Hello people
New here. Am looking for a place to purchase O’Riordan whistles or at least get a current price. Any suggestions??
Thanks
As far as I know, the only place to purchase is directly from the maker. I can tell you there is a 2 year wait for an O’Riordan whistle. See Dale’s review at: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/Expens.html
You can reach Pat at the phone number or address on the expensive whistle page of of the maim C&F web page (see the first link at the top of this page).
Contact him for correct prices. If I remember correctly:
I think aluminum D whistles are $85.
I think wood D whistles are $125.
I think aluminum Low D whistles are $140.
The prices are fixed at the time of delivery, so they could change in the next two years. The last price changes occured in Spring of 1999. Pat is great to deal with. I made some last minute changes to my order and I was very happy I did. I think Pat works one order at a time. I don’t think he does much for making a bunch of one key at a time, then moving to another key. I just got mine this past spring. I waited a week short of two years. It was easily worth the wait. The first 12 months were the worst for anxiety.
Thanks for the replies. I’ve been playing Feadog and Generation for 2 years. I’ve noticed that for playing in a session their not much good. You can’t seem to get a lot of sound out of them. Need a louder whistle for sessions. A friend of mine let me try his O’Riordan and loved the sound of it but I’m not sure I want to wait 2 years for a whistle. Maybe I’ll just pick one up in Ireland.
Have you tried a Burke whistle yet. Mike makes great whistles and his wide bore session whistles are capable of holding their own in a session. His whistles are $100 each. Last time I bought one the wait was about 6 months, not sure how long it is now.
On 2001-07-27 19:40, Ms Fire wrote:
A friend of mine let me try his O’Riordan and loved the sound of it but I’m not sure I want to wait 2 years for a whistle. Maybe I’ll just pick one up in Ireland.
If you mean going to Ireland for an O’Riordan, it will not help. Pat lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. There are only two ways to get his whistles: meet Pat at a festival and get lucky if he has one, or wait two years. I believe Pat grew up in London so his accent is not Irish. London has a thriving Irish traditional scene, so I’m told.
If you want volume, try a Burke as suggested in the previous post. Try to get a Copeland, for a D in brass, the wait should be less than 6 months. You might get to try one near Philly if you go to the 3 Beans Cafe, 140 Haddon Ave. Haddonfield, NJ (856)-354-2220 8-10pm on Thursdays. Mike and Jim are regulars at that session. Or, order a Water Weasel from Elderly Instruments or Celtic Fire. They should be in stock at either location. The Water Weasel is a screamer for under $70. A set of Eb/D/C runs between $120 and $133. I got a lot of ues out of my set and keep it for fun and bad weather. Susatos are the best bang for your buck if you like volume. If you’re willing to pay more for a more traditional sound with volume, go for the Water Weasel for the next best buy. I think Copelands are the loudest (at least on the high end).
I was off a few bucks on the O’Riordan Woods.
$120 for a whistle, $55 for an extra whistle tube. Extra low whistle tubes are $50.
And about VOLUME as a topic. There is some sentiment that “session cutter” whistles are not welcome at sessions in Ireland. As I’ve never been there, I can’t say that first hand, but I have HIGHLY CREDIBLE 3rd hand sources. If that means anything…
I found the comment about cheap-brass style whistles not being loud enough for sessions unusual myself. No, I find “loud enough for sessions” unusual, independent of instrument. The point, after all, is to blend in with everything else there, not to be heard over them. I could see where conservative sessioneers might find a whistle designed to be louder than a whistle usually is to be out of place. I found the presence of my Dixon to be just about right for bringing to sessions because it is so similar to a cheap-brass whistle.
In other words, a whistle is loud enough for sessions if it plays at the volume that whistles tend to play at; similarly, UP are loud enough for sessions at UP volume. But that doesn’t mean whistles need to play at UP volume. (I’d be surprised to find accordionists looking for instruments with concertina volume, for instance. But I’ve been surprised before.)
- -Rich
Also, I think that Stephen’s admonition (a while back) that whistles carry is well met. We may not be able to hear ourselves well, but a Generation whistle will be heard. (Try playing the wrong notes and you’ll see what I mean).
Erik
post edit: Rich posted at the same time as I… I see that we were thinking on the same lines.
[ This Message was edited by: ErikT on 2001-07-28 02:43 ]
(By the way, Erik, you were one post too late to be post #2000, which was me. hah.)
Reading Erik’s comment there, I just tried to play a whistle where I’d put a flute – off to the side, there – to get a better idea of its volume. It’s like twice as loud up there. Yow. It does end up a lot louder than you think. Er, than I thought. 
- -Rich
Ms,
Have you considered a Silkstone alloy (high D) from Paul Haywood in England. I don’t know what his waiting time is now, I had mine in two weeks (just last year). It is the fastest most responsive whistle I have tried (and I have tried most!) it is not too loud but projects well with a bright clear sound that carries well. For sessions & outdoor gigs I have yet to find anything better & he is a great guy. Check out his site on the Chiff & Fipple site. Good Luck!
Sue
Wow, I haven’t been here in a while and find all your comments helpful and astounding. In regard to the whistle not being heard in sessions,. I should have been a bit more specific ( and yes I am still having the same problem ), the sessions I am referring to are in small bars with a lot of noise. People (and lots of them ) speaking within a few feet of the session tends to drown any instrument including a fiddles, flutes and guitars..in fact the only instrument that can hold its own when the bar is busy is my friend John on button accordion. I have been to 3beans and i have played one of Michael Copelands whistles..some of them are good some of them I find are a bit unresponsive and when you’re playing a reel at the kind of speed that some of the professionals play you need an instrument to keep up with you. I haven’t tried any others (other than the aforementioned O’Riordan which I didn’t like) but as I said I’m still searching..I have a feeling it’s going to be a lifelong mission lol. By the way, I do have a Tony Dixon Low-D and Flute combo, and I’m not to impressed with it so I never considered getting a whistle from them. Are they any better ??
