Recently Paul Busman made me a beautiful whistle in blackwood and pink ivory. It’s a bit of a lair. We call it the Jerry Lee Special. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, ask someone who was alive in the 1950s.) After months of promising, and in low resolution only, here it is.
Here’s the Jerry Lee Special with some of his wooden friends. From the top, Abell F, Busman, Abell D, Abell Bb, Grinter low F. Looks like he just walked into a coffee shop full of beatniks and Greek widows doesn’t it?
And here’s the Jerry Lee Special hanging out with a Macedonian village whistle, maker unknown. Shame the latter doesn’t play as well as it looks, eh?
Beautiful whistles, Wombat. The pattern of the grain on the Busman is just gorgeous. How would you describe the similarities and differences among the “beatniks and Greek widows” and Jerry Lee? And what’s that Grinter like? I’ve never actually seen or heard a wooden low F.
My Grinter A and F are overdue. I mailed Michael a couple of weeks ago, but no reply.
Carol, listen to something by Paddy Keenan or Lunasa – they play Grinter low-F’s. They make them sound so good that I ordered one even though I can’t stand the key.
Chas, Michael can be a bit tardy with replies so don’t be alarmed. He seems to be very busy but will get around to replying fairly soon I predict. I honestly think that you won’t be disappointed with your F. What you hear on Paddy Keenan and Lunasa albums is what you get and those low Fs fully deserve the reputation they have. In each key I like to have an outstanding alternative to my Overton and my Grinter F is a killer, just like my Burke Al Pro G (well, even better than that) and up there with my Copeland low D. It has a beautifully complex sound and is amazingly responsive. Given the opportunity (ie, more funds), I’d love to have a Grinter in each key.
BTW, the family photo doesn’t really do the Grinter justice—the grain is much more interesting than the picture reveals—but I thought there’d be interest to see a Grinter F alongside some better known whistles so I included it despite the photographic problems.
I am drinking a Foster’s while I typing this message! I hope this is appropriate while commenting on a Grinter! Actually, my wife noticed that it was brewed in Canada
Ok, Ok here’s the message… I recently e-mailed Michael about his whistle prices! He e-mailed me back with his prices in Euros and politly said that he would be in Ireland for three months and his wife would be handling all his e-mails!! Here is His e-mail …
Hi Nathan,
Thanks very much for your message and your enquiry regarding my whistles.
The whistles are made from Cocobolo and come with a brass tuning slide.
They are available in the keys of high D,C, B flat and E flat and low F, A,
G and D. Prices are as follows…High D and E flat - 270 euros, C & B
flat -
300 euros, G & A - 320 euros, F - 350 euros and low D - 380 euros. You need
to add around another 20 euros to cover postage and insurance costs.
If you decide to go ahead and order, then I don’t ask for a deposit, but
just let me know what you would like and I could put one aside from the next
batch. Waiting time for a whistle is presently around four months.
The bore on the G whistle is slightly smaller than the F and the finger
stretch is slightly smaller also.
Thanks again for your interest. If you have any other questions, please
don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’m about to head off to Ireland for three
months, but my wife Helen will be home and will be pleased to help you with
anything you would like to know.
Best Regards Michael.
I’ve said a little bit about the Grinter already. I find it a bit quiet but with a beautifully reedy and quite distinctive tone. It’s very easy to get around. It’s very responsive and nicely balanced over the entire range. When I get moving on it, I almost feel as though I’m playing a high whistle.
As for Abell/Busman comparisons I thought it best to compare like with like so I’ll compare the Abell D and Busman D. The Abells pictured are part of a full set of blackwood Abells which I like very much overall so, in addition to what you see, the D head goes with C and Eb tubes and the Bb head with an A tube. I believe there is quite a bit of variation from one Abell to the next, but I must say I love my D and in fact find it remarkably similar to the Busman. They are currently my two favourite high Ds, some way ahead of Burke AlPro, Sindt and Overton and further ahead of the rest (which include a Copeland). Both are well balanced with ample backpressure and moderate breath requirements. Both required a little adapting to the breath requirements for the highest notes but this is usual—both respond well to being lent into which is just as well for someone who learnt on Overtons. Both are very responsive and compliant if you play them robustly. Both are reasonably loud but neither is shrill. They both have a fairly pure tone. This is the major difference. The Busman has a slightly purer tone although one with pleasing complexity. The Abell has a slightly more reedy tone, especially in the bottom octave. Both have a fluid, singing tone in the top octave. Neither is at all shrill. Perhaps the Busman is a little easier to control and finger but I have been playing the Abell with the Eb tube lately and the more I played it today with the D tube the easier it got to control. At the moment the Busman is just marginally ahead as my favourite but, whichever I’m playing, I don’t want to put it down. What more can you ask for in a whistle?
The track to listen to hear the three Grinter Low F’s is Miller of Drohan, on Otherworld I think. (They got that tune off De Dannan’s Ballroom, btw, second tune in the track called “Eleanor Neary’s”… and in typical Lunasa fashion they “improved” it by sticking in a bridge and so forth).
Anyway, if you’ve seen Lunasa recently, you would not have seen the Grinter low Fs: One of them, I think Kevin but may have been Donogh, sat on their whistle bag about 2 years ago and broke all three Grinter Low Fs… They’ve been using Colin Goldie Overton low Fs ever since, I believe.
I had the chance to play a Grinter High D recently. A gorgeous looking whistle, and I love the sound and the way it plays… like a wooden Overton, with a bit of backpressure, a rich and interesting tone, a great balance and a high fun-factor…
Shortly after the photos that began this thread were taken, the photographer slipped and is now buried in my back garden along with a full set of splintered Abells, the remains of a Grinter low F and a very angry Busman. Of course, it wasn’t the fall itself that killed the photographer.
‘Wooden Overton’ would be a very good description of the sound of the Grinter low F actually so long as one realises that the complex overtones are truly distinctive and that the Grinter is probably more like one of the new Goldie esay-blowers than an orignal BO whistle.
