Well, this is my very first foray into music(not counting the electronic keyboard I had to play in music in elementary school. ), and I’m extremely excited about getting started.
Unfortunately, I’ve got a few questions that I’m pretty sure you’re all sick of hearing; but I’d really appreciate the help.
Now, I haven’t bought a whistle yet, and my first question is if there’s a specific brand that is particularly good for beginners? I’m mainly worried about quality(god help me if I get a bad whistle! I’ll be playing for days trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong, till I find out it’s the whistle!). I’m thinking that since most whistles are so cheap, I’m going to get two right off the bat(a Generation Nickel D and a Feadog Nickel D). Does this sound like a safe plan as far as getting a good whistle goes?
Now, related to my previous question is whether or not Nickel or Brass really makes a difference in the sound; to an untrained ear(i.e. mine) would there be any difference?
Finally, once I get a whistle, will it matter whether I have my left or right hand on top? I’ve read a couple guides, and they sound pretty dogmatic about having the left hand on top, but I can’t think of any reason why it would really matter.
The Gen and Feadog Ds are great as either starter, or even advanced whistles. That said, neither is the easiest in the world to play. Clarke Sweetones and Megs are probably a bit easier, but if I were you I’d go for the Gen and Feadog despite that. They will teach you better breath control from the outset.
I am a particular fan of the Feadog D and C whistles. They are reasonably loud, very responsive and sound great.
Some people say that the nickel whistles sound brighter. Personally I think the audible difference is very slight, if detectable at all. Some also find the nickel slicker and harder to grip. Personally I don’t find that noticeable either, and I always use the nickel Feadogs. They look and feel like real quality.
I’d certainly recommend left hand on top (closest to your face as you blow). Even if there was no critical reason to do that, surely there is no reason not to, so why not go with the flow? Actually, if you follow the convention it may make life easier when you read people’s descriptions of how to play certain tunes and execute certain techniques. If they keep referring to a specific hand and you are playing with yours the other way around it could get a little disorientating.
Generation and Feadog Ds should be a good starting point. Just in case the slickness thing is an issue for you, you may be best advised to start on brass.
The nickel Feadog D & C are fantastic whistles that you won’t grow out of IMHO. Personally I have not been very impressed with the Generation Ds I have had.
I’d recommend adding a Generation Bb to your starter batch as it is so mellow and easy on the ears (and neighbours) and has a good reputation among seasoned whistlers even though it is very low cost.
I’m relative new to the whistle (and flute) but not to music so much as I’ve played clarinet since age 12 or so and continue for many years now trying to learn guitar and keyboards.
As buddhu says the Generation or Feadog or Oak or Acorn are all about the same and have a similar sound, they do take some work to (at least in my experience) to really be able play them properly (most breath control I think). It also may be hit and miss as the quality is sketchy and some play better than others - if you have the opportunity to try several you may be able to find a good one, or you can purchase a “tweaked” one which means someone has checked/adjusted/modified it to play correctly.
My favorite beginning whistle is a Clarke original (with the wood fipple) - it take more air to play, but is more forgiving and at least to my ear has a much better tone.
I’ve recently gotten a couple of Susato (ABS Plastic) whistles (just slightly more expensive - $30 range) and love them - much more forgiving than the cheaper ones but they have a bit of a different sound (but not THAT much) than the metal whistles so you may not want to go that way if you are looking for that traditional sound.
I’d agree the Clark Sweetone and Meg are great whistles (I tend to favor that conical bore as I think it give a better sound and intonation).
Whistle is an ambidextrous instrument, you can play it with either hand on top and it makes no difference.
Flutes (especially keyed flutes) and pipes however are not, they have to be made either right handed or left handed to suit the player. The vast majority of these instruments are made to suit a right handed player and thus the left hand is the appropriate top hand for them.
If there is a possibility of you progressing to flute or pipes from whistle, then it makes sense to play whistle left hand on top, as this means less you have to adjust when or if you add flute/pipes to your repertoir.
