Ronaldo Reyburn Whistles

Whistle
1

Is it me or are these Reyburn whistles just crazy good? I have a good size collection of high end whistles which are all just outstanding but every whistle I have seems to complain from time to time and not do exactly what I want except this new Reyburn narrow-bore D. It is the newest one in my collection but I find myself going back to it again and again. It just simply plays easy and sounds so sweet every time I pick it up.

I am not a big fan of brass whistles but I do love this one. I am sure that a large part of the occasional inconsistency with my various whistles is my lack of skill (I am a relatively new player) but I just find that I play that Reyburn at the high end of my ability (which isn’t much) whenever I play it.

I have the Reyburn Bb on order and I am considering getting his D/C set. Does anyone have both the NB D and the D/C set? Are they very different? The NB is very sweet with lower than average volume.

2

Reyburns are really lovely. Truly underappreciated.

3

Patrick –

I have the C/D larger bore set in just intonation, and I like both very much. The Reyburn session bore is certainly is not a quiet whistle; the upper octave, especially using the D tube, really carries. (Sorry that I can’t speak to the comparison with the narrow bore.) I won’t even pretend to give an objective review; I’ll just say that these are instruments that I want to play every day, and I think it’s going to take me a long time to get to the bottom of their possibilities of tone.

4

I think Reyburn whistles are great - and those who know me can see I am holding back on my praise.

I recently received the first delivered all Delrin head Low G. I’m working through the modified pipers grip I need to play it, but the whistle is awesome. Lovely - like all my Reyburns.

I have the C/D set and it’s great - and a steal at the price. The High C (from the set) is the sweetest I’ve got.

Ok that’s enough. I’ll stop before my praise starts to look like adulation.

5

Yes! I just got my Reyburn low D two days ago and its amazing. Usually I don’t form a solid opinion this quickly either.

6

Reyburn’s wide-bore low-D is other-worldly good! His higher whistles are merely awesome.

Doc

7

Disclaimer
I am not terribly interested in high-end whistles. For decades I had two generations, and that was it. When I started playing in sessions a few years ago I went directly for the ‘hard stuff,’ flutes, and that is where the vast majority of my current gear-lust comes from. To summarize, I am NOT a whistle gear-head and I don’t have Whoa.

I just got a soprano D Reyburn about a month ago from Doc. I wanted a “high end” whistle so I could stop borrowing a friend’s Burke for gigs. The Reyburn does everything I need - volume to burn, good tone with character, good intonation, tuneable. In short, a fine whistle. The only problem I have with it (and it’s my problem, not the whistle’s) is that the 2nd octave B requires a pretty hefty amount of air pressure. When I space out in the middle of a tune and a high B comes in, I squawk it occasionally. Nothing that a bit more familiarity won;t cure.

The Reyburn is, as far as I can tell, every bit as “good” as a Burke, even though they differ tonally. I like mine. I don;t see myself buying another D in the foreseeable future.

8

Howdy,

I gave my Reyburns a positive review a while back.
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=44501

If you search, you’ll find I’m not the only one. I believe there is a good deal of respect for Reyburn whistles on the board.

Best,

Dave

9

I’d like to know from Daniel about his modified piper’s grip he uses on the low G. Does this involve the offset holes and using the pinkey for the 6th hole as suggested on Renaldo’s site?

10

Well, first let me say that the Low G is very different in bore diameter and reach than the Low D. That would be the case with any make of whistle. So Ronaldo’s suggestion for the Low D wouldn’t apply to the Low G according to the way I play. The subject of a switched up grip might be interesting for a new topic anyway. You should get more opinions than just mine.

Then let me offer this link.
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/pipers.html

On low whistles starting at Bb I mix it up quite a bit. Meaning, every time I use a piper’s grip, I mix the pad between the end and second joint up with one or two end pads, and sometimes even throw in end joint crease if it seals correctly.

So if a proper pipers grip was all holes sealed with the pad between the end and second joint (and to be honest, I don’t know what a proper piper’s grip is) then I always modify the grip (one way or another) to play a low whistle.

Note that I don’t put the bottom pinky down on the whistle body to stabilize the whistle on a C#. Instead, I cover the end tone-hole with the 3rd finger on my bottom hand like 000|00X.

On my Reyburn Low D I play all tone-holes with the pad between the end and second joint, except for the bottom hole (the only one offset on my whistle) which I play with the end pad of the 3rd finger of the bottom hand. I tried the pinky thing, didn’t work for me.

On my Reyburn Low F I play all tone-holes with the pad between the end and second joint.

On my Reyburn Low G I play the index and middle finger tone-holes (both hands) with the pad between the end and second joint, and I play the 3rd finger tone-holes on with the end pad.

On my Reyburn Bb I think I play the top hand with the pad between the end and second joint, and the bottom hand with a standard whistle grip (don’t have it here to try).

I imagine everyone that plays different keys mixes up the grip for whatever works best for the whistle. Now I have a pretty good imagination, so I could be wrong. But I play the my Overton Low D differently than the Reyburn, and I played my Burke Low D differently than the Reyburn and Overton if I recall correctly (I sold the Burke some time ago).

King Friday would be a good one to ask as well. He just received a Low D (no offsets if I recall correctly) so he may have switched up his grip a couple times to find his particular groove with that particular whistle.

Oh yeah, Doc. I bought the Low F used. It’s Ronaldo’s old school wide bore. Amazing power and voice - like a trumpet or interstellar sonic laser, or something. :smiley:

11

…I would like to try a Reyburn…I’ve been wondering about them for a while now. He’s a fellow Oregonian.

-Casey

12

my Reyburn low D is pretty much my goto LowD whistle. i have a couple others but the poors thing just gather dust mostly hehehe

13

I’ve had my Reyburn Low D for about a week and a half now and from the beginning I knew it was a great whistle, but today I realized that it is a truly special instrument.

I was listening to Joannie Madden play the Sally Gardens and decided to grab the Reyburn and have a go. I’m gonna sound really lame saying this, but I just let the whistle go and it was the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard in a whistle that I’ve played. It wasn’t even like playing it all, I felt like the whistle was playing itself and I was along for the ride. The Reyburn is a truly incredible whistle.

14

Standard or wide bore? I had a wide bore, but I sold it (I don’t play low whistles any more), and it got eaten in the mail. :cry: I got the money back from the insurance, but I hate to see a wonderful instrument die. And it was a wonderful instrument–the only low D I ever even liked.

15

It’s a standard bore actually. I have a gold Chieftain low d with a massive bore that didn’t even come close to what the Reyburn did for me when I tired it. That sucks about the Reyburn you lost, God knows where it ended up now. I looked inside the mouthpiece and the bottom of the blade is carved out in a really unique way which is probably what produces the beautiful overtones that the Chieftain couldnt match.

16

King Friday,

Your comments are a delightful Christmas (and Solstice) gift for me.

Thank you and many blessings.
Ronaldo