Anyone know anything about the Soodlum variety of whistle? Or you play one?
I have a whistle called an Irish whistle which I’m pretty sure is a Soodlum. I think they are manufactured by Walton’s now and called a Mellow D.
I’ve had an old soodlum for about 7 years now. My wife had it for for unknown years before I ever got it. When I was new, it was fairly awful: squeaky, hard to master the breath requirements. It’s sat in a drawer since I got it, but nowadays when I pull it out to play on it, it’s not terrible. It’s still not one I’m overly fond of, though.
I ripped off a quick rendition of Dusty Windowsills here..not my best work, but it’ll give you an idea of the whistle’s sound:
http://www.tinwhistler.com/misc/dustywindowsill_soodlum_glm.mp3
Interesting.
I just got some allowance money, and even though I have three whistles already (Feadog (my fav.: MkII, but a really good one), Susato, and Weltmeister), I’m considering another cheapie that sounds good. obviously, WhOA disorder has a death-grip on me. 
Two of my three cheapies are Soodlums, and I like them enough to play them on a regular basis. A good whistler (better than me, at least) can take them up into the third octave. I did the standard tweak on them, and really can’t tell that they’ve changed much.
I can't speak for Soodlums in the key of D, but my mystery whistle in C, purchased several years ago at the Indianapolis O'Malia's Irish Fest, is most likely a Soodlum. It is probably my favorite C whistle, with a nice pure tone colored with a little chiff, good breath requirements, in tune, and very even across the octaves. However, I think I've heard something to the effect that Soodlums are no longer widely available.
~Firefly
I’ve noticed that they aren’t around a lot anymore…
Anyway, I think I’ve solved my mini-problem. Today I bought a Clarke C, and, well, total and complete HEAVEN. I’m having the lady order me one in D, which will be in by next Thursday.
Soodlum’s and Walton’s are the same whistle. In fact that was my first one, ordered from the Mel Bay catalogue several years back. I like it.
Well, y’know I was going to suggest a Clarke since you didn’t mention it, but then I finished scrolling down. Good choice!
Mary
When I ordered my first whistles, I ordered Soodlums; when they came, they were Waltons. I called and was told that Waltons had taken over Soodlums and so unless you can find an old one in some shop’s backroom cupboard, there aren’t anymore Soodlums.
I’d give the Soodlum’s, Walton’s, and ‘Guiness’ whistles a miss, as well as Acorns…
Everyone should try a generation, just because it’s generation, and an Oak, because it’s a common favorite whistle (it’s definitely my favorite!), and a Clarke SweeTone because those that don’t like Oaks usually love SweeTones (and vice versa), and of course Susato, which I hate, but some people love them, so, until you try you never know, right?
You might also try a clarke original (wooden plug) … I don’t like it much, but a small fraction of the whistling population swears by them. Very airy sound, and it takes a lot of breath, but I will say in its favor, I found it near impossible to squeak and incredibly easy to traverse octaves… I’m really glad I had it in my learning-set. Now that I have the breath control, I prefer my Oak, but it was good for a crutch for a time. 
–Chris A.
About 8 months ago I got my first whistle at a Celtic Fair…a Walton’s Irish whistle. I squeeked and squawked on it for a few days and thought it was great! “But surely, there must be better whistles since this one only cost $6”, I thought. So, I got a Clair 2 pc., Susato, Sweetone, Clarke Original, Feadog, Walton’s LBW, Weltmeister, Sweetheart Rosewood and a Generation. I thought they were all great and awesome compared to my Walton’s Irish whistle.
It’s kinda funny…as I sit here now at my computer, the only sup whistles within reach are my Walton’s and my new Hoover narrow bore. Just goes to show how your tastes can change.
Eric
R.I.P. - gone, but not forgotten
Clarke original - I tweeked it to death
Weltmeister - melted??? (how does a wood whistle melt you may ask)
[ This Message was edited by: vaporlock on 2002-05-11 04:53 ]
Soodlum is the same thing as Walton. I got my first whistle one year ago today (a Mother’s Day sale, in fact, at the music store) and it was a brass Walton’s with a tape and instruction booklet called “Soodlum’s Rak Pak” or something to that effect. I believe people are right in saying Walton took over Soodlum.
Anyway, the D it came with is trash, but I went back and bought a C a month or so later and it is a very nice whistle. My husband also has a Walton’s Little Black D and my sister has a Guinness and they love them.
As for the availability, most music shops in the SLC area carry Walton’s. The ones around here that are hard to find are Generation and Oak. The most common ones are Walton and Clarke.