I just recently got into playing a pennywhistle and find it a joy to play. I’m playing two songs and already and I haven’t been at it a week. I’d like to get a lower octave because I think I’d prefer to hear that tone over the higher pitch. I’m currently looking at a few options:
Susato Kildare: Made in the country I live in, so it’s be cheaper to ship and I won’t have to pay anything to import it. Seems to have a good reputation and the C&F website thinks it’s a good buy, and it runs about $100 +$7 shipping.
On Ebay I’ve found a Howard Low D, which I’ve heard is a very good whistle at a great price: Link
I’ll offer some observations on the whistles you have mentioned.
The Susato is a good whistle. I’ve owned the low D as well as Kildares in most other keys. There are several things that beginners might find awkward about the Susato though that are worth mentioning. It has a big beak. Now you don’t put a whistle into your mouth just up to your lips so that should not matter but it is worth a mention. The second hole for the lower hand is large enough to swallow a Fiat 500. And while that is a bit of an exaggeration some players will have trouble covering it. But Susato now offers keys for the small of hand and slight of finger. Lastly, the Susato is not the most air efficient low D on the market. It’s a good respiratory therapy device. If you have strong lungs it should be no problem. Those observations aside, the Susato has a nice voice. It is well tuned. And it is very durable.
The Howard low D is also a good whistle. I have owned one (with two different heads). But it can be handful for a beginner. It can be a tad finnicky to play. Newer ones may be less tricky but who knows what era the used one comes from. If you bond with a Howard it is rewarding and has a nice tone to it.
The Dixon is a recent model having the tapered bore. Others here have them and have commented positively about them. I’ve owned several of the previous cylindrical bore models. I like the Dixon - played one this morning for a bit. It is a whistle that I would recommend to a beginner as a first low D. The holes are moderately sized. The air requirements are moderate. The response is good and the tone is very nice. It’s not the loudest low D in the market but it is fine for most purposes. I would recommend getting the tunable version though if you want to play with others since it will allow some degree of tuning.
You might also look into the Kerry Optima. Don’t fuss about it being from overseas, really. It’s a small world after all.
Welcome to the whistle forum. As for whistles all I can say is try and find something you can try out, locally, or shipped with a money-back guarantee. The whistles can be fussy and whistlers even more finicky.
Yes, I do think so. Just mask the labium with a bit of tape. Krylon Fusion paint is made for plastics. I know it works on PVC and CPVC and it should work on ABS plastics as well. That way you could have green and blue!
Thanks for the tips and warm welcomes everyone! I’m looking into the Kerry Optima now. I’m going to hold off and wait for the auction on the Howard, to see what price I could possibly get that one. If it goes into the range of the Dixon or the Optima, I may just go that route instead.
Some other things to consider: I don’t really want a loud whistle. I live in an apartment build and sound travels easily down the halls. I don’t feel comfortable playing my High D after 9:00 at all. So something that is quiet to moderate volume wouldn’t be a bad thing. I’d like something that’s easy to blow into, but I do understand it’s a bigger instrument and they require more air.
If the whistle you buy has a replaceable mouthpiece, it might be worth sending an email or a pm through this forum to Mack Hoover. He specializes in quiet whistles. I don’t know if he does low whistles (or if they’d even work on them, this is all voodoo magic to me), but if you ask nicely, he might be able to make you one of his famous quiet whitecap mouthpieces for when you’re in your apartment.
All whistles can be played quietly. There are a myriad of ways to turn down the volume. Any method that temporarily reduces the size of the window or the width of the airway can reduce the volume. Do a search on “Whistle mute” and you’ll get threads describing a bunch of muting methods from using a paper clip, pieces of tape, poster putty, rubber bands, etc.
And you can always use the “whisper method” of playing. That involves blowing across the top of the mouthpiece windway into the voicing window instead of blowing through the windway. This defeats the aiming of the air stream and diffuses the jet which results in a very faint but in-pitch sound. The downside is that you’ll only hear one octave of notes but you adjust to that quickly. So you can’t practice your intonation but you can practice fingerings and breathing.
Joanie Madden used the whisper appraoch as an effect on her recording of “the Otter’s Holt” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEnlxquwPEQ. You’ll sound much quieter than that when you do it.
Oh, very few low D whistles are actually loud or perceived as such. Part of that is due to the lower pitch and part is the physics of a whistle mouthpiece. If you find your low D is still too loud you can mute it or play it whisper style.
Of the three low D’s that you mentioned, the Dixon and Susato are more of what we call easy blowers. The Dixon uses less air than the Susato overall. The Howard, at least the two types of heads I had (still have two Howard heads actually), employs a relatively small windway duct compared to the Dixon or the Susato. It is less of a free blower and slightly constrained which contributes to it’s more finicky behavior. So take that into consideration too.
But we may be talking apples and oranges here too. Easy blowing to me means that the windway is unconstrained. Beginners may mean that it does not require noticeably more pressure to hit the high notes. If that is the case in your mind then the Dixon is still the easiest to blow. The Susato does not require a lot of push on the high notes but it does need more air to get there. The Howard is the one you have to push to get the high notes compared to the other two.
It never fails to amaze me that musical instruments are considered an annoyance but TVs can be played at maximum volume and anyone who complains is considered an [expletive deleted].
When oh are new and your “music” is a series of squeaks and squawks then I can’t understand. People here are generally friendly as well and keep quiet. I’d like to do the same.
