What happened to Ralph Cook and his excellent low-D whistles?
Did he stop making them?
Here’s a soundclip](http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/Audio/01-05/michaelgormansErikTO.mp3%22%3Esoundclip) of one of his low-D’s before I sold it.
Yes! to quote the undisputed one on the main C&F low whistle page -
RALPH COOK CEASED PRODUCTION some years ago. We continue to list the Cook Low D here because used ones will occasionally turn up for sale or trade
I never owned one but played a few.
Feadoggie
I kinda liked it,-you could make sort of an “explosive” sound-effect on the second octave D, it sounded like a locomotive puffing up a hill.
I just got one. It’s my first low D and I’m really glad I got it. I think it sounds great. It’s not loud, but it’s not too quiet either. At this point, I think it’s perfect for me. Hopefull I’ll be playing it like emtor soon. That was really good. What tune is it?
The tune is Michael Gorman’s Jig.
I recorded it a few years ago on my computer. The mic was one of those cheap electret capsules from Panasonic,-the ones they use in crappy tape recorders. I re-buildt it so that it used a 9-volt battery instead of 1.5 volts.
In that way these capsules can take a lot more sound-pressure without hitting the “roof”. The mic was placed very close to the whistle in order to minimize room-accoustics.
At first I was disappointed with the Ralph Cook, but it needs to be played properly and firmly to sound good.