Hello all,
I have a question: How does a low d Burke (lets say an aluminum viper) compare to a Chieftain or a Kerry in sound? In my research for a low whistle, I feel that I’ve overlooked the Chieftains and Kerry’s. I’m on the verge of buying a Burke, but now that I’m listening to some video clips of Chieftains, I might reconsider. Let me know your opinions!
Thanks!
In my quest for one low whistle to stay with I have owned a Burke Viper , a V3 and a Kerry pro
They are all very good professional grade instruments. The Burke is powerful and has a pure, flute like sound with a very strong bell note. The Kerry pro has a more chiffy whistle type tone and for me was more demanding to play than the Burke which I liked. The V3 was the quietest of the three with a smooth velvety flutish sound. I liked it but I wanted more power without having to push it hard. I’d say the Burke was the easiest of all three.
I play a Goldie now and like it very much.
In low D…
I own an Overton, won’t sell it. Tight windway, bendable notes, quite playable with piper’s grip, nice chiff, wonderful resonant voice, in tune.
I own a Reyburn, won’t sell it. Easy breather, bendable notes, little challenging in playability, touch of chiff, lovely haunting voice, in tune.
I owned a Burke, sold it. Easy breather, not so flexible note bending, very playable with piper’s grip, nearly chiffless, pure tone like a brass instrument, in tune.
Tried a couple Chieftains, didn’t buy them. Fat windway, inflexible for note bending, playable with piper’s grip, windy chiff, decent open voice, not in tune.
My experience for what it’s worth.
I’d really like to check out one of Ronaldo Reyburn’s new Delrin head low D’s.
Maybe…if I had a little more money and patience, I would attempt to buy an Overton. That would be my first choice obviously…an Overton. I dunno…seems too great an undertaking for me right now. I’m sure the waiting list for an Overton is what…10 years now? Haha…
And I do understand that everyone has their preference. I just played an Alba, and I didn’t really like the breathy-ness. I’m still leaning a lot towards the Burke. I wish I could try one. But in the event I’m not completely happy, whistles are easy to sell, right?
I would like a little chiff. From what I’ve heard that doesn’t happen with a Burke. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Thanks for your imput!
Oh wow. I would just like to mention that I just was checking out the Reyburn website and the sound clips. That whistle can seriously bend notes. Wow. And its cheaper than a Burke…
I listened to the clips - the player is using slides, an ornamentation, quite a bit. Be careful you’re not confusing a slide with what I called bending a note. I’m referring to the ability to change the pitch of a note, using breath control, without breaking to the next octave (up or down) or sounding nasty. I call it bending, but here could be a term for it that I don’t know. 
Both Burke and Reyburn whistles have a 30 day guarantee if returned in new condition. So if you give one a whirl, put some playing time into it, and if it just doesn’t suit you, you don’t have to sell it secondhand.
If you’re a new player, you may prefer a Burke for it’s playability. They are both fine whistles.
Have fun!
Yes well. I don’t know the proper terms for the ornamentations, and I doubt I ever will.
I was browsing more online today, and I found a site that stocks Overtons, and they really aren’t much more expensive than a Burke. I’m seriously thinking about just getting an Overton now. I thought they were out of reach for me so to speak.
Oh, I’ve been playing for 9 years. Just throwing that out there. Haha, but I know absolutely nothing about low whistles.
Sigh…I just don’t know. What low whistle is the most like the sound of a generation…except nice, not cheap?
Yes it seems in whistling that we don’t have clear-cut shared terminology for everything.
What you’re calling “note bending” is what I’ve heard a lot of Irish musicians call “pushing” a note.
I too really like a whistle where there’s a lot of room in the notes to be pushed. I think of it as the notes in the low octave having a higher “breaking point”, the pressure at which they break into the 2nd octave.
It seems to be very common, if not universal, for Low E on Low D whistles to have a lower “breaking point” that the neighboring Bottom D and Low F#. It’s kind of the “weakest link” effect, because how much you can push notes in a phrase is limited by the note with the lowest breaking point.
Then there’s the other end, at how low a pressure a note will sound.
BTW I’m in Tustin too! Do you come down to The Auld Dubliner on Sundays?
I don’t. Is there a session, or something of that ilk?
2 Heart Attacks, 3 peripheral vascular surgeries, and other priorities have kept me distracted from whistling over the past 2 years. I’m wanting to get back into it - so I’ll be practicing some tomorrow. Unfortunately I’m quite rusty.