Thanks to all of you for the help and I’ll look into some of the other suggestions.
On 2001-07-28 02:40, rich wrote:
I found the comment about cheap-brass style whistles not being loud enough for sessions unusual myself. No, I find “loud enough for sessions” unusual, independent of instrument. The point, after all, is to blend in with everything else there, not to be heard over them. I could see where conservative sessioneers might find a whistle designed to be louder than a whistle usually is to be out of place. I found the presence of my Dixon to be just about right for bringing to sessions because it is so similar to a cheap-brass whistle.In other words, a whistle is loud enough for sessions if it plays at the volume that whistles tend to play at; similarly, UP are loud enough for sessions at UP volume. But that doesn’t mean whistles need to play at UP volume. (I’d be surprised to find accordionists looking for instruments with concertina volume, for instance. But I’ve been surprised before.)
-Rich
I understand what you’re saying and for a couple of sessions I go to in the area I wouldn’t trade my Generation in for anything I love it, but in bars in Phila. where the crowds have no appreciation for the music and try and talk over what they consider background noise…I can’t hear myself so I have difficulty even trying to tune to the others. Again, I’m not trying to play louder than the others, in fact I’ve had several complaints from the others that they can’t hear me. So it’s this problem I am trying to correct.
On 2001-07-29 18:42, Whistlepeg wrote:
Ms,
Have you considered a Silkstone alloy (high D) from Paul Haywood in England. I don’t know what his waiting time is now, I had mine in two weeks (just last year). It is the fastest most responsive whistle I have tried (and I have tried most!) it is not too loud but projects well with a bright clear sound that carries well. For sessions & outdoor gigs I have yet to find anything better & he is a great guy. Check out his site on the Chiff & Fipple site. Good Luck!
Sue
Heh..I got Kari’s Silkstone D plus in 24 hours. and yep He’s my new hero…That whistle made my hunny bunny soooo happy and thats what counts in a whistle
Dan
On 2002-02-16 23:35, Ms Fire wrote:
I understand what you’re saying and for a couple of sessions I go to in the area I wouldn’t trade my Generation in for anything I love it, but in bars in Phila. where the crowds have no appreciation for the music and try and talk over what they consider background noise…I can’t hear myself so I have difficulty even trying to tune to the others. Again, I’m not trying to play louder than the others, in fact I’ve had several complaints from the others that they can’t hear me. So it’s this problem I am trying to correct.
I know exactly what you mean about this kind of session - there are a couple of that ilk here in Montreal. I too like a Generation best for more enjoyable sessions, but for these very noisy sessions when you absolutely have to project or go home, especially if you’re leading the session, for example, I have tried, in this order:
-
Susato - does the job, if you can handle the top end, which requires great firmness and determination. Perhaps the loudest thing this side of a bombarde.
-
Water Weasel - I borrowed one of these for a while. It does the job too. Sounds better than the Susato and is not quite so loud.
-
Overton, which I got recently. Best of the lot. Great sound. Maybe a tad quieter than the WW, I don’t know, but plenty loud enough. Not tunable, although very well tuned.
Both the WW & Overton have a degree of “back pressure” or resistance to blowing, that I think you will appreciate as a Generation lover.
I can’t understand the fuss about Copeland high Ds. The top end is piercing, and there’s a hollowness to the sound that I hear when I try them and which I can also hear on CDs recorded by top players. Even if you do like them, they are expensive. (The low D seems to be a completely different animal, before all you Copeland lovers jump down my throat. It’s just the high D that un-impresses me.)
A Burke won’t be loud enough for the situations you describe, and nor will an O’Riordan, based on the older models I’ve tried.
So I’d recommend an Overton, with a WW as second choice. Be warned that if, like many Generation players, you play C-natural cross-fingered with both hands, you’ll have to unlearn the habit for Water Weasels and Susatos (which are tuned for the oxx-ooo fingering and sound horribly flat with the what I think of as the regular fingering).
Steve
Edited to clarify the bit about C-nat.
[ This Message was edited by: StevieJ on 2002-02-17 20:46 ]
I find my O’Riordan is about the same volume as my high Weasels; perhaps just a touch more quiet.
And as others have said here, the desire for volume in sessions isn’t that you want to louder than everyone else; the goal is simply to be able to hear yourself. If I can’t hear myself, I can’t play reliably.
On 2002-02-17 20:43, StevieJ wrote:
I too like a Generation best for more enjoyable sessions, but for these very noisy sessions when you absolutely have to project or go home, especially if you’re leading the session
Unfortunately the sessions I attend are like that too. Plus there are only 2-3 melody instruments playing in a Irish pub filled with people chatting away; if you sound negligible you might as well not play. I expect its different from pub sessions in other places. This is not just me; the other musicians and friends tell me that they are not able to hear them whistles - so in these circumstances a session cutter like the Susato works wonders.
If you’re having problems with volume, I wouldn’t go with an old style WBB Burke either. I’ve got one and it projects less than the Generation. I’m currently waiting for a Overton high D, so in the meantime, Susato for noisy sessions
I too prefer tinwhistles with a standard “tinwhistle” volume, but I too have been in noisy situations where playing my “regular volume” whistle was clearly insufficient. When my co-musicians, all sitting withing two meters of me, can’t hear a note I’m playing, it’s time for some more volume!
In that kind of situation, my favorite whistle is a Burke brass pro, which is quite loud.
Cheers,
Jens