I’m considering buying an Overton D whistle & would appreciate some feedback from other members. Are they very hard to blow in the upper register? What is the sound like?
Is there any difference between the whistles made by Bernard Overton & Colin Goldie, & which would you recommend?
Is there a tunable model of Soprano D?
Many thanks,
Dublingirl
Hi DG
Overtons need to be played assertively - you can’t just breathe into them, as you can some whistles, and expect them to work.
They aren’t that hard to blow (unless you get a freakishly hard-blowing model) and they don’t take much air. But they do require a bit of pressure in the upper end, and if you’re used to, say, a Cillian O Brien tweaked Feadog, the blowing requirements will involve some adjustment on your part.
If you order from Colin, you can ask for a soft blower. He told me recently that nowadays he is making them softer-blowing than a couple of years ago (correct me if I’m wrong about this Colin or Brigitte).
What do they sound like? Nice. Like whistles. Plenty of character to the sound. Ever heard Flook? That will tell you what Overtons can sound like, soprano and lower keys.
The soprano models are pretty loud whistles though. Not what I would choose for late-night playing at home, or for intimate sessions, but very good for playing with a band. It would be a good idea to try one before you buy, if you can borrow one, or test one in a store.
As far as I know, you can’t get a tunable high D - Colin could tell you if he has any plans in this direction. But tuning (on all the whistles I have, which are made by Colin) is spot-on, so the fact that they can’t be adjusted has never caused me any problems.
There may be slight differences between Colin’s and Bernard’s whistles - finish, hole spacing and so on. This has been written about before, you could try a search. I only know Colin’s whistles so I can’t comment on this. They are excellent in every respect.
Why don’t you contact Colin, I’m sure he’ll be happy to answer your questions.
HTH
Steve
Run a search with the word Overton for posts by Loren, Bloomfield or Wombat and that should give you all the relevant threads in the last months. There have been many, and you’ll find lots of information about Overtons and how to play them.
Personally, I can only recommend Overtons (in fact I think I may have something of a reputation for recommending Overtons every chance I get). I get my Overtons directly form Colin in Germany.
I’ll fall right in line with both Stephen and Bloomy. Mighty fine whistles with an agressive top end. Of all the whistles that I own, the Overton has the strongest bell tone and great tuning. Unfortunately, I loaned mine out and haven’t seen it in a couple months… Colin, looks like I need another (this will be 3).
Erik
quietly points out that ErikT has reached 1,000 posts. Congratulations or condolences depending on your point of view.
Yes, I was feeling a little overlooked… You weren’t in the chat room the other night, Beth, but I had to go there to get some sympathy. Little did I know, but they had a big surprise party for me. Everyone that attended had a great time and there wasn’t much punch left at the end.
Thanks for noticing,
Erik
I concur with what has been said so far and agree with Bloomy that we’ve discussed this one often enough over the months to have generated a lot of information and a high degree of consensus from the Overton enthusiasts. Most people here seem to play only Colin-made Overtons. I play only Bernard-made Overtons—nine of them ranging from Eb down to low D.
What I would add is that my observations agree pretty much exactly with those of the crowd who play Colin-made instruments so I would assume that you would be safe with either. I’d buy from Colin without a second’s hesitation.
Hi Dublingirl,
I posted a soundclip of my Overton soprano D (made by Colin Goldie, June 2002) a while back. When I first got it I was a little bit disappointed because it didn’t play like any other whistle I’d tried, basically all the things mentioned above about the second octave requiring a good blow to sound properly were throwing me off. After a couple of weeks though I got comfortable with playing it and now use just about all the time, especially for playing sessions since it has good volume and the tuning is right on. That said, if volume isn’t an issue I much prefer Generations, the nice silver and blue ones. 
Anyway, here’s the link to the soundfile. There’s been no editing aside from cropping the file and it was recorded through a crappy $5 computer mic. Still, it’ll give you some idea of what Overtons sound like.
http://www.angelfire.com/nf/weston/earlschair_overton_edit.mp3
All the best,
Wes
Wes,
I think you’re right about needing to get used to the Overton a bit. It’s everyone’s experience, as far as I can tell.
Wombat will correct me, but here I think are the Three Rules of Overton Wisdom:
No need for a corrective here. I think Bloomy has just about summed up the main points of consensus, other than points like ‘Buy one immediately’ which go without saying. 
Actually, I think a fourth major piece of advice is coming close to being canonical. It is this: phone Colin Goldie first to discuss any special requirements you might have. So you don’t have any special requirements? Well, phone Colin anyway, because after talking to him you might well have.
Point well taken, Wombat. So here we go:
The Four Rules of Overton Wisdom
I have owned both Goldies and Bernards. Two or three of the former and one of the latter. They are all truly remarkable instruments. They take a little more warm up and a bit more assertive playing as mentioned above but are in all respects top notch instruments.
The only reason I’m not a hard-core Overton guy is that they irritate my lower lip. As far as I can tell this is a personal quirk and no reason for you not to pursue one.
I also noticed slight variations from whistle to whistle…nothing that made any of them in any way un-wonderful, just nuances of personality in pressure and tone. Talk to Colin I think he can get you exactly what you want. He really is a wonderful guy.
Rats! I knew I shouldn’t have replied to this thread. Now I want one again. Maybe I could put something on the fipple to protect my smoocher…Hmmm.
Doc
Doc Jones,
Was it only the lower lip which caused you to depart from Overtons? Is it the alminium itself or the surface, the shape that irritates? Hmmm… Anyway, should you decide to go again for an Overton, buy one of them “pads” (for the use on winds such as sax, clarinet and the like) basically designed to lessen the pressure on the upper teeth. You can get them in a music shop, comes in four pieces, from Yamaha. They’re made of half-transparent soft substance (I think soft plastic), and all you have to do is just stick it unto the lower part of the fipple, as opposed to what you’d do normally on winds.
This trick might actually work too for those who like to ‘bite’ as one’d do on a sax or clar. Get the pads, stick it on top (or the bottom) of the fipple according to your needs or likes.