As a parent of young children, I usually practice at night once they’re asleep. What would be a good quiet whistle(soprano d)for night practice? I really do think I’m coming down with WhOA.
I think my Clarke Original is pretty quiet. I can relate to your small child issue, but mine can sleep through a fife playing in the next room.
Good luck!
Hi rev -
Hoovers (~$55) and Laughings (new ~$75) are the quietest whistles I have played. I have a couple of laughings that I plan on selling ($55) in the next few weeks, if you would like to borrow one for a week or two to see if it is quiet enough to work for you, let me know via email. I’d email you but you haven’t posted an address. 
Of the various whistles I’ve tried, I’d recommend Clarke Original or a Hoover (ultra quiet). Also, softening the plastic mouthpiece of a Generation-style whistle over the stove to narrow the windway can make a really quiet whistle. (Another approach is to jam a toothpick in one side of the windway, for a similar effect.)
You said you wanted a D, but how about a C for practice? Being a step lower does mellow it out some…a quiet whistle in C might really be unobtrusive.
I second the (Mack)Hoover whistle. The narrow bore brass D is the quietest whistle on the planet, and sounds & looks lovely too!!
Cheryl
Try doing a search of the forum with the key word being “muffler”. You’ll find various suggestions for lowering the volume of your whistle using a variety of materials from toothpicks and paperclips to small pieces of paper.
I have both the Hoover and Laughing Whistle. The Hoover is a bit quieter but the Laughing whistle is quiet enough and I reach for it most often when quiet is what I want.
jim
In addition to muffler, try “mute” in the search. My favorite thing to mute a whistle at this time is a little ball of blue tack. About 1/8" across is enough. Put that on the ramp right where the air hits the blade. The idea is that half (or more) of the blade is never used, so the whistle can’t play as loud. Try it. It works for me. Note that I have not tried it on a classic Clarke or othersimilar whistle. But on plastic heads, it really works.
-Patrick
The tweaked O’Briain is the way to go for me: it’s very, very quite and plays wonderfully. Anyway, mine does.
Check out the new Serpent brass whistles. I have one of the latest models, and I like it quite a lot. It is indeed a quiet whistle, nice and solid looking and feeling. I will review it more fully when I have the chance.
I recently got a Hoover for that exact reason. While my family sleeps too lightly to play a lot of upper register stuff at night, it’s pretty darned quiet. The upper B is sweet and quiet. I practice with it all the time, mainly to save my hearing and to stop from getting yelled at by the family during waking hours, but primarily because I love the sound. It clogs easily but the soap trick works well. I haven’t tried the RainX thing yet.
I never tried a Hoover.
Still, I’ll vouch for the Parkhurst “special quiet” D whistle I offered for Christmas (but hijacked the week before…). It’s sweet, and doesn’t get shriller in 2nd octave. It doesn’t get there too easily or too lazily either.
And it is beautiful, too.
The brass Hoovers really are nice and quiet, and better yet, they’re not just quiet whistles, they are great whistles in their own right (too quiet for a session weapon, but wonderful for recording and solo stuff).
Richard
[ This Message was edited by: DrRichard on 2003-01-13 11:18 ]
One of the questions was Hoover versus Clark Original. I have both. The Clark is certainly quiet and has a nice sound. I think it may be worth it to buy one – they run about $12 US, and see if it works for you. If not, then you can get in line for a Hoover which run $55 US. The Clark takes a LOT more breath to play and has a very breathy sound, but it sounds pretty nice. In terms of quietness versus a Hoover, they’re pretty close, with the Hoover being maybe a tiny tad quieter. But some of that may be illusion because you hear so much breath with the Clark that maybe it SEEMS louder.
The Hoover will teach you breath control, as it takes miniscule amounts of breath. The Clark will teach you breath conservation, as it takes tons.
The Hoover will teach you breath control, as it takes miniscule amounts of breath. The Clark will teach you breath conservation, as it takes tons.
That’s a great way to summarize things, and I think speaks for a lot of whistles. Breath control is something to be learned, no matter what kind of whistle you favor…the big distinction as to what makes a good whistle for a beginner really hinges on whether you’re most comfortable using a little air or a lot of air. I don’t normally recommend the O Briain “improved” (the tweaked Feadog mentioned in a previous post) as a beginner’s whistle, because it doesn’t take well to overblowing (and it seems that most beginners overblow)…but if you tend to find gentle breathing easier than strong breathing, it just MIGHT be a great whistle for a beginner (it’s certainly a wonderful whistle for an intermediate, who doesn’t mind learning to breath gently!). The same thing, in the opposite direction, is true of the Clarkes…I don’t like their breath requirements or their slightly breathy tone, and might have given up on the whistle entirely had my first whistle been a Clarke (since this board wasn’t around when I started whistling!), but for a lot of people, they’re absolutely ideal.
I find Generations and Feadogs to be “middle of the road” when it comes to breath requirements, and great whistles, if you can find a good one (mine are mostly older, and I’ve been lucky with them). Of course, that’s the rub…finding a good one. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Dixons as beginners whistles, but can’t say for myself one way or another until mine comes and has been given a good workout (still, enough people whose opinion I respect have recommended them that I have little doubt as to their suitability).
Redwolf
For me there’s no question
Hoover narrow bore brass. It is the quietest whistle I own but has beautiful tone.
You do have to develop the breath control to play it, but it’s not that difficult.
Vinny
Revwhit, I have a narrow bore brass Hoover that I’m lookin to sell. If you are interested contact me off the board at reyburnwhistles@hotmail.com
Ronaldo