I play the flute and recently ordered a concert tuned Irish whistle in D from Erik the flute maker as another alternative to use in our small church orchestra (variety is the spice of life ya know). I will use it for solos…cause I like it; but you can not actually tune the whistle (funny thing is that not everyone is in tune…lol). My daughter has also decided to learn to play the whistle too. So, what I am looking for is opinions as to what might be some great options for tunable whistles to play in Church. I would like a mellow blending sound… not too loud…we have mics.
Welcome, Shelly.
Hmmm … Is the head glued on? Your whistle is just a standard Susato S-head on a wood body. And if it’s not glued you should be able to move it easily to tune it to A440. The Susato can manage +/- 30 cents. But I have no hands-on experience with the EtFM model. I’m also assuming the intonation of the whistle is correct.
Welcome.
Playing whistle in church is a great idea, although you may need more than one whistle to keep up with those pesky guitars and keyboards who like to play in many different keys. If you’re looking for a mellow sound, then maybe a low whistle is what you need. On the flip side, a high whistle can stand out in a good way, since there isn’t much competition at the higher frequencies. That’s useful for building a full sound rather than ending up with a muddy mix. Try playing an intro on high whistle, then drop out when the singing starts and add some colour inbetween verses.
Hi Shelly, welcome to C&F. There are many choices in tunable whistles, plus ways to make others, like Generations, tunable. One fellow who immediately comes to my mind when mellow is mentioned is Mack Hoover . Contact him and tell him what sound you want. Of course many other makers can and will tailor a whistle to the sound you like, if you ask.
Hi Shelly. Welcome. There are a few of us playing whistles and all kinds of instruments in church. I’m a member of a small folk group. I play a few instruments but when it comes to whistle, my Susato D is my favorite. It has a very consistent sound and blends well with the other instruments.
One of the tricks that I use because I play a few instruments and have to set instruments down and pick them up, sometimes for just a small 8 bar song (I’m Catholic) is that once I get my whistle in tune, I use this silicon pencil grips. They help ensure that the whistle doesn’t slip and go out of tune. They may look colorful in the box but on a whislte, they’re barely noticeable. And in a church service, you don’t have the luxury of stopping to re-tune.
The whistle adds a lot to some songs, so give it a go. If you’re into other instruments, you have got to check out how an ocarina blends with the pipe organ setting of an electronic keyboard. For some of the more traditional songs, this is an innovative choice.
Wow! Thank you for all your comments. I tried to comment on all of your wonderful ideas!
The Wooden D Whistle is one solid piece. When I first got it, I should have run each note through a tuner to make sure that each note is in tune. I’ll do that this Sunday. (It does have a very nice quality sound to it…so not disappointed with that and will be great for solos.)
This is actually my third whistle. I own two tin whistle generations in C and D (Blue mouth pieces). Those I have loosened the mouth pieces since getting your suggestion. I actually thought maybe it was the way I was blowing it (the wooden D whistle), but I’ve been playing with whistles for fun for 15 years so I have a little experience getting good quality as well as I have a good ear for pitch…may be why this is bothering me so much.
I bought the D thinking that this is the most popular key used…I should have looked at my church music. We play mostly in flats…lol…I guess I’m learning the hard way. That’s why I figured I needed to join a site that had more experience than my 3 whistles have given me. Thank you for the suggestions on areas and times to play… I think you are right on trying to find the right spots to really bring out (embellish) what can be a beautiful addition to the rest of the group.
I’m going to check out Mack Hoover’s site and possibly contact him in regards to his whistles. He seems affordable too. Thank you!
K. I will also take a look at the ocarina… I’ll try to find one on line to listen to.
I do have some more Questions for mutepointe or to anyone else that would like to respond to any of the questions: Is the Susato D high or low that you like? and…have you heard of the Susato Oriole whistles? If you have, what is your take on them? They are really affordable, but I would prefer to pay a little more and be wowed than disappointed because I was being too cheap!!!
Again…thanks to all of you who responded! Sorry for the book I wrote, just chalk it up to excitement!!!
