Hello everyone, as the title says im new to whistles and new to this forum. I got my 6 dollar one 2 weeks ago. Im a bit disapointed with it, somtimes it sounds like a stuck pig (well I make it sound like that I guess). Anyways it looks like im in the market for a new whistle and I was wondering if any of you could recomend some. I live in a one bedroom apt so I want somthing thats not to loud (I dont want my neighbours pissed at me). and I want to keep the price below $200 and BTW if it makes a difrence im sticking to irish music (its just fricking cool).
If this is a repeat question im sorry… I did look for a search function but I could find none.
Welcome to the board. A maker you must check out is Mack Hoover. You can either purchase a headpiece from him, known as a Whitecap, which will turn your $6 terror into a fine instrument, or you can have him build you a complete whistle from the ground up, to your ‘quiet’ specifications. His price will be alittle over a quarter of your budget…
If you wish to approach a little over half of your budget, may I suggest the whistles of Mike Burke, another excellent whistle smith. Mike has many fine instruments in brass, aluminum, and composite for sale, for immediate delivery.
Web sites and e-mails for both makers are available on the C&F main site. Both Mack and Mike are fine individuals, personally and professionally. You will be enriched by your contact with them…
Being fairly new to whistles myself and suffering from a restricted budget, I tried Daniel Bingamon of Jubilee Whistles who is a gentleman, and a producer of some nice solid quality whiltles - with - (and I qualify my statement) to my ear and liking - nice tone - and fairly easy to play.
I haven’t noticed any great enthusiasm on the board for Daniel’s work - all I can say is I am very satisfied - and he was a complete gentleman to deal with on several occasions.
Otherwise you could try a Jerry Freeman tweaked whistle - of which I have a tweaked “Sweetone” which is really stable and sweet.
Or have a go at tweaking yourself - all you got to lose is a €6 whistle!! :roll:
[quote="Tony McGinley
I haven’t noticed any great enthusiasm on the board for Daniel’s work - all I can say is I am very satisfied - and he was a complete gentleman to deal with on several occasions.
:[/quote]
I’ll second that. The only one of Dan’s I have is tuned to an unusual scale (see the Hava Nagilah Whistle thread) so I can’t play Irtrad on it. Actually, I do that sometimes, and the tunes come out sounding like somthing from Fiddler On The Roof Lots of fun.
The whistle is well made and if Dan’s “normal” whistles are like mine, I’d guess they’re very nice, and a very good value.
Daniel and Mack are also working on a cooperative venture where Daniel makes the whistle bodies (and he has several different scale options) and Mack makes the headpieces.
I’d be interested in one of Daniel’s blues scale bodies with a Whitecap…
If you need it in the future, the Search link is at the top of the forum page.
Under the words “Live Chat”, you’ll find icons followed by words.
Look for this one:
Small bore Hoovers are the quiestest whistles there are, but a tiny bit more difficult to play because they don’t take much breath at all. When I bought mine it was (I think) $40 US, but I don’t know how much they cost now. I’d reccomend getting one of them but also getting a Waltons Mellow D or a Clarke along with it.
Actually, I should have said “narrow bore” Hoover, not “small bore.” That’s an important distinction in terms of volume. I would have just edited the above post but I thought I’d make a separate reply so that it wouldn’t go unnoticed. Sorry.
Lots of fun.
