Review - Granite Falls Manufacturing - New Whistle

Whistle
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Chuck Tilbury’s (Granite Falls Manufacturing http://granitefallsmfg.com/) latest effort is on tour to a
few folks.

Hole size comparison with Water Weazel D

Fipple detail

This is a very nice narrow, cylindical bore, tunable whistle in
brass.

It is surprisingly heavy, but in a positive way… substantial, …and so smoothly finished as to be a pleasure to the lips and fingers, as well as the eyes, and then… especially the ears… The sound is nice - I would call it pure, and very sweet and even throughout. (I am not an expert
on identifying chiff or complexity, but I would say it is not high in either)

It takes hardly any air at all, which tends to fool unwary
whistlers, who don’t like the sound when they try to push the usual amount of air through it. When you figure out how little it takes, you can find yourself through a long section of tune without turning blue in the face.

The third octave is not particularly reachable, but the full two octaves
usually used are very, very nice, with the high B not even making my
daughter cringe. It does tend to clog up a bit, but that’s easily gotten
out. The tuning slide is nice and snug, so that it doesn’t slip, yet is easy
to adjust. The spacing and size of the tone holes is especially nice for
small hands, yet still allows for clean half-holing. Volume wise, it is not
impressive, but the sweetness it has is a fair tradeoff.

If Chuck can manage to keep the sweetness yet up the volume, it will be a great whistle. As it is, it would make an excellent practice whistle for apartment dwellers and folks who want to stay in the background at a session.

If I didn’t have access to the one my neighbor bought from me, I’d be buying another one. :smiley:

anniemcu

(edited to reword that last bit)

P.S. I was not paid, nor given anything in trade for this review.

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Great review and nice sack! :wink:

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I have to agree wholeheartedly with Annie. I couldn’t reach the third octave but did find that it handled whatever you could toss at it, taps, rolls, etc with no squeaks or squaks. Until I got myself adjusted to the low air requirement I kept going into the second octave while playing the lower notes. A few hours at it and there was no further problem. It responds quickly with no buzzing and almost no chiff at all. I’m playing wood and composite and find that Chuck’s brass is just as sweet without grating on the ears as some of the other metals that I’ve tried out. This is indeed a very quiet instrument but I did not feel that it hindered it’s quality at all. The weight makes you feel that there is something substantial in your hands despite it’s reduced size while not being so heavy that your hands become fatigued after extended playing. It handles playing outside in a breeze very well and seems to hold its pitch constantly either in the a/c or in the heat & humidity. IMHO it’ll be well worth the price taking all things into consideration especially craftsmanship, finish and tone. Toss on a little engraved ornamentation and will be as fine to the eye as the ear.

Try one out,
Mark

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I’m on the tour as well and I’m right on board with everything anniemcu says. It’s a great whistle.

My only issue was the backpressure. In combination with the low air requirement I had some difficulty playing long phrases. Too much leftover air made my lungs hurt. If I had more free time I’m sure I could have gotten used to it.

Keep up the good work Chuck!

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Sounds a lot like a laughing whistle perhaps? Or a narrow bore Hoover?

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I have a Laughing on order, but can’t compare it right now… though I will try to remember to ferret out both at my neighbor’s tomorrow and do just that. Alas, haven’t access to a Hoover.

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Oooh … this is sounding more & more like my kind of whistle. How soon do I get my hands on it, Annie? (Not that I’m rushing you or anything … much!) :smiley:

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I thought they were no longer available?

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I’m also on the Granite Falls whistle tour and would concur with the previous comments. When I first saw it, the workmanship really jumped out at me, reminding me of some finely crafted navigating device from long ago. It is smaller than most of my other whistles, and hence quieter, but I really like that quality. The upper register (2nd octave) is very smooth. I, too, had clogging/moisture problems, and a quick note to Chuck brought the solution, dip the mouthpiece in soapy water for a few seconds, problem solved. This is a really sweet little whistle which I would buy in a second if I hadn’t already splurged on several new instruments. The price ($80.00) is extremely reasonable. I’m showing it off to my local session tonight, and then it will be on it’s way. Steve Brown

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are these the ones that are listed for 45 dollars in the Brass high Whistle section on his site with the coming soon pictures, or are these a different creation entirely that are not yet listed?

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These are a totally new design that have not been put into production as of yet as far as I know from what Chuck told us in the beginning of the tour.

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Thanks!

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Judith,
I’m meant to note that the whistle is on its way to you. Enjoy! :wink:

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Because I bought the one I tried. :smiley:

So that just leaves about half a dzen ‘must haves’ I still have to save up the pennies for… Busman, Stonehenge, … hmmm… that’s only… (sound of stacking pennies)

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See above post… :smiley:

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Cool! Congrats on cobbing it. Means I get a new one to try … and most likely buy. :sunglasses:

Hey, Annie … how does it compare with the Hudson? Or is that comparing apples and oranges?

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Quinces and Pomegranates :slight_smile:

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Judy,

Your tour instrument will be shipped on Wednesday. Sorry about the delay.

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Thanks everyone for the kind reviews. FWIW, this is my favorite that I have made so far. :slight_smile: It is quiet enough that my wife actually does not complain when I practice anymore! :smiley:

I am making basic changes to the way that I am selling my instruments. My original idea was to sell mostly to retail shops and so, sell a lot more of them. Unfortunately, I can no longer do that. The work load is just to great. It does not pay enough for me to do it full time, and I have an intense day job as well. On the other hand, I would cease to exist if I stopped making whistles. I do love it so. The answer is that I am going to stop selling to retail shops and stop selling through the web site. I am really only going to sell through eBay and other online auctions. The web site will be for information only. That way, I only sell when I actually have instruments in hand, and the instruments that I sell will be of higher quality. Perhaps sometime in the future I will be able to really devote myself to making both whistles and flutes, but for now, it must remain a hobby.

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Ok, so I am the straggler in the bunch - lots of family visiting, including 2 little guys who have shown me just how NOT child-proof my house is. I saved all whistles and other instruments..a little less lucky with pottery. Ah well. Anyway, onto the Granite Falls brass whistle. Annie has made my job easier by going into such good detail and sending such a good picture. (The whistle was actually smaller than I expected.) I was interested in the tour because I was looking for a quieter whistle with a hint of chiff. Chuck’s new whistle is that. Its well made, it’s a bit on the quiet side, has a hint of chiff (I could use just a notch more) and is very easy to blow. The ease of blow was very easy to get used to and the notes were very even and similar between octaves in terms of sound. Lucky for me, my neighbor bought it (so I’ll hopefully get to play it some). She’s interested in transitioning from wooden recorder playing to pennywhistle and this whistle seemed the perfect one for it. Thanks to Chuck for letting me participate. Judith