After three long, long, loooooooooooooooooong years of waiting - my treasured O’Riordan whistles finally arrived!
The order included a ‘Traveller’ D/C set (black anodized aluminum key tubes and delrin headjoint), a ‘Concert’ D/C set (kingwood key tubes and delrin headjoint) and a ‘Traveller’ Low D.
First impressions:
I’m just amazed I was sitting here holding these whistles after so many years of waiting…but in dealing with Mr. O’Riordan I was happy to allow the time - a complete gentleman in all respects. Very helpful and accomodative.
The Traveller whistles (D/C) are of a sturdier construction than I had imagined, and while upon close scrutiny, one can find small defects here and there (they ARE hand made after all) the fit and function of the whistles is very nice. The tuning slide in particular is smooth and accurate with both key tubes.
The Concert whistles are simply beautiful both in form and function. Similar to the Travellers in overall construction, the look of the wood (almost a glow) and the bright shine of the brass fittings contrast with the black delrin beautifully.
The Low whistle is also quite nice, and at first glance looks to have traits of both Howards and Burkes in the headjoints appearance. The keytube is broken into two rotateable sections just above the “e” hole so that the bottom hole can be rotated slightly off center for an easier grip. My one caveat with this design so far, is that Pat uses an external friction ring for this joint, and it feels a bit akward under the finger there.
As far as tone and playability, I would rate the whistles I received as having moderate air requirements. (more than say an Oak or Feadóg) The tone isn’t nearly as “recorder-like” as I was expecting after having heard other players comments on it. It’s quite pure, and has just a touch of chiff. There is a bit of tone in the attack that I can only describe as purely O’Riordan-esque in nature. You can hear it in Joannie’s recordings, and it’s quite distinct.
So for the time being, I’ll say that the whistles are very nice, and all in all though this has been hands down the longest transaction I’ve ever been involved in, Pat has been a wonderful man to deal with, and I’d order from him again in a heartbeat.
The whistles themselves are going to take some getting used to, and I certainly don’t think that everyone would love them. They’re not as clean and precise as say a Burke, but sharper and more asthetic than say my Parkhursts.
Anyway, I’ve got a whole weekend ahead of me to stretch the fingers and put them all through their paces in both concerts and sessions so we’ll see how they stand up in the real world of ‘working whistles’! 
More to come as I discover the intricate details of these long awaited gems!
Brian~
Oi vey! I’ll bet that low D is nice. Have fun!
. I thought that they might arrive today, since it’s my B-day 
, but they’ll probably come tomorrow 
. This has been quite a B-day week, since I also just acquired a new French-made violin, made in 1890 
, which is just superb, and now the new O’Riordans 
.
