Ok, maybe this should have been posted on the Whistle forum - but I am posting here because I want a fluter’s perspective.
I finally decided it makes sense to have a whistle or two handy as a break from the flute. I went and bought two - a susato two-piece and an O’Brien three piece. I have an old Generation lying around that one of my kids used to play - it’s been damaged and doesn’t sound right, so I wanted a “proper” instrument.
I’m new to the whistle, and only been playing flute for about 18 months anyway. I found the O’Brien immediately easy to play with a good tone.
The Susato is a little odd. The lower octave is mellow and easy to play. The odd bit is the upper ocatve, above F#. I have trouble getting it to stay in the octave, especially g, a and b. Even blowing harder doesn’t always work. I found I can get it to work by kind of blowing “down” through the top half of the slot (what is it called? I mean the little curved slot you blow through).
Has anyone else had this happen? What do fluters generally choose for a whistle?
The secret to taming the dread Susato is to learn to play a whistle with both good breath support and good embouchure control.
Don’t think that just because it’s a whistle there’s no embouchure.
Watch a top-quality whistler play dang near any whistle: you can see the muscles tighten and loosen in their face, jaw, and lips.
As to what whistle is good from a flutists’ perspective, I think Susatos are fine, but there are many good choices. Two whistles that I think are just outstanding are my Overton and my O’Brien narrow-bore brass.
I don’t think any particular whistle is better suited for flute players, it still comes down to personal opinions.
The two primary whistles I play are almost on the completely different ends of the spectrum, it’s Syn and Shaw. Syn is rather reminicent of Susato but with much better sound and better balanced IMO, Shaw has almost zero back pressure and a very airy voice. I use them for very different stuff, and I’ve found that that particular combination is all I need as far as whistles go.
BTW, I always tweak my Shaw’s a little by adjusting the windway to make it a little more focused, otherwise it feels like your just blowing empty air.
Thanks all - you confirmed my hunch - that Susato’s are different. I like the smooth Susato sound, so I will work on the embouchure - not that it’s difficult, compared to the flute!
I’m a flute player who went thru the same thing. i started off with a set of susatos (large bore, kildare model) They play great but are loud as hell!!! one of the previous replys stated that just because it’s a fipple instrument doesn’t mean you don’t need embouchre. Very True!! You really need to streamline your air stream with the susato. If you just blow into it, it comes out sounding like a recorder.
I recommend the Dixon Trad. It’s cheap, sounds old school, and tunable.
I guess what I mean is that it sounds more recorder-like or like one of those cheap yahama recorders that everyone has. i think a good wooden recorder is absolutly lovely. I think the whole whistle vs. recorder thing is just stupid as they’re two completely different instruments. Sorry, didn’t mean to sound like a dumkopf!
I played Susatos for several years and I think they do sound rounder than most metal whistles. But hey, they should – they’re plastic! That said, there’s a place for that sound sometime; they’re a good fake for new-Agey stuff that likes a wood whistle if you can’t afford a Rose!
They definitely take more control.
And yeah, they’re loud!
Though I’ve abandoned my D for a Burke, I still play my Susato Bb and C whistles for New Age-y gigs. I like their sound just fine.
One tip: Make sure you’re not letting your RH ring finger be lazy on the bottom hole; mine definitely complain about that in the upper register!
Observation: In the past six weeks I’ve met not one but two pretty darned good (i.e., great to you and me) flute players from Ireland who play Susato Ds.
