Greettings from Georgia. I am glad to have found this place. There are hardly any people in my area that play, let alone have heard of a low whistle and I have been hardpressed to find others that can help me and answer questions I have. I am very interested in making my own low whistles and was wondering if anyone here as any experience and could point me in the right direction or give me some tips.
Welcome. Would that be the Georgia neighboring Azerbaijan and Turkey or the Georgia neighboring Florida and South Carolina?
I’ve made whistles for the last dozen years or so. It’s a fun endeavor. I would suggest starting with the directions and designs given by Guido Gonzato on his website. http://www.ggwhistles.com/howto/index.html If you are in the US the designs need to modified just a little for the types of pipe that are available in the states but these are probably the simplest methods out there to help you get started.
Another low tech option would be these directions from Dennis Havlena using a common aluminum shower curtain rod. http://dennishavlena.com/low-d.htm
After you’ve grasped some of the basic construction concepts from those you can roll-your-own design. There are a couple of calculators that can help you in the design process.
http://www.kingsmills.us/twcalc/twcalc.htm or http://twjcalc.sourceforge.net/2.10/TWJCalc2.10.html or http://11wall-west.com/~ph_kosel/flutomat.html
You’ll find a lot of whistle makers around here so feel free to ask questions.
Hope that helps. Let us know how things progress.
Feadoggie
Thank you very much feadoggie 
. Yes I am from the state of Georgia in the USA. There are quite a few folk art muscians here, but very few play the low whistle or penny whistle that I have found. Id love to find a workshop or event where I could get some hands on training in making them, but there don’t appear to be any in my area, so I am relying on internet tutorials. I’ve attempted a pvc low whistle but still h
ave some tinkering to do.
Depends on where in Georgia you are located I suppose. There is a fairly vibrant Irish music scene around Atlanta (I have a brother in Duluth who keeps me posted). I’ve met a couple good players from Atlanta at Augusta Irish Week too. So they are out there somewhere. Maybe someone else here from your area can provide better advice.
You’ll be hard pressed to find any workshop on making whistles period. I have presented a couple such workshops (high D whistle) in the past and it’s not a simple thing to pull off(liability and such). I’d have to really think hard about doing one again in the future. So the Internet is the way to go. There’s a fair amount of experience among the members here on the board and questions about making whistles come up frequently.
Feadoggie
While doing some research I find a whistle store in Atlanta. I called the number but they seemed to have closed up shop. You wouldn’t happen to have any information on the irish whistle community available would you? I would very much like to have a face to face meeting with individuals that have a passion for the whistles. I have seen a couple of workshops for the indian style wood and bamboo flutes here in Georgia, and am considering taking part to understand different flute techniques in playing and making.
Seeing as how you have experience with low whistles and such, I wonder if I can ask your opinion on pvc verses metalics such as tin, aluminum and brass. Do you think the pvc ones are of a lesser playing quality?
You might start here: http://www.atlantairishmusic.com/ They list sessions and teachers. Or here: http://www.irishmusictraditions.org/
They can get you started on your journey.
The material it is made of has no bearing on the playing qualities of the instrument (he ducks!). The design of the whistle and the maker’s craft in making it have a lot more to do with the quality of the finished product. But we all have our favorites and preferences.
Feadoggie