So what’s up on Sunday nights at The Auld Dubliner.
Auld Dubliner in Long Beach, weekly Sunday session from around 4 to 7 PM, with rotating co-hosts. I’ll be hosting this weekend. If you’re interested, PM me and I can fill you in.
I know you’re looking at the Burke or Chieftain/Kerry but have you heard Ryan MacNeil’s low whistles? Ryan is part of the Cape Breton band Beòlach and makes some excellent whistles at surprisingly good prices. I haven’t played his low whistles but have heard them and they have great tone, very accurate, and I like the idea of the clear polycarbonate adjustable mouthpiece. Among the best sounding low whistles I’ve heard. http://www.macneilwoodwinds.com/
Here’s a clip of Brian Finnegan playing one of Ryan’s low whistles (low Eb). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7wE0RaCVMw&feature=PlayList&p=0C15224EE16B64F2&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2
I can’t get to involved in this, as I would certainly like to try a Burke, and an Overton, and an MK etc, they are all on my list when funds allow…but I do have a MacNeil, and it seems like an excellent whistle to me. Good player, in tune, tuneable, nice features like the lower two holes are rotated…in my neck of the woods, a non-tuneable Chieftain is about $30 more than a tuneable MacNeil. Ryan is an excellent musician, and the instruments come out of that…same as the other makers, I’m sure, but they seem to me to be great value in a quality whistle.
thanks Ballyshannon! It’s what’s so cool about this forum, the sharing of info and experience. I’d not heard of those whistles.
I’m good to go for Auld Dubliner tomorrow! After I recover from staying up all night watching the World Pipe Band Championships on live streaming from Glasgow Green and spending half the day in pubs watching the kickoff of the football season in the UK.
I’ve got an MK coming and I’ll do a YouTube thing where I play an MK, Susato, Reviol, and Burke Low D back-to-back. Now I need one of those Cape Breton whistles…
I’d go to Auld Dubliner tomorrow. But I’ve got to man the BBQ at a party for my brother’s birthday until 5:00pm.
Maybe next time.
Silent K, if you don’t like the breathiness of the Alba, you might not care for the sound of a Chieftain. It seems to have many of the same characteristics as the Alba whistles. Some people like that aspect, some don’t.
Yeah…I was thinking that. I’m also thinking that if I were to go for a Chieftain, I might as well go for an Overton, they aren’t that much more expensive. I’m wondering if that is the best route…Overtons are supposedly the undisputed best low whistle ever, right? I understand it depends on what the musician wants…but I want a specific sound…pure and flute like for the most part, tiny bit of chiff, but I would like the haunting tone that I fell in love with when I first heard a tin whistle. Haha, can all those exist together?
I’ve never heard of these whistles before. Thanks for the links, I’ll go check those out. Good prices are always worth it.
That would be fantastic, there aren’t a lot of clips of Burke low d’s on youtube and I would love to hear in it comparison. I still feel somewhat like I would like to own a Burke, and I want to be sure I don’t anymore before I make my decision.
Um. 
I am so impressed with these MacNeil whistles. They sound absolutely amazing. And they are so so so much cheaper than I was going to go.
TBH A good player like Brian F can make any whistle sound great. Any of the whistles mentioned in this thread would sound fantastic if played by him.
Buy a few, try and few, learn to play and learn what you like - then sell what you don’t like. If money is a major factor then there are plenty of cheaper and 2nd hand options. Put a wanted ad in C&F. I have a chieftain, Alba and Syn low D that I will sell when I can get round to it - many other members will be in the same boat. Ask and ye shall receive… 
cheers
Stephen
To me, it’s far more important how a Low D performs in my hands than how it sounds when someone else plays it.
With any Low D, the first thing I test is how strong the low notes, especially bottom D and low E, are and how hard they can be “pushed”. If those notes are feeble I’m not interested.
Next are A and especially B in the 2nd octave. High B can tend to be coarse and/or loud.
For some reason just about any whistle can get the G-g range right. The real tests of the evenness of the scale are above and below that.
That stuff is voicing stuff. Then the scale needs to be in tune. If I have all that, the timbre can sound like a whistle or a Boehm flute or an Irish flute or a Native American flute or a kaval or a shakuhachi- doesn’t matter to me.
And if it sounds like Mick Jagger?
