expensive whistle so i can tell you it is not bad in that field.
I would recommend a Syn whistle in lancewood. All the Syn range of whistles have delrin/plastic mouthpieces. However the mouthpieces with lancewood stems also have lancewood plugs and it seems that this diminishes the clogging that can sometimes occur with delrin plugging.
Interesting Tal - seems contrary to my experiences. I’ve found that delrin plugs generally tend to inhibit clogging. I think one also needs to be careful with lancewood with respect to climate etc as it is not as stable as say blackwood for example.
I still think that overall for a first high end whistle you can’t go wrong with a Burke brass blacktip.
I have both all delrin mouth pieces and delrin with lancewood plugs. I am talking about the Syn heads so my comment relates to Syns. (I have Syn C#, C, B and Bb and I have played both aluminium and lancewood D in Erle’s workshop as well as the Black Diamond). With Syns. my experience is that the delrin heads clog quicker than the ones with wood beading. The wood beaded hardly, and not badly. Ditto for my Sweetheart maple D.
You probably know more about materials than I do but I am told by all the instrument makers I have met that Red Lancewood is a pretty stable material. I have been from temperate winter mountains to subtropics within a week with my lancewood instruments with little problem. Touch (lance)wood.
Either that one or one from Weston Whistles. The high D I have from Simon is the sweetest sounding whistle I have through both octives. The price, for a wooden whistle, is supurb and about the same as Erle’s.
Neither whistle is overly loud either.
If you want to go to the next level in pure sound that a Rose is what you want, but at 3 times the price.
You could check out Phil Hardy’s website www.kerrywhistles.com He shows all kinds of whistles, gives a short review and you can hear what they sound like. ( I think I like the Bleazy )
I’ve looked through everything on Phil’s site. It’s great. But there’s so many whistles out there and I’m confused. I’ll look into the suggestions; I don’t think I know very much about the whistles mentioned. Could anyone tell me about Alba, Kerry Songbird and Overton whistles? They seem to sell Overton whistles (Goldie too) at www.bigwhistle.co.uk for about £100, but it’s hard to tell how these whistles would be like, right?
You say you want a whistle that sounds like the whistles you hear on recordings. Many of those recordings feature the whistles you say you don’t like, Generation, Feadog, etc. If there is some specific recording you are talking about it would help to know what it is. When it comes to inexpensive whistles I prefer Feadog, in more expensive whistles Alba Q1 or Humphreys Narrow Bore.
I hope everybody desn’t misunderstand. Yes, I want it to be mellow, but it doesn’t have to be that much. Well, the thing is that I just don’t want too much of the squeaks between notes for instance. I’m almost sure most expensive doesn’t sound like un-tweaked Generation of mine. But I don’t know which one to choose, and therefore I’m asking for help. And I would like one of those whistles which produces a lovely, non-piercing sound I hear on most recordings. I should probably mention some; well, Joanie Madden’s instruments sure sound nice!
It’s not so hard; I have some cheap high whistles (well, cheap isn’t the right word, since non of them was cheap in the only shop in my town in this expensive country) together with a lovely Kerry Songbird Low D, and now I want to invest in a quality high D. Since I believe there are a lot of different whistles out there, I’ve given a few criteria, but you don’t need to find the very whistle that fulfils them all (if that’s even possible). I just want some recommendations.
When it comes to backpressure, air volume requirements and breath control I would be happy as long as the whistle doesn’t need more breath than my Low D, but hopefully a little bit than my Clarke C. My whistles havn’t given me too much experience with backpressure; they’re all easy to blow, but if you are to recommend a whistle that sure has a great amount of backpressure, please warn me.
I’m greatful for your help. I would be happy if you could still guide me…
Overton would not fit the “mellow” part you mentioned. They, the Kerry and the Alba’s all have the similar, traditional sound with quite a bit of chiff and back pressure.
I’m afraid that’s largely a question of skill. The whistle won’t squeek when all of your fingers contact the whistle at the exact same instant when changing notes. A conical bore whistle may be a little more forgiving, but that’s just letting you off the hook. Try playing slow and paying a lot of attention to the difference between hitting the holes exactly in sync and a little off.
Joanie uses Burkes and O’Riordans, mostly; the latter are largely unavailable and expensive when found. Burkes are easy to come by, though. The aluminum Burkes have the pure, sweet tone that I think you’re describing.
)