Does anyone know of a make of Low D that is plastic, PVC etc that doesn’t therefore need warming up but has a decent level of backpressure? All the makes I’m aware of (Susato, Dixon etc) appear to be easy blowers. Whatever happened to Calmont Whistles?
I hope John Calmont is still out there. Maybe one of our UK members here has an address for him. His web pages (at least the ones I knew on AOL) have been gone for a while though. I exchanged messages with him years ago about his whistles and flutes but do not have a listing of his address. Nice man and quite interested in teaching music and instrument making. I still have one of his polymer flutes and had a low whistle for a time. It was a bit unusual in its design and did not use a traditional duct style mouthpiece as I recall. I have not seen one on eBay for some time either. He has posted here in the past with the moniker CALMONTMUSIC. That was like 8 years ago and he was not treated particularly well by some members here. So I don’t think a PM from C&F would be workable.
Mikethebook, after reading all your posts lately, you seem to have a (not easily specified) requirement for back pressure. That’s a term by the way that I don’t particularly agree with in the way you are using it. But it’s they way most people seem to use it anyway. So - have you considered making a low whistle yourself? You seem to know what you want. And you don’t seem to be finding what you want from the well known and well regarded makers. (And maybe there is a mystical reason why that is!) It can be an adventure to make your own whistle and you might learn a lot about what makes the instrument work well (or not). I’d encourage you to try your hand at it. It’s the best way I know to get the whistle you want
Feadoggie
Thanks for your e-mail. Calmost whistles sound interesting.
Perhaps you misunderstand me a little. I have a highly analytical mind which likes to take apart and understand the things that interest me deeply. It’s not that I can’t get the answers I want from the respect whistle-makers. Far from it. It’s just that, when I have the money to enable me to order a couple more whistles, I will know and understand a little more, at least, about the dynamics of whistles and what I believe I want from one. Until then I don’t want to trouble these busy people.
The idea of making a whistle myself has crossed my mind especially after checking Guido Gonzato’s page. The trouble is that woodwork and metalwork weren’t my strongest cards at school. Besides which I believe I can find what I’m looking for pretty much in a Goldie whistle tailored by Colin to my needs.
even if you get a metal whistle that has a delrin plug, you should be ok on it not needing warmed up as much.
yes, the Goldie will give you the backpressure you are looking for (at least the ones i’ve played.)
it’s all metal (like a Goldie), but i highly recommend an MK.
although, my overall advice is always, buy whatever is for sale used (on the instruments board here), try out a few at a time, and sell what you didn’t love. you can often get what you paid or close, and the seller and next buyer are happy as well!
it’s a longer and more expensive process, but you get firsthand way to see what you like.
If you play out with others you’ll get lots of opportunities to play lots of whistles. It’s one of the endearing things about folk music. We all like to share what we know and what we play. Get some whistles under the fingers and you’ll also get a sense of why folks play what they play. Take workshops with some well know pros. They’ll give you the best information on what works and why. Talking about whistle on a forum can be enjoyable but it’s no comparison to having the whistles in hand. As others have pointed out, it’s hard to express in words how a whistle sounds and plays, especially since we all have differing levels of experience and varying preferences.
The suggestion of making your own whistles was exactly to feed your analytical mind, by the way. My education and career were in science and engineering. When I play an instrument, I immediately am inclined to take it apart and put it back together again and then try to make my own. (Ok, the piano didn’t quite go back together again.) But flutes and whistles are straight forward enough that you can feed your need to know how they work and why fairly easily.
Yeah, at my high school there were no shop classes. We got more of a “How to hire a contractor” outline. I have since found that making sawdust and swarf are among the most enjoyable things in life. The whistles, flutes, guitars, furniture, etc that come out of the shop are all icing on the cake. Guido’s guide is pretty useful.
Yep, I would agree with that. So why ask about plastics? Is it just the warm-up for the aluminum? I had issues with all aluminum whistles with narrow windways myself and gravitated to other whistles years ago. I played outside a lot in those days. When not playing my own whistles I play Burkes with delrin linings in the heads these days. No unusual issues there.
Oh, the Dixon low D’s I have are what I would consider “medium” blowers. It’s all relative, isn’t it? And the Dixons can be modified (not that I am suggesting they need it) to further restrict the air flow. The material is very easily reshaped in hot water. You can place a shim in the wndway to limit the reduction of windway height, dip the mouthpiece in hot water and then squash the top of the windway in a manner similar to a Clarke original tweak.
Feadoggie
Thanks for the replies. I think the MK is a great whistle . . . but, sadly, I don’t like its tone. No I’m pretty much settled on a Goldie but with a bit of cash left over in my budget I might take the advice of someone I met on the forum who, like me, works at home and keeps a PVC low whistle by his desk for playing in brief interludes when no warming up is required. He keeps his MK as it happens for when he has longer opportunities to play. Sounds like a good idea to me.
