what is the best, cleanest, smoothest prettiest whistle around. waltons are squeaky, clakes are throaty etc. Does it exist or is it all in the player?
emma
The one you learned to play and love.
To find one that suits you, get a few different cheapos from the whistle shop and get acquainted with them. If you are after a more polished sound, you might need a high-end whistle. It’s all personal taste and opinions, there is no “best”. If you tell us what you are looking for in a whistle, you will get better answers than mine.
Sonja
That said, Waltons are by no means squeaky.
Sonja
The bottomline answer is “yes” and “yes.”
There are whistles that are naturally more inclined to produce a clean, sweet tone. That said, the player makes a heck of a difference too. I have whistles that I didn’t like at all when I bought them a couple of years ago but are now regulars in my gig bag.
To a great extent, if there’s nothing wrong with the whistle itself (i.e., it is well built and in tune), with practice, you can make it sound pretty darned good. On the other hand, a rank beginner is likely to sound less than smooth on even the best whistle. Everything else is largely a matter of taste.
I wouldn’t call the Waltons squeaky at all, but it’s possible you’re overblowing, or not getting a good mouth seal when you play. When you say they’re “squeaky,” do you mean that they seem to want to jump up to the next octave fairly easily, or are you perhaps hearing over tones?
Redwolf
…and clarkes are not throaty!
No, and yes.
There is no best whistle, because what’s best depends on so many traits of the player – from whether you like a sweet or harsh sound, pure or chiffy, lots of backpressure or little, plastic, aluminum or some combination, to what mood you’re in, what kind of music you’re playing, and a host of things that may vary on a daily or even hourly basis.
For me, it really does vary on a daily basis.
when i said this it was after searching the forum for other problems people had reported about their whistles. i am by no means a whistle hater, i love waltons!
i just wanted people to refer me to a cracker of a whistle for the collection.
emma
To escape the digressions and bring this back to your original question, there are as many opinions regarding the best (and worst) whistle as there are whistle models.
If you’re looking for a pasticularly sweet or ‘clean’ sound, I am personally of the opinion that the high-end plastic whistles, particularly the Silkstone PVC, Hoover CPVC or Water Weasel, embody this trait more than metal whistles. But I’m sure that others will dispute it.
I’ll second Chuck on the Silkstone PVC.
~Larry
i found it and it comes in the shape of a generations Eb for £4
emma