Nope..I’m just waiting for the day that Peter can ask “what makes Wanderer’s whistles better than my Generation?”
Then I’ll know I’ve made it as a maker 
Pfft, amature. 
Loren
Just wait until he answers the question - in a positive fashion. 
You’re talking to the guy who reviewed the Spillane Low D, buster.
And, what DID it bust?
hehe! I won’t hold my breath. Peter’s a well known advocate of the frugality and utility of Generations. Nothing wrong with that at all. But certainly not someone I’d go to for high-end whistle advice Since my favorite whistles are not Generation-type, and that’s not the sound I’m shooting for either, I imagine that “meh, I guess it’s alright, if you’re willing to spend that kind of money for something that doesn’t even sound like a proper whistle” is probably the best I can hope to shoot for.
I believe they are played all of them on a D whistle. Yes,
it’s the one in the picture. Probably the whistle has
two pieces, because it’s tunable. You might well
be able to play like this in one year.
You can get a playable whistle to start with for
very little money, maybe ten or eleven American
dollars. Many fine players favor inexpensive
whistles.
The Oak whistle is a place to start. Be sure to get one
in D–the standard whistle for Irish music.
Hey buddy, don’t make my reviews come out of retirement and kick your reviews’ butts.
Yo, Aidreaaaaaan!
Loren Balboa
What IS that tune Peter L posted up on page one!?
I can’t remember the name and I have heard it before… must… learn.. it!
Well, shoot for it my friend.
As for the Hudson Wind, I ordered one and should have it shortly. I mostly did so based on Jessie’s comments.
I’m putting more time into practicing (now that I have a little time for it) so I can get better than halfway competent - you know, better than good enough to impress my mother.
My favorite Ds - an Overton, Reyburn, and Copeland - all play great. But have the power to stun a cat at 30 paces, even at practice volume.
So I’m looking for something that plays great like a quality whistle, that doesn’t peel paint, and doesn’t need the TLC of a wood whistle. I’ll let you know if the Hudson Wind fits the bill.
Which brings the question - have you made a Delrin whistle yet?
I have never in my life heard clips of a whistle and been
able to get much info from them about how the
whistle would sound in person, especially in my hands.
I have to play them myself, typically.
I don’t think we are going to get that info from clips, at
least not clips of the sort we post here.
Also often what one is hearing most is the ability of
the musician, yes? Not so much the whistle. The Feadog
on Peter’s clip is being played brilliantly, which rather
colors one’s estimate of the whistle itself.
As that’s how it is, gang, pointing out that the clips don’t
give us enough info is a bit of kicking a dead horse. Right, they don’t.
Same goes for observing that, on the basis of the clips,
one has no particular reason to buy the beast. Right, they
rarely are a way of determining what one should buy.
This wasn’t an effort to sell a whistle but to give us as good
a sense as possible, given the medium and the people involved,
as to what the thing is like. If, on this basis, one doesn’t
want to buy the whistle–that’s WONDERFUL!
There is an exericise sometimes known as ‘Breaking The Butterfly
On The Rack,’ which consists in holding something informal
and impressionistic to standards it can’t possibly satisfy
and then pointing out grimly how it fails to satisfy them.
It would be nice if something could meet the standards,
but as nothing like this will, we can do it again and again.
Much good fun. Sometimes also known as ‘Grinding
The Axe.’
I don’t suppose there is much risk that we will all go out
and buy this whistle, in fact. Dont’ need to be saved from
the review or anything like that.
Fair enough. I think that is why Peter has insisted that he doesn’t mean to knock the whistle. My post about what I like to hear in reviews was a response to a question and not a critique of the original review, which touched on sound quality, balance (strong bottom end), and so forth.
But there is another side to it that a whistlemaker should be aware of: the risk of turning potential buyers off through the combination of an ecstatic review and soundclips that don’t bear out what was written.
The clip Peter posted is of the reel Ships Are Sailing.
Slaps head… Ships are Saliling!
DOH!
hehe… I guess I need to visit WT a little more often.
Thank you.
BTW I love my old self tweeked Feadog… oh and Kilfarboy rocks
There’s no substitute for playing a whistle. Short of that, for a review here are a few things that would help me a lot:
-
Record a reel or jig that has a nice mix of well-executed traditional ornaments in both octaves–rolls, cuts, slides. This would give some idea of responsiveness and what a well-played roll or cut sounds like on that whistle.
-
Record the same tune on a common cheap whistle, using the same recording equipment, holding the whistle the same distance from the mike, playing the tune the same way, do this either right before or after you play the reviewed whistle, so all factors are the same. This way, I can hear how it compares to a whistle that I know, so there’s a base line to compare to. A recording of the new whistle by itself doesn’t tell me much, because I don’t know how the recording set-up and the player’s style affected the recording. Having the same tune recorded the same way on a cheapie will tell me something like, “okay, this person sounds like that on a Generation, it sounds like this new whistle may be more responsive, rolls are a little more clear, it’s a little less breathy in the second octave, maybe not as balanced volume-wise as the Generation, etc.”
-
Scales and a slow tune on both whistles would be cool, too, to give an idea of how the volume compares, what the Cnat sounds like, etc.
These reviews are fun, but any more I’ll only consider buying a whistle based on someone else’s recommendation if I know from clips that the person giving the opinion is a very good player who plays in a traditional style, and knows what they’re talking about. Which eliminates just about everyone.
It’s hard not to imagine you’re being a bit disingenuous here, Peter. Of course the clips aren’t played to a professional standard, especially the quick tunes (they’re posted by a guy named “slowair,” after all). Once you hear the clips, you know what kind of player posted them, and if that’s not the way you play, the review might not be very useful to you, so the clips have their use. It might just as well go the other way too – just because some hotshot can make a whistle tear through a fast reel doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to play for a beginner. What else can Slowair do but post about how it works for a player of his style and ability?
I also agree with Jim Stone, in that little MP3 samples played over the computer don’t tell you much about the whistle no matter who’s playing them. Even professional recordings tell you ten times more about the player than the whistle. And you know that, Peter.
Please do! Even though I’m not reviewing any more, I still have a strong curiosity about new whistles!
It seems appropriate to move this part of the discussion to pm…
Thank you Mike, and Paul for taking the time to share your view of this new whistle.
I think that more people should be encouraged to write reviews. That way, you can hear several points of view. I wish those who perform the review had time to do a thorough analysis, but that is not always possible.
I don’t think we should discourage reviewers. A simple review can be helpful - more reviews are more helpful.
Of course, all this can be solved by putting this whistle on a tour. Paul, Mike, do you think this guy can be persuaded to do that?
Sign me up!
Your user name should be “TourGuide.”
I thought he was the tour guide.