Getting together with other whistle players is a great idea, one that I would love to do, but my wife and I live in a very remote and unpopulated corner of the Scottish Highlands for one thing and we don’t really have the cash to be travelling to lots of folk festivals. Maybe we’ll get to one next year.
Burkes are great whistles too. A lot of professionals are turning to the Viper I think. I’d considered them but at the end of the day, it comes down to tone and it’s the “cosmic drainpipe” sound I’m after, the otherwordly sound. The Burke’s sound is too pure for me.
I may have a go at making my own whistle one day but finding the time is the problem in the midst of everything else and, for all the clogging problems, I would prefer a metal whistle, harder to make I would think. For all those clogging problems, most professionals play a metal whistle, Overton/Goldie, Kerry, MK & Burke.
I’ve noticed you’ve mentioned the “cosmic drainpipe” sound on a few threads so I will offer you the following to consider.
It’s as much the player as it is the whistle when trying to achieve this tone. the whistle won’t consistently achieve any particular tonal characteristic (other than squeaking) until you’ve achieved a certain skill level and the “cosmic drainpipe” has little to do with, as you have termed it, “backpressure”. If you listen to the Flutio McCoy sound sample for the low D on the Burke website you will experience the very tone you seek (unless I am misunderstanding your terminology) using the Burke low D whistle.
Many low whistles will make that one specific tone you want but they will not all have “backpressure”. In fact, the low D Gonzato that I keep on the desk at my office will do it once you learn proper breath control.
My personal advice based on my own experience at buying every whistle I could find (I’ve got 89 of them now) is that learning proper technique with a well designed and in tune whistle is far better than seeking a particular whistle for one specific characteristic. The best example I can think of is that I play a Goldie/Overton low D for some tunes but switch to a Burke Composite low D or even an old Domnahl Na Gruen (old style) low D for others. I play the Gonzato once a week during a coworker jam session we do during lunch on Fridays. All of them can get the “cosmic drainpipe” or even “honk” to use a flute term but I couldn’t make them do either until I learned how to control my breath.
You also mentioned clogging. While whistle design has some impact on this I’d also offer that much of that is under control as well. Most new players make the mistake of placing a whistle too far back in their mouth. Many also point the whistle nearly straight down and bend their head over to accommodate this angle. I found that raising the whistle up to about 30 degrees below horizontal for most of your playing helps quite a lot too. You could also learn an old recorder players trick of “sucking back”. I know it sounds gross but it works and it was in your mouth before it went into the whistle so…
All that I’m saying here is that technique is arguably important than anything else. I’d advise you to get the best whistle you can afford for now and learn how to play it well. I’m betting that Brian “Flutio” McCoy can make most any whistle sound like that.
ecohawk
Thanks for your reply. You misunderstand me somewhere though. I don’t at all equate getting a particular tone with backpressure. The two appear to be unrelated. But what I do agree with you about though is the idea of getting the best whistle I can afford now and learning to play it well, that technique is more important than anything else. I do like the Burke Viper but would prefer a much quieter instrument. I love the sound of the Goldie and Colin is someone who will adapt his whistles to personal preferences which is great. So that’s the way I intend to go.
The best is enemy of the good.
Colin makes excellent whistles, no-one’s going to argue with that. Just don’t go thinking that somehow they’re the best. Lots of people on this board make out that Oz whistles are the best high whistles - well, they’re excellent whistles, but for my money, overall, the Ormistons are better. And sometimes I prefer a Rose, or a Goldie. But it’s me, at my level of skill, my background and personal taste, saying so. The other people aren’t wrong - they just have different criteria. This “best” thing is pretty futile really.
And you say you “like the Burke Viper” - have you played one? It sounds great on some recordings, sure, but it won’t be until you’ve played it for some time that you’ll really have any idea about what it’s like. The same applies to any other whistle or musical instrument in general.
Anyway, good luck.
Again, I appear to be misunderstood. When I say “best” I’m talking here about a general level of quality rather than any supreme whistle. I know that Goldie are not the best, nor Kerry nor Burke, nor MK etc. They each have their individual playing characteristics, tone etc. I’m choosing Goldie because I like the Goldie/Overton tone more than any other, that’s all.
Well, you certainly won’t go wrong with a Goldie.
The Burke & Overton sound seems similar to me, but the Guido Low D samples I’ve heard have it sounding more like a flute. To me they sound quite different.
Would you be able to play a slow tune on a few of these whistles to make a comparison? I love my Guido G and a Guido Low F is a lot cheaper than Burke & Overton, but I don’t know if I can get the sound I want with the Guido.