I am very intrigued by the Susato whistles, and plan to buy (at least) one soon. My question is: the Dublin or the Kildare?
I often hear people on the board refer to the qualities of a Susato, but I am never sure which whistle they are referring to.
Is the only real difference that the Kildare is two-piece and therefore tunable? Or do they have very different sounds to them? When someone says that the Susato is a loud whistle, does this refer to the Dublin as well as the Kildare?
The question was Dublin VS Kildare. Yep, they are both loud and the tone to my ears is pretty much the same. I’d go for the tunable kildare. Even if you never have the occasion to get “plays well with others” on your musical report card of life, you can take it apart and fit in smaller pockets.
Since it was brought up, I like Dixons too. I’ve got one of his older soprano models with the mouthpiece similar to a Susato and have been toying with the idea of getting one of the new brass tuning slide models (gotta buy a decent mic for my new minidisc recorder first:)
I also have a few of the two piece Kildare model Susatos. I think the tuning is very limited and the two pieces seems to be more for switching whistle bodies on the same mouthpiece. They are loud! They seem to be a whistle that people either love or hate. I don’t want to start another flame war on the issue but I would check out John Sindt or Mike Burke for a D whistle. I don’t have a Dixon but it may also be quite good. On the inexpensive level the Generation is very nice if you get a good one or if you follow this site’s instructions on tweaking a whistle. Good luck on making your decision!
On 2002-06-07 17:37, markv wrote:
Who mentioned Dixons?
The question was Dublin VS Kildare.
That’s just the way my warped sense of humor works, sorry. If I had to choose between Bo Derek and Cameron Diaz, I’d take Ashley Judd. And I’d take a Dixon over any Susato, despite the undeniable quality of the Susatos. I just love my Dixons.
I have a set of 3 kildares (one mouthpiece, 3 bodies) and really like them. Funny thing is though that I don’t find them all that loud. I use them almost as much as my Hoover and I don’t find that horribly quiet either! Maybe my hearing is going!
My experience with the Kildare in D was one of confusion. On the one hand in the low octave it was responsive and even toned. However, in the second octave it became somewhat difficult to play and finicky about wind pressures. If not played by a person of some chops a nasty squeak is frequent,particularly above the upper F. Having said that…I going for a Dublin soon..BTW..love my Dixons
When people talk about Susatos here, they’re almost always referring to the older, standard soprano (“S series”) models, which are notoriously loud.
Susato recently came out with a new series, called variously “sopranino,” "very small bore, “VSB,” or “V series” whistles. These are more slender and have a quieter, sweeter sound.
The S and V series are both available in one-piece nontunable (Dublin) or two-piece tunable (Kildare) models.
I have two Susatos, an S and a V (both in D). I really don’t care for the S – it’s too loud for playing alone – but I like the V. My V is a Dublin nontunable. At $13.50 plus shipping, I think it’s a great bargain.
Mine’s a Dublin…I’ve never played one of the Kildares. I’m growing to love it, but it does require firm breathing in the upper octave…if you waver at all, it does too (actually, if you waver, it drops like a ton of bricks). Still, it’s got about the nicest sound in that octave of any whistle I’ve played, so it’s worth the effort.
I don’t think it sounds much like a recorder…just a bit fuller than some whistles.
BTW, it’s my positive experience with this whistle that’s led me to start saving for a Dixon. I was one of those that said “an all- PLASTIