]Well, I’m just not sure. A little more airy sounding over all than I thought it might be. I probably need a more experienced whistle player to put it through its paces to evaluate it.
In playing the scale when I get to the second octave I’m having trouble maintaining any quality of the notes from A on up. It becomes extremely airy/raspy and holding a note with any quality of sound to it is kind of hard.
It could be just me, but it’s not a problem I have on my old Susato Dublin or even that Dixon DX001 I recently got.
The Mellow Dog aside, is that a common problem in the higher part of the second octave that people have with high D whistles? With the type of slow tunes I normally play I haven’t really played in that range in any great measure to have noticed.
After I ordered the Mellow Dog I researched some more information about the Blackbird and thought maybe I should have order it instead. (I know, that’s ass backwards, but initially I read something about the Blackbird that make me think I would like to Mellow dog more and I just didn’t look into it further . Now I’m thinking the reverse) Now I’m thinking about just ordering it anyway. But it’s always so hard to get a real feel for these instruments in sound clips.
If you have experience with both the Blackbird and the Mellow Dog would you say the Blackbird is less airy sounding overall?
Yes, I know, if I want to totally eliminate the air sound I should probably take up the guitar. But the question is not about elimination, it’s more about being LESS than.
Lastly, let me make it very clear that I am in no way criticizing the whistle or Jerry at all. He got the whistle to me in a timely manner after my order ( I ordered it the evening of the Dec. 14th and it arrived today. <2 weeks.). These issues are in part my personal preference and probably in part my own playing abity, lacking the chops, as it were, to make any real evaluation.
Actually that’s not so much something I’m interested in doing, even if I knew how, though I’m sure it’s easy to learn. Not overly comfortable with putting myself out there like that.
I was just hoping somebody could relay general thoughts or experiences. If I get people 20 people telling me they do not have the same problem with the Mellow dog, vs Yeah that’s just how it rolls, then I’ll figure it’s just me
I think you just need to get used to it. It’s a wide bore so it will take a bit more air at the top end and has a softer tone. I find mine very easy to play but I like the sound of the higher whistles. Just personal taste. Again, it’s called the Mellow Dog.
While it’s not impossible to have a bad whistle from Jerry – nobody has perfect quality control – it is very unlikely.
I am happy with the two Mellow Dogs I own and consider them a good choice for beginning players.
So let’s consider other options first. I remember as a beginner that I thought I had to blow much harder to get into the second octave. Especially with the top couple of notes. But it’s not the volume of air that needs to increase. It’s the velocity of the air column that must increase! And you can do this in several ways. Some come naturally with practice: more air flow, a narrowing of the throat, extra diaphragm support, maybe some tightening of your facial muscles.
But you get the most control from modifying the aperture between your lips. Obviously if you insert the mouthpiece too far inside, nothing can happen. With the mouthpiece just inside your lips, you can exert extra pressure to narrow the opening and, with a little extra air flow, kick into those higher notes.
Oh no. I understood or realized about 25 percent of it or maybe a little more, actually hard to quantify, but it was very helpful. Thank you very much.
It’s often helpful for people to put forth some nuances to consider that one may not have thought of..
You wouldn’t happen to have the Blackbird to compare it to would you?
Yes, thank you. That’s one of the ones I saw AFTER the fact that made me think I should have gotten the Blackbird. It sounds a little less “airy” to me in the video. I’m just not sure how that translates to real life. Does the Blackbird in fact sound less airy in actuality?
Yes, with my Blackbird I get a more pure, sweeter sound that’s less airy than what I get on my Mellow Dog. I like them both, but prefer the Blackbird’s tone and low air requirements. On the other hand, I find the Mellow Dog more forgiving to play. The Blackbird can get squeaky on me if I’m not being precise with breath control. For that reason I think the MD may be better for beginners.
I would say that, given that Kevin Crawford is an amazing player and recognized as such, it sounds as it would in actuality. The Dog is a little more airy. The Bird seems more precise… And less airy.
As such, I have to agree with others. The Dog may well be a better choice at this stage of your journey.
I have the Mellow Dog and the Blackbird and I agree exactly with the above description.
The Dog has a more mellow tone and is less prone to squeak if you miscalculate your air push. The Blackbird requires a little less air/push, and has a clearer bright tone.
