Hi. I’m finding that I need a louder whistle for session playing. I know lot’s of people claim they can be heard playing cheap (or cheap volume) whistles, but I’m just not finding this to be true.
I was recently playing with 2 fiddles, a guitar, and a tenor banjo and really couldn’t be heard very well at all (except for when I was playing notes in the higest end of the 2nd octave g/a/b).
Over the past few years I’ve bought and sold quite a few louder high-end whistles but currently find myself with only quieter whistles.
Based on past experience I probably need something slightly louder than a Burke. What suggestions do you’all have? Anything out there that is a bit louder than Burke volume but manages to be pretty even in volume across the octaves? I don’t want to overpower everyone else, but I’d like my equal share of the volume bandwidth.
I’ve got a tweaked Shaw on the way…maybe that will do the trick.
I went on a similar quest recently. Here’s what i found: the louder whistles are usually wooden whistles. In fact, i recommend Ralph Sweet’s; not only it’s loud in the high notes, but it’s almost as loud in the first octave too.
If you want to stick with metal, the baddest of the lot i’ve tried was the Alba SE (square end). You can buy it from Stacey or from http://www.gaeliccrossings.com . Silkstone alloy is not as loud but somehow cuts through rather nicely, and is currently my session whistle.
Most people (including me) don’t like Susatos, but they’re cheap enough to try, if you feel so inclined.
The Shaw is ok too because you can blow it very hard, and even if it’s not as loud as the others i mentioned, at least you feel you’re pushing it hard. I’m not sure how Jerry’s tweaks affect the volume.
Did you mean you couldn’t hear yourself well, or did someone else say they couldn’t hear you? I have people telling me that they hear me fine, even when I feel I’m being drowned out by guitars and such. You may want to set up a recorder outside the circle to see what really gets heard.
Purer toned instruments will be heard well, even if they aren’t particularly loud. Look for something with a good strong bottom end. Also, you may want to sit somewhere with a hard surface in front of you, rather than someone’s back, for instance, to get more of the sound bounced rather than absorbed.
A Burke is plenty loud for my purposes, but my Sweetheart projects more I think.
Errr…
A) I’ve never heard anyone claim wooden whistles are the loudest before. Certainly my loudest Ds are my aluminum O’Riordan and my PVC Water Weasel. (And more on point) I don’t think I know any serious whistle player who uses a wooden whistle as their main session instrument.
B) I don’t know where you get the idea that most people don’t like Susatos. They’re not my favorite but they are fairly nice, very loud whistles, and lots of people play them. Oddly enough, in my experience, people tend to play them more often in concert situations than sessions – I’ve no idea why.
I realize this is odd coming from another whistle maker and all, but hey…I can definately make a couple of suggestions too!!
You might want to try a Serpent.. ask around, I’m sure you’ll get some agreement about the ‘room-parting’ effects of some of Bill’s whistles, especially if you ask him for it.
And also of course, as already mentioned… sure wouldn’t hurt to give Albas a try … they have more than enough to be heard as well.
Don’t know the maker, but I did hear a wooden whistle at a Ren. Faire last fall and I will agree with glauber… quite loud indeed, sounded very good and pure, although I prefer metal sound for sure.
Another ‘may sound odd’ - I really haven’t played a ton of different makes of whistles, so there’s my $0.02 as far as the loudest of the loud I have heard / played so far, that I liked the sound of as well.
Good luck!! These days theres a ton to choose from!
Take care,
John
P.S. It’s all a matter of preference when it comes down to sound too, so I would go lookin’ for some good soundclips of whatever you do decide to go for. Clips n Snips probably has most any whistle on there for variety I’d bet, or the makers websites themselves if nothing else.
Fine, joke’s on me . I play my Ralph Sweet modified high D Kilhoury as my main session D (backed up with a Silkstone D+) and we have a big band. Alongside this I play Alu Low D and Low C which are impossible to keep warm at this time of year, Alu G same problem. F O’Riordan..no problems. A whistle - varies.
I didn’t say that any wooden whistle is louder than any metal whistle, but that the louder and most projecting whistles i’ve seen in my search for a good session whistle where wooden. Sweet, O’Riordan, Busman, even the wooden Weasel, if not louder, projects better than the plastic one. YMMV.
Susato’s are not only loud, but they cut through other sounds and can be hard all the way in the ladies’ bathroom…across the street!