As one of the replies above says, some of the “low end” whistles are a little difficult to play in the low range, especially for a beginner. I had an “interesting” experience last weekend with a complete beginner - he was having major breath control issues. On the other hand, they ARE cheap and as such, you don’t need to worry about banging them around.
I would like to go out on a limb here and recommend you jump up to one of the nicer (i.e. more expensive) whistles. The best thing about them, aside from being a little easier to play and usually having a nicer sound, is tuneability. If you anticipate playing with other people, this is a plus.
I used to have one of the Granite Falls Manufacturing whistles and found it to be perfect for your needs (and it doesn’t cost what my Burke or O’Brien cost!). Check out http://www.whistlemaker.com/
Hi Cornicer, welcome to C&F, and the exciting world of whistles. We all enjoy repeat questions, and topics. They are easy to answer. The Generation and Feadog are good first whistles. Just look through them to see if there is any little pieces of plastic left by the factory, and remove them.
Thank you all for such great answers! I think I’m definitely going to go with a nickel/brass(still haven’t decided on that one, lol) Generation and Feadog(both D, I’ll look into the more ‘exotic’ types when I get more advanced).
Where are these pieces of plastic, usually? Are they difficult to get rid off(I’m not exactly skilled with tools)?
When I’ve found them they’ve been around where the metal and plastic parts meet. Shavings of plastic can end up in the metal pipe, or pushed up into the fipple, and you can just hook them out with a finger.
I’ve also heard of bits of plastic left over from the molding process – I haven’t had any of those, but I imagine you could get them with a small exacto knife. You’d want to be very careful of having the knife blade intersect with the sound blade of the whistle (the tip of the ramp in the window).
Welcome. Keep a whistle in your car or some other place handy. It makes traffic jams and drive throughs so much more fun.
I accidently learned to play left-handed. It didn’t matter til I tried playing a silver flute. I could have saved so much time if I had just learned left handed. I can still only play the whistle left-handed but I can play the irish flute left-handed or right-handed (with different grips no less.)
You wont go wrong with a hand made Guido Gonzato High D. It’s a keeper. The Freeman hand tweaked brass Feadog D costs even less. The Burke D is perfection at nearly eight times the price of either. Any of these might be the only whistle you’ll ever want or need so would be a fantastic deal and might even save you from the dreaded WhOA. Gonzato, Freeman and Burke are good to deal with too, experts with enthusiastic advice. There are others out there too, but these are the ones I’ve dealt with very satisfactorily, except in my case they didn’t save me from WhOA.
My first whistle was a Feadog D. It works very well. Then the collecting bug began to set-in. I then purchased a Jerry Freeman tweaked Feadog D. It is quite a bit better than the non-tweaked.
After that, I began to admire the Burke whistles and finally purchased a used one from a member of this forum.
The Burke is more forgiving to play. For me the improvement was quite dramatic as it is simply an easier whistle to play. Now when I return to my Feadogs, they sound much better.
The Burkes are around $200 new. So, I would suggest a cheaper whistle to begin with. After a month or so (to be sure you’re going to stick with it), think about buying a better quality whistle. A number of forum members suggest that learning on a good whistle is not as infuriating than learning on a whistle that does not play so easily (such as Feadogs?).
There are cheaper high end whistles, such as Thornton (I am waiting to get mine) or Sindt, both under $100.
This email is just my opinion / experience. I am still very much a beginner myself.
The stray bits of plastic I have encountered in a few Generations and a few Waltons. Sometimes the are like loose flakes of plastic ans sometimes a rough ridge from the moulding process. a small sharp blade or fine sandpaper sorts it out easily enough.
I’ve never seen it on Feadogs. Their quality control is great. Very consistent indeed.
I would disagree. It’s easy to get a sound out of them but playing them as an instrument is not the same thing. There are definite differences and some indeed are difficult or at least more difficult to play until you learn the proper breath control and ability to close the holes properly. Beyond that there are the difficulties of ornamentation.
), and I’m extremely excited about getting started.