Thank you all for the continued advice. It is really helpful.
And just to be clear, I was in no way criticizing players regarding how a whistle might actually sound, but sometimes the setting in which it is recorded for YouTube along with what nuance of the sound any given mic can or cannot pick up gives rise to my questions about the real life sound.
Or maybe it’s just my ears or the sound system on my end. Like when somebody plays an original Clarke in a video, that doesn’t sound half as airy to me as it does in real life.
Since I have the Mellow dog I think I’m just going to get the Blackbird anyway and see how it works for me.
Worst case scenario is one or the other goes up on the used instrument forum or just hangs around for awhile until I developed the chops to adequately play it.
Which is pretty much how I feel about any of the individually made or modified whistle that I’m ordering.
I may take a minor loss, but at least they’ll have SOME resale value to them. And passing them on to the somebody who will actually use them is better than having them sitting in my drawer gathering dust because they are, for whatever reasons, not MY cup of tea.
One man’s trash…excetera.
Heck, I’ve been meaning to get a Blackbird ever since I gave my Bluebird to my sister-in-law. If you buy it and decide not to keep it I’d buy it from you.
The 2nd octave A, B, C, C# can indeed require more push and/or air than the 1st octave. I have not experienced this characteristic with any of Jerry’s whistles, however I have experienced it with many of my own make. I have also never owned nor played a Mellow Dog.
One exercise that I could recommend: Start on your 2nd octave ‘A’. Play it as softly as you can to keep it in the 2nd octave. Once you feel comfortable with that, try pushing it until it breaks. Once you get comfortable with the limits of your ‘A’, try playing from that ‘A’ to a ‘D’. Sometimes isolating the note outside of a tune can help.
I have a Blackbird and I would rank it among the best whistles I have played. great sound quality, consistent, and perfect between octaves, which may be its best attribute. It is still my everyday whistle.
Sounds good. But it probably won’t be a right away thing. Id probably hang on to it for a little bit to give the ole college try. But I may not even order it until the 1st of next month. Depending
Well, at this point I have to work on getting a decent sound out of the Mellow Dog. Because so far, for me, it’s not working. Or at least not as I thought it would be
I’ve never seen an unplayable Freeman whistle. Doesn’t mean there haven’t been any, but they must be few and far between. Jerry tests each one that goes out the door and I’ve always recommended them for beginners so’s they know problems aren’t the fault of the whistle. They may not be the ultimate whistle for every player, but they make a very good starting point to learn on and from.
If you’re having difficulty there seem to me to be three options:
send it back and get Jerry’s opinion
find a local, experienced whistler and let her/him try it (check local sessions in your area—there should be some in Orange County)
just take one whistle and play it carefully (start with long tones and those boring scales and make every note sound as good as you can—learn to make the whistle sound good before trying to make tunes sound good). Messing about with a bunch of somewhat different whistle won’t teach you to make one whistle sound good.
Thank you Steve. I don’t recall seeing that anywhere that Jerry test each one, so I didn’t know that.
And yes, least anybody got the wrong idea. I am 110% willing to accept that it may be MY lack of ability or knowledge that is the cause of the problem. I’m just saying the particular problems I’m having with it I don’t have on the couple of other whistles I have. So, that’s why I started another, more specific, thread about needing Mellow Dog help from Mellow Dog owners AFTER I sent an email to Jerry asking for advice. But as of yet I’ve heard nothing back. And it’s embarrassing to have to pester somebody over such a matter or to beg.
Anyway, I’m moving on. I don’t discount what everybody says regarding the Freeman whistles, so I’m going to get a Blackbird and see if that works for me any better.
Later, if I can’t find anybody around here, I may seek out a volunteer from the forum to do me a favor and test the Mellow Dog for me for which I will gladly pay the postage both ways in the lower 48.
Meanwhile, I do have continuity of playing and practice with my Susato Dublin High D. Currently I’m trying to limber up my fingers and speed up the ole synapse a little bit by learning The Girl I Left Behind Me.
I’ve followed this thread, but I haven’t re-read it before posting this, so apologies if this has been said: I wonder if your problem with the Mellow dog might be to do with being used to playing the Susato. In my opinion, the technique for playing a Susato - any Susato - is radically different from that required to play any Generation type whistle. And I don’t think the two types of technique are at all compatible.