My feelings about Susatos have been all over the map. Before I played publicly I hated them. After playing in public I hated them more. But then a friend let me play his…wow!! It was excellent. It was not shrill at all. And very in tune. Then another friend let me borrow his. Not as wonderful as the first, but still excellent. And again, as in tune as you could expect from an expensive whistle.
When the Irish Fest comes up this year I’m hoping to be able to try a few Susato’s and pick out a good one. From my experience they vary.
Sorry, that wasn’t intended to be a comment on the wisdom of playing wooden instruments, just a practical sumarry of my experience. I go to sessions, festivals, concerts, and fleadhs whenever I can, all over Michigan and parts of Canada from the Michigan border all the way to St John’s NFLD. Whenever possible I hang out with other musicians, and naturally I pay attention to what people play.
And pretty universally, the answer is not wooden whistles. Sure, there are a few exceptions – the woman in our local session who plays a wooden O’Riordan. Kevin Crawford’s wooden Grinter low F. And… I’m blanking. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve run into a few others. But it is a very rare thing. I think there are several regulars on this board who own more wooden whistles than I’ve ever seen played in real life.
(What do I see? Starting with the most common: Generation-style whistles. Susatos. O’Riordans (Travellers and the Generation body model). Those metal-body one piece low whistles – er, I’m blanking on the name. Rory Campbell from Old Blind Dogs plays 'em. The odd Burke, Sweettone, and Water Weasel.)
This isn’t a slam on wooden whistles – Al Purcell’s old Thin Weasel C was perhaps the best whistle I’ve ever played, and Kevin’s Grinter F is a thing of beauty. It’s just an observation of what people play. (And by extension, what works in a session.)
I sat my tape recorder beside the piper leading a session (Jerry O) and sat at the back of a big session of around 50 folks and I could hear my untweaked Clarke very well on the recording.
I was surprised, because there were 3 loud whistles and I could hear mine plainly, and it was more in tune than the loud ones (sharp).
If you can’t hear yourself in a session, then, most likely, you are playing in tune!
Repositioning your whistle to one side of your mouth or the other (towards the ear you have facing away from the musicians) will help if you want to hear your mistakes more plainly..
I’ve noticed that when most whistlers at our session start a tune everyone leans toward them to hear what they’re playing, I’ve never had that with my copeland.
I suppose this is a minority view, but I prefer quet whistles, even in sessions. Yes, it’s a problem when your whistle is so quiet you can’t hear yourself playing. But it’s a bigger problem when your whistle is so loud (especially in the second octave) that it gives the people around you a headache.
The thing about a quiet whistle is that if you start a tune and everyone has to lean in to hear you, they’re likely to play more quietly too (if their instruments allow, which is true for everything but pipes). And that’s a good thing. When people play more quietly they tend to listen to each other, and that makes the session more musical. I’ve seen Mary Bergin do that in sessions, playing her Generation or her Sindt.
I like small sessions anyway, where a quiet whistle blends in well and you can hear each instrument clearly. I can only think of a few big sessions I’ve been to that were memorable or enjoyable from a musical perspective.
If you can’t hear yourself, don’t worry about it. It may not be your whistle.
For instance, it could be the punters yammering away at each other so loudly no one else can hear themselves, either (nothing to be done about it, so just soldier on as best you can).
It might be that the session is too big, maybe you should listen instead of joining in.
You may want to consider a louder make of instrument, but realize that many other instrumentalists really, really, really dislike loud shrill whistles even if they are in tune-assuming you can find a loud, in-tune whistle(Good Luck!). And these same people who don’t like loud whistles are very often experienced musicians who have something to say with their music, who have lots of tunes and ideas about how to make a bit of music with them.
I’ve noticed that when most whistlers at our session start a tune everyone leans toward them to hear what they’re playing, I’ve never had that with my copeland.
Yes, that’s it exactally! Every time I started a tune everyone leaned in trying to hear what I was playing, and once they started to play I noticed one person shushing someone else to play quieter.
I also get horribly lost if I can’t hear myself playing…maybe I’ll try the wide-brimed hat trick.
. I play my Ralph Sweet modified high D Kilhoury as my main session D (backed up with a Silkstone D+) and we have a big band. Alongside this I play Alu Low D and Low C which are impossible to keep warm at this time of year, Alu G same problem. F O’Riordan..no problems. A whistle - varies.
