Road Test: Ronaldo Reyburn Low D whistle

Whistle
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I’ve been playing a new Ronaldo Reyburn Low D for a few weeks now.

Here it is, with a keyless angledneck Susato and an MK.

Note the fingerhole sizing and spacing is nearly identical on all three. On Low D’s there’s really only one way to skin the cat…

Here are all three being played:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD7G2C8yH0Q

The Reyburn is the heaviest of the three, the tube being brass, with a solid head machined out of black plastic.

It’s playing characteristics are surprisingly similar to the MK despite the different construction. The “breaking point” of various notes is similar, the smoothness across the registers, the spot-on tuning. (Actually this Reyburn has the most perfect tuning of any Low D I’ve had.)

The Reyburn’s tone is sophisticated and elegant. There’s something about the tone of the Susato I don’t care for, something hard to put into words, a reediness but not in a good way, a tinny quality perhaps. The Reyburn’s tone has a bit of that cool Kaval-like tone that I like, the MK more so. I’m not sure to what exent the tonal differences can be heard in the video.

The volume is about the same as the Susato. The low register of the MK is stronger than either the Reyburn or the Susato. Both the MK and the Reyburn are more even in voicing than the Susato, which has a very strong Bottom D and a Low B which can be played very strongly, but a Low E than cannot.

All in all the Reyburn is a “big boy” whistle that could handle professional gigs quite capably.

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Just a brief “thank you” for these posts. Removing the differences among players and tunes gives a much clearer understanding of the instruments. My guess is that the MK is still your weapon of choice.