About time I posted a bit on my newest acquisition, a Busman D in pink ivory. . .
First, though, I need to point out that this newest whistle isn’t entirely broken in yet, and is a one-of-a-kinder, for better or worse. Paul had a bit of a rough go with it, and won’t be working in pink ivory in the near future to my knowledge.
Last November I ordered a Busman made of pink ivory, one of the rarer woods on the market. It ranges in color from pinks through reds, and the graining can be quite lovely. Come to find out it can be pretty brittle too, and as it was being fashioned, my whistle decided to develop cracks. Paul offered to try to repair and continue, give it a go on another, fresh piece of wood, or change to a different kind of wood. As one who is developing a few cracks in her own finish, I decided that if the whistle withstood the repair job it would emerge as character…laugh lines…not a ‘flaw’. We negotiated and agreed on repair/replace if it decided it really didn’t want to be a whistle after all.
Two weeks ago Tyghre and I drove up to Albany to meet Paul and Charlene, and get my pink ivory D. Okay, a beer or two didn’t hurt either!
It is a beautiful whistle to look at. Paul has an eye for working with the graining and color of wood, and takes great pains to show the wood to its best advantage. The fittings and finishing are lovely (the wood is a fairly dark pink color, and we chose brass to set it off). I like the smoothness of the tuning slide, the overall balance and heft of the instrument.
The playability of the instrument is unique. I had the opportunity to try a number of instruments, and can say that the Busman requires more back pressure than average, maintains an eveness across octaves, but is quieter than expected. To quote Tyghre “Quiet is good! I like quiet!”. The sound is very complex, not ‘pure’, with no grating or screechy quality at all, even at the high end.
I haven’t dare play it for more than 15 minutes at a go yet, as I’m still breaking it in, babying the wood and oiling it far more frequently than my other wooden whistles. I find that it isn’t easy to swap between this instrument and any other because of the difference in pressure requirements, though I think if I was still playing an Overton it would be easy to go between the two. It is turning out to be the late night whistle because of the extraordinary mellow sound, but I look forward to trying it out in a small group, because I think the sound will mesh beautifully with the mandolin and fiddle, especially in a laid back setting.
Working with Paul has been a real delight. At times I think I felt like a delivery room coach…"Come on! You can do it! "…but the fact is he kept me apprised of the situation every step of the way, so I never had a doubt of where I was on his list, expected time of deliver, problems, etc. Its really nice to be kept informed! Also, I feel that this whistle is a far more personal item to me than any other,- very special.
Thanks Paul! Hey…have you ever worked in zebrawood???
