Ok, I am a total novice even though I have 4 whistles (3 say Soodlum’s mello D tinwhistle-brass? with green plastic mouthpiece, one is a black Walton’s I think but it says Guinness on the decal with Ivory colored plastic mouthpiece). Over the years I picked up one here and there with the intention of learning to play it but never did. Now I have actually started to try to learn the whistle and can actually play (slowly) a couple of tunes. My question is: Do I need to get a better whistle if I get better? I can pick up a “feadog” whistle for around $7 US but don’t know if it’s significantly better than what I’ve got. I’d appreciate your recommendations.
I doubt the feadog will be much better than what you’ve got, possibly worse. You don’t need to buy a “better” whistle, a lot of “professional” type players like the cheap ones just fine. You can spend anywhere from 5 bucks to over $300 on a whistle, depending on what you want. Check out the “high-end” whistles page on the main website if you want.
You don’t need a costlier whistle to improve and play quite well, but it doesn’t hurt either. There are a number of midrange priced whistles that may improve your sound to the point that your more enthused, which is what happened to me.
I don’t happen to think highly of the Soodlums myself, but haven’t played the Walton. If you’re looking for a very nice sounding very inexpensive whistle, you might want to try a Sweetone or Meg, or a Generation. I have an early model Feadog which I find quite pleasant. If you’re looking for something more upscale, you may want to do some research on the board. There are TONS of opinions, LOTS and LOTS of high end whistles – some better than others, but each with their supporters and detractors.
I think a beginner really can’t go wrong with a SweeTone. For me, it’s the easiest to play of all the cheap whistles. You might want to pick up a Generation at the same time. Your outlay will be around $20 including shipping. One caveat; it’s always possible when buying cheap whistles to get a bad one but lately both SweeTone and Generation have a pretty good record. (Your milage may vary)
Mike
I’ve found that my Clarke original busts my chops enough to improve my playing on any whistle! That’s one of the things I love about it, in addition to the fact that I like the sound. After playing it for several days straight, everything else feels so easy to play! I think of it as calisthenics.
You’d do well to get a Sweetone before you get discouraged. You can go to the main screen on this website and click where it says “buying whistles on the internet.” It’ll cost about $8 plus shipping, but you’ll have a much, much better whistle than you have now. It’s worth the trouble.