Shelly
Oops. Thank you for the idea of using pencil grips. I’ll try that out with the Generations.
Ah. So just to be clear, it’s not like one of these, with the plastic head and wood tube?
If the pencil grips don’t happen to fit your whistle you can use small elastic bands on the slide to set and keep the “in tune” position as well. I’ve used silicon hair bands at times.
You can read through my take on the Oriole here. I do play whistle in worship services myself. What whistle works best depends on the music, the setting and the service. I have a rather wide array of whistles from which to choose. And I do make my own whistles as well. But most tunable whistles will work - just as they would in other types of music. The Oriole is a good little whistle at a nice price. I like it but others may not, YMMV.
I do use Michael Burke whistle a lot. I have them in most keys and all the materials. They are tuned well. They blend well. They are smooth and predictable players. And they are a bit more expensive than an Oriole.
The Oriole may provide some wow after playing Gens (I like Gens too and play them regularly). The Burke is one of the nicest whistles I’ve ever played. But in the end it’s all a matter of personal preferences.
Feadoggie
MTguru Sorry, that is exactly what mine looks like. But that piece is on there solid. Has a nice tone to it and my daughter can’t seem to put it down…oh, wait she does put it down in her room…it was my whistle… 
Feadoggie K. I read your postings. So my understanding is that they are fine for lower priced ones. Probably best for a beginner like my daughter and myself so to speak.
What I may do is order a set of Orioles and see how that goes. Someone mentioned that the lower end Susatos where not as good? Do you know if there is a set of Susatos that I should not get? Or the sets to get? I can probably afford quite of few of those to begin with since they can swap the head out.
I also think that I will save up and purchase a higher end …possibly a burke… when I can afford it for myself. I am still open for anything else you have on this too.
Know of any music websites for sheet music or play along sound tracks for church music solos for whistles?
Another good resource is praisewhistlers.org
Its forum is comprised of folks like you who use their whistle in worship. Some of your questions are answered there. And just like this board, we tend to be a rather friendly bunch.
Ah OK, Shelly, got it. Thanks a lot for that info. I did not know that about the EtFM whistles.
All too true! Our music director told me last week that I should play whistle more on the hymns. Except she usually likes to change key at least once per hymn, which is no problem with a chromatic instrument but it IS a problem if I don’t have whistles in all the keys she wants to use! I figure I’d rather just not play than be whipping out whistles for only some of the verses (or only one hymn if it’s the only one I have a whistle for)-- might look a bit silly and people who don’t know about whistles wouldn’t understand why I was playing on some verses (or songs) and singing on others.
I’ve only used a Susato high D and not the low, so I can’t comment.
Our folk group transposes a lot, so I don’t need to worry about whistles in less common keys. And if we do stick with the original key that may contain flats or something, I just play the guitar (with capo of course.)
The only reason that I play the whistle is our keyboard player’s ex-SIL was visiting and joined us for a few songs. I hope you inspire people too.
The silicon grips will stretch beyond belief.
I love key changes in songs. When we did a key change in a song, I stacked two harmonicas. I think you could pull off a key change if you had two whistles of the same brand/make so that the sound was similar. Please let us know if you pull this off.
OK! My comments could be interpreted that way I suppose. I was interested in looking at the Oriole as an entry-level priced whistle. One of the marvelous things about the whistle is that, in part because of its simplicity, lower priced whistles can still be terrific instruments. The Oriole is a dandy whistle, very playable. I would suggest you try one.
Susato has made whistles in a variety of bores over the years. The S-Series bore was used on whistles from high E down to middle A. The whisltes at the extreme ends of those ranges were not the best. The folks that made Susatos knew that and developed different bore sizes. So now you have the V-Series and the M-Series. I have owned/used a lot of Susato whistles. I liked them but sure, some are more endearing than others. On the lower whistles M-Series and L-Series) the mouthpieces can seem comparatively bulky to other whistles. And the BH2 holes seem capable of swallowing a Fiat 500 at times. Other than that they are well behaved and quite playable instruments. So if you need a whistle in a particular key and a Susato is available and the price is attractive, then buy it.
I’ve owned a couple of the three-whistle sets of Susato Kildare whistles. They do represent good value. I expect the Oriole set does as well.
Tony Dixon also makes a decent whistle in many keys at a moderate price. It’s all about personal preference. You might try one of his whistles and see what you prefer.
Dittos on suggestion about Mack Hoover’s whistles.
Dittos on the Praise Whistlers site too.
My playing is geared to a contemporary worship service for the most part. I play contemporary Christian praise music - the radio hits, you know - folk rock, pop rock and newgrass styles. I’ve also played traditional Irish dance tunes and airs when they are appropriate. The whistle is used most frequently as a solo instrument to accompany a vocalist backed by guitars and piano. I happen to play a lot of other instruments so anything can happen if it is appropriate to the week’s message, I’ve played music by U2, Collective Soul, the Roots, Nickel Back, Peter Gabriel, the Beatles, etc. Not exactly traditional church material.
Feadoggie
It depends how many instruments are in your orchestra and how willing they are to accommodate a whistle. I’ve been fortunate enough to lead/plan a whole church weekend where we played practically everything in D or G. On the flip side, some sundays I’ve had to swap between half a dozen whistles. If you’re being asked to play solos, then you should have some say over the key.
I’m a fan of relatively cheap whistles - I mostly play Dixons and Generations. For me, it makes sense to have a reasonably good D whistle (a Dixon trad is just fine) but there’s no point in spending a lot of money on whistles in keys that won’t get used very often. So I use Gens for anything in flats, and until recently I made do with a home-made whistle in A.
If you aren’t tied to the melody line, you can even get away with playing a harmony / accompanyment to a tune in E on a D whistle, by carefully avoiding the notes that need half-holing.
Alternatively, you can spend a lot of money on a full set of hand-crafted whistles!
If you’re going to discuss the possibility of transposing a song with the choir director, I’d sure have that conversation without the whole choir sitting there. I’d also give a brief tutorial on the whistle to the choir director.
It’s very possible the choir director doesn’t know the whistle isn’t chromatic. It’s also very possible that the choir may go into cardiac arrest at the possibility of changing the key a song is played in. They might know what that means but that doesn’t mean they still won’t panic. Those SATB choirs are serious. I bet that for most of the choir members if the music was just played in a different key, they wouldn’t notice the difference other than they might be having a “day” if it was a familiar song.
Whenever our adult choir and the folk group (like we’re not adults) have a joint project, the adult choir just really doesn’t know what to do with us and we try our best to fit into their style. It’s very difficult to strum a guitar with an SATB choir that stops between verses and refrains and takes a breath break, so I usually pick.
Thanks to all of you! I will check out everything!
Shelly
Oh, we’re talking hymns here. If I’m even heard over the other choir members/congregation/brass group/organ, I’ll be surprised. Not that worried about difference in tone!
I’ve definitely showed up on Sundays with four whistles in tow. The first day I ever brought my whistles, we did Amazing Grace and changed key… I think twice (from C to D and then to E at which point I was done).
Actually, with tone difference… I was messing around with What Wondrous Love Is This on my Gen b-flat one day at choir and she liked it, said we should play it just as an offertory or something, organ and whistle (though I’ve long meant to arrange a version for vocalist/piano/whistle or violin; it’s one of my favorite songs). I actually considered suggesting a lot of key changes for the verses to use different whistles with different sounds-- Gen B-flat, Clarke C, Walton D, Gen E-flat. Though I do have the Mellow Dog D/C set now too so if I really needed the same tone across a C/D or whatever key change, I could do it (and the tuneable-ness of the Mellow Dog C is nice too, though I’ve not noticed tuning problems with my Clarke with the organ).
Wonder what she would’ve done if I’d suggested trying to play whistle along with organ and brass on the Fanfare for the Common Man we did a few weeks ago (for tax day, of course) 
… though I’d far rather play timpani on that anyway.