I once posted a remark about the advantages of playing the whistle, and missed to point out one big advantage - they´re cheap - even expensive ones! You can own and try out a lot of them whitout taking a bank loan. If you for instance buy a saxophone or an original Gibson Les Paul you´re stuck. If you don´t like it you have either to sell it or learn to live with it.
/Falkbeer
I’ll check them out when I get home tonight and let you know.
Mark
Hi, how is the intonation? Is the second octave in tune or is it a wee bit flat (like moste straight bore whistles)?
/Falkbeer
Intonation is good up and down, only real issue is the very top D is sharp slightly… All else is remarkably on the money…
You must be playing different Susatos from the ones I’ve tried. I don’t see how it’s possible to play a Susato with “consistent volume throughout” and in tune. To prevent the Susato from being significantly louder in the upper octave, particularly above the f#, you’d have to underblow it and it would go flat. Susatos are much louder in the upper octave than in the lower. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)
It’s my understanding that the second register is always proportionately louder than the lower on any whistle. The Susato D may be better said to be within what I have become accustomed to and not “importunately” louder than the other whistles I’ve played, hence therefore “consistent”. I can see how my wording may have been misconstrued. The Susato high D is a very loud whistle, the lower register is loud and the high is also loud but if viewed from a percentage perspective it would seem to be a consistent percentage increase as other whistles I’ve owned and auditioned…
WTA
Susatos are slightly conical for just this reason.
Slightly conical?? Must be a few microns… looks like a pipe to me…
For the above reasons Bloomfield stated, I very much dislike Susatos in session settings; when they get to the 2nd octave, to me they’re shrieky-sounding, intrusive. On the other hand, they seem to really shine when using a mike (plus you have the advantage of being able to back away from the mike when you’re in the second register).
William, Susatos are well known for being more unbalanced between the octaves than most other whistles (check out past threads). It may be, as you said, that the whistles you usually play are also pretty unbalanced between the octaves, so the Susato seems ‘normal’? Try Sindts, Humphreys and Burkes, if you play them next to Susatos you’ll find that they’re far better balanced, and I’m sure there are others.
Susatos are definitely conical, though–to confirm this you have to measure the inside of the whistle, not just look at the outside.
Or possibly the one I have is less “unbalanced” than others. My high D’s difference in volume between the low and high register is, in my opinion is not unbalanced but I only have one Susato high D to my experience. My compared whistles are Chieftain, Overton, Tully, Alba, Shaw, O’Brien, Susato and Walton.
The low end of my Susato in very loud so the high end, on my high D is also loud though IMO proptionate to loudness of the lower regester.
To agree to this idea in general though I must say the other keys I have, low C, low F, Bb and C do have a noticable difference in balance especially the lower keys.
WTA
Same for me. In my opinion it isn’t that Susato’s are un-balanced, but that beginners tends to underblow them due to their loudness, hence the shreeks in the upper register, and the apparent un-balance.
Honesty from a maker here. Susato makes one helluva nice whistle. The craftsmanship is absolutely excellent - at least as good as you’ll find in a whistle costing much more. The sound is, in a word, “different”. That’s a function of very thin plastic tube, and is not in any sense a bad thing. They are strident, yes, and in some music that’s a major plus. I can’t get “strident” out of anything I make except for the Village Smithy, and that’s still not up to Susato’s level.
I just worked with the sound guys at the Atlanta Celtic Festival, and there were Susatos in use there, and they sounded great! In appropriate music, they flat kick butt!
There are more sound clips of Susato work up than the one here, so go listen to a few. You’ll see what I mean. I recommend Susato. It’s a fine instrument. Not for every purpose or taste, but then, no one maker’s whistles are.
Bill Whedon
Serpent Music
Alright, that sounds pretty good coming from a whistlemaker.
Heh. The piper with the band I’m in plays whistle pretty well, and not only knows about under- and over-blowing, utilises those techniques when intonation adjustments need to be made. He’s no beginner. His high D whistle is a Susato, and when he’s on that during unplugged practices, I grit my teeth come the second octave. It actually hurts my ears.
I usually beg him to stop and hand him mine, instead.
His high D whistle is a Susato, and when he’s on that during unplugged practices, I grit my teeth come the second octave. It actually hurts my ears.
Loud they are, no argument here, but no louder than my Busman.
I do wear musician earplugs when I play, that helps 