Since I said I’d do this and I’m sitting here with nothing to do on a Saturday night, I figured I’d write up a quick review of the Parks Every Whistle.
First off - I’m a new/intermediate player, and this is my first review - so take it with a grain of salt. There are a couple of samples at the end of this, and I know I’m probably not doing the whistle justice. But what I specifically wanted to compare was the different settings of the tone ring.
I have practically all of the major cheapies, as well as a Mellow Dog (D and C bodies), Hoover Whitecap, and an O’Brien C/D set in nickel-plated copper. So, I don’t have a Burke, Overton, Copeland or other really high-end whistle to compare it to. Keep in mind that this whistle currently sells for $55.
So - I got the Every Whistle from Carey Parks at http://www.parkswhistles.com. I also got the C body. This is the normal Every Whistle - not the 3-piece Walkabout. Total cost was $70 with the C body and shipping.
Fit & Finish
This whistle looks very well made. Even though it’s CPVC it looks much nicer. The emblem and key stamp are nicely done. The ramp is nice and even. The head fits very snugly into both bodies. This whistle will NOT accidentally slide out of tune. Also, I don’t know what the material is that Carey uses for the fipple, but I like it. It may be just delrin/acetal, but it has kind of a matte finish, which I like.
The tone ring on mine was a little loose and rotated more freely than I liked. I put a little dental floss in the channel under it, and also gave the tone ring a fair squeeze and it’s tighter now. It’s not an issue.
The D and E holes are fairly large, which I like. I’m not sure what it is (I suspect wall thickness), but the D and E holes on wooden whistles always look larger than their brass counterparts, to my eye. It’s the same here, and it makes slides and half-holing easier there.
Tuning
It’s pretty well in tune, although a few notes (A and B I believe) had to be blown into tune. Cnat fingered as OXX OOO was pretty sharp, but OXX XOO was just about dead on. Overall, it’s pretty well in tune with a couple of notes that may need a bit of babysitting for spot-on tuning. Note that I haven’t played with others though - this is just using my electronic tuner.
The C body was not quite as “on” regarding tuning. The D was about 20c sharp, and a few other notes had to be tweaked into tune by adjusting the air pressure. Also, the entire second register is significantly flatter than the first. One other issue with the C body was that to be in tune (bell note), the body is just barely inside the head (about 1/8"). So, I keep thinking it could pop out.
Volume
Being adjustable, this is my quietest whistle. 
However, with the window wide open, it’s moderately loud I’d guess. It’s a little louder than all of my cheapies, I believe. Also - and I may just need to work more with it - the high B and C# are noticeably louder than the notes below them.
Clogging
I haven’t really had any issues with the whistle clogging. I blow out the moisture occasionally, but it hasn’t been an issue. It seems to be more noticeable when the tone ring is more closed. The windway is curved and fairly tall.
Playability
This is one of the easiest whistles I’ve played. My two favorite players have been my Mellow Dog and my Hoover Whitecap on a Feadóg body. The Mellow Dog takes care on the low D to avoid bumping up to the second register. The Hoover takes some extra push to stay in the second register without honking. The Every Whistle is right in the middle. I haven’t had any issues with accidentally switching registers (see below though).
Tonal Characteristics
The Every Whistle is a fairly clean, pure tone with a little bit of chiff to it (see below though). Cuts are nice and poppy.
It doesn’t really sound “plastic” to my ear (might to some), but it’s definitely missing some of the brightness of a metal whistle. This is not necessarily a bad thing though - just a different tone.
Tone Ring
As you probably know, this is the bit that makes this whistle unique. It’s a simple idea, but very nicely implemented. And, it works. There’s a channel that the tone ring fits into that keeps it in place, but the tone ring can be easily removed if you want (can’t see a reason though).
As you close the tone ring, three things happen:
- The whistle gets quieter.
- The tone gets more chiff (more breathy than reedy)
- The overall tuning goes flat (which is easily fixed by sliding the head).
As far a making the whistle quieter, the tone ring really works great. I can close it even further than in the samples below for even quieter play. The tonal characteristics change, but the notes are there, and the breath requirements remain about the same. However the low D is easier to accidentally bump into the second register as the window is closed with the tone ring (one of the “see below” comments from above).
I’ve found that having the tone ring somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 closed gives a nice, breathy tone and a reasonable volume, while maintaining pretty easy playing.
So, overall I’m really liking this whistle and it has quickly become one of my favorites - if not my favorite. With the tone ring to make playing quieter, I’ve become more interested in playing the whistle.
Honestly, I’ve got a couple of other musical interests (mainly Native American Flute and ukulele), and almost decided that I’d spend more time with them because it’s hard to practice the whistle without feeling like I have to go in the closet (literally… seriously).
With this one, I’m feeling like I can practice without bothering everyone else. I also feel like I might (at some point) become comfortable playing along with others without feeling like I’m standing out like a sore thumb. It seems to me that a regular whistle with a single guitar and singer might be too loud, but with this one, I can adjust the volume.
I know that you can adjust the volume on regular whistles with a ball of putty, I’ve done it. But this one just has it built in, and easily adjustable.
I just really like this whistle, and it’s renewed my interest in playing.
Oh, and here are a couple of samples - please don’t critique my playing. I was really just trying to give an idea of the adjustment of the tone ring. In these samples I did not move while playing - the microphone is the same distance away from me. I’ll also say that I used a microphone I got for free with some Spanish software, and I’m using Audacity. So, not the best recording equipment. The only effect I used was noise reduction.
Sample 1 - comparison to Mellow Dog
Sample 2 - tone ring placement
Jason