O'Riordan vs. Rose vs. Thin Weasel

Whistle
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The Battle of the Wooden Giants!!

Okay, well the whistles obviously aren’t giant…but you know what I mean :slight_smile:

I now have wooden soprano D whistles from each of these makers, so I thought I thought I’d contrast them for those of you who may be wondering how they compare. In the past I’ve written long, in-depth reviews of whistles, sometimes these reviews have turned truly epic. This time…(in my best George Sr. impression)… Not Gonna Do it! Nope, this is going to be short a concise…I hope! So on with then…

The whistles I’ll be discussing here are: O’Riordan Blackwood Concert D (Thanks to a special friend for making that happen :slight_smile: ), Thin Weasel in Cocus and another in Birds Eye Maple, and the Rose Blackwood. The Thin Weasels are so similar in sound that I won’t distinguish between them here.

Of these whistles, the O’Riordan and Thin Weasel (TW from here out) produce the most volume, they are about the same. The Rose is a good bit quieter, but certainly not at all weak. The TW and O’Riordan are session worthy, the 1st octave of the Rose is not, unless it’s a very quiet session.

All three whistles are extremely well made. I’d say the O’Riordan and TW’s have the slightest edge in the quality of the final finish and here’s why: The holes are smoother and more ergonomically correct on the O’Riordan and TW’s.

All four whistles are very well in tune, however I’d give the tuning edge to the TW’s, they are much more forgiving of changes in breath pressure than the other two whistles, which require more attention and work to keep the tuning on from one note to the other. (oops run-on)

Finally, pureness of tone: My TW’s are far more “Whistley” sounding than the O’Riordan or Rose. However the second ovtave high notes can be piercing. The O’Riordan is fairly pure with a very round tone. A nice big sound that doesn’t spit your ears in the second octave, but it does get loud up there. The Rose has sweetest sound of the, three, really beautiful and quite easy on the ears in the second octave - a real joy to listen to.

That’s it, I’m done! Hope this has been of interest to someone somwhere :slight_smile:

Cheers All,

Loren



[ This Message was edited by: Loren on 2001-11-15 17:46 ]

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So, Loren, which is your favorite living room whistle?

:slight_smile:

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I too have an O’Riordan (C/D Concert set) and a TW in Cocus. I find the TW MUCH louder than my O’Riordans especially in the lower notes. In fact that is one of only two criticisms of the O’Riordan that I have… soft E and softer D. The other criticism is that the small F# hole is much closer to the E hole than on any of my other whistles. I have to make sure my two fingers are firmly touching to make a good consistant seal. It can be gotten used to, but is annoying because it is so different from everything else I play.

The TW on the other hand has a harsher tone to my ear and is “touchy”. It really needs to be well warmed up or it cracks and squeeks like crazy… Even when warm, however, it still has a couple of notes that I have to be very careful of my breath control to not get away from me. Tell you the truth, I haven’t played the TW since the Abells and O’Riordans arrived. I play the Abell most… in my livingroom and everywhere else.

Clark

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That reminds me I’ve been wishing someone who owns a This Weasel would post a tune to Clips and Snips. It’s probably the only whistle not represented.
Tony

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Jessie,

Favorite living room whistle? An Oak nickel C with 3/4 of the window taped over..that way no one can hear me Hee hee :slight_smile:

If we’re talking unmuffled whistles: Rose or O’Riordan for soprano..Rose when the neighbors are home. Low whistles: Herbison Low D when I need minimun volume, and my Overton Anodised Low F the rest of the time. That particular Overton is perhaps my very favorite whistle of all.

Tony,

Sorry dude, can’t record MP3’s with my system, other wise I’d put up some tunes.

Clark,

Interesting observations. I agree that I like the hole spacing a little better on the TW, but I still like the O’Riordan a bit better overall.

On the issue of the weak low notes. my experience has been different: I find all of these whistles too weak on the bottom for my liking, and I can’t perceive any significant difference between my O’Riordan and TW’s in this respect. Ditto with the Rose. To me that’s the beauty of Overtons: a low end you can unpack and camp out on :slight_smile:

Loren

[ This Message was edited by: Loren on 2001-11-15 22:06 ]

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Very interesting comparison, Loren! Being at the “do I really need a wooden whistle” stage myself (dumb question, I know), hearing from someone who has tried more than just one or two is very valuable.

But your review isn’t complete! You really need to get yourself a set of Abells, a Bleazy, and whatever other brands exist out there. C’mon, we need a complete wooden whistle review. :slight_smile:

On another note, pureness of tone. How would you rate your whistles in terms of chiffiness? Your description of the Rose makes it sound as if it has a clear, unchiffy tone … What about the others?

Of course, there might be quite a bit of variation between individual whistles. For instance, I have tried two different blackwood Abells, and they had nowhere near the same characteristics: One was very pure, but required a huuuge air pressure to pop into the second octave, the other was very chiffy and took much less air. I liked the second best, BTW. :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Jens

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Jens,

Yes you need a wooden whistle, or two…or three… :slight_smile:

Sorry, I don’t expect to be adding any new whistles to my collection for some time. Heck, I’ve still got whistles I’m trying to sell! Even so, I’ve heard bad things about Bleazy’s from at least one reliable source, so that’s not even on my wish list. And Abells are well…exactly as you’ve described - woefully inconsistent. I’d like a really good Abell D, and a high F, but who knows when I’ll actually find acceptable (for my taste) examples.

Regarding the “Chiffiness” of the whistles I reviewed: My Rose really is quite pure sounding, not much Chiff at all…but at least there’s a Fipple (hee hee). It still sounds like a whistle to me, just a very pure whistle. As I mentioned, the O’Riordan has a bit more chiff to the tone, but not a lot.

The Thin Weasels OTH have a startling amount of Chiff when played side by side with the other whistles. My immediate reaction on playing a TW after several tunes on the Rose and O’Riordan was “Ah! Now that’s how a whistle should sound!!” Unfortunately there are two things that keep me from preferring the TW’s over my other sopranos:

A) I experience more clogging with the TW than I do with either the Rose or O’Riordan.

B) The second octave high notes are too piercing for my taste - I prefer something a little easier to take on the high end, and I prefer a whistle that is more balanced between the first and second octaves.

In the end I think the Thin Weasels are the best representation of what a whistle “should” sound like (in my mind) in terms of amount of chiff. However, that’s just a matter of personal preference, and I love whistles that sound more pure like the O’Riordan and Rose as well…They just sound less whistle like to me.

Sheesh, that’s all a lot of rubbish isn’t it? I should have just left well enough alone!

Loren “Wordy Boy” B.

[ This Message was edited by: Loren on 2001-11-16 08:38 ]

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I don’t own any wooden whistles. (Though I do have a couple of O’Riordan metal whistles and a ton of PVC Water Weasels.)

Last week I got the chance to try Thin Weasel D and C whistles for a while. Perhaps it’s just my Water Weasel experience, but I had absolutely no trouble with the whistles being harsh, touchy, or squeeky. They sounded beautiful right from the get-go. (I did have a minor problem with moisture clogging at one point.)

The big discovery for me was the TW C. The D was pretty much like my WW D, but the C was miles better than my WW C. Easily the best C whistle I’ve ever played, and perhaps better sounding than any D I’ve ever tried, too. Simply gorgeous tone, and very easy to play.

I wish I had the money sitting around which would justify buying a whistle I’d very rarely play in public…

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The Rose is a good bit quieter, but certainly not at all weak. The TW and O’Riordan are session worthy, the 1st octave of the Rose is not, unless it’s a very quiet session.

Loren,

I have ordered one of these - the Rose that is - and play mainly in sessions. Would this be a bad choice based on your review?

Cheers :slight_smile:
Gerry

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Gerry,

Hard to say since I don’t know what the sessions you go to are like and what your requirements are. Where I live there is only one session every month or two, so I can’t attend often. Last time I went I took a Sindt, which is in the same ballpark volume wise as the Rose. There were three guitars, three fiddles, Bodhran, two flutes, and a banjo all playing at the same time during most of the session. I tried to play whistle but couldn’t even tell if sound was coming out of my Sindt, really! The Rose wouldn’t have worked there and I could barely make out the whistle playing when one of the flute players whipped out his Abell for a few tunes.

Someone who owns a Rose on this list told me just a few days ago that they had heard a Rose being played at a Ceili (I believe) and mentioned that the Rose sounded good in the second octave, but the low end got lost among the other instruments. This is my recollection of what I was told, though it may not be entirely accurate.

Seems to me that the low end of the Rose’s first octave would be too quiet for all but the most tame sessions, but I’d be interested to hear from anyone who’s been on the listening end of a Rose at a session. Maybe some folks in Fred’s neck of the woods where the whistles have been around longer?

Loren

[ This Message was edited by: Loren on 2001-11-16 09:18 ]

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Thanks Loren,

The sessions I attend are similar to the one you mentioned. Since it is not going to be my only whistle - I play my Dixon D now at most sessions - I can still use it for solo pieces and of course for playing at home. I’m sure it would also be nice for backing a singer etc.

Cheers :slight_smile:
Gerry

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Gerry,

Yeah, I’m sure you won’t regret buying the Rose, it really is something :slight_smile: Might not meet all your needs but it will certainly meet some. I can’t imagine a better whistle for backing up a singer or playing duets with. You’ll definitely get your money’s worth of enjoyment from it.

Cheers,

Loren

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Gosh, you folks have quiet sessions. I can’t hear the lower octave of my Dixon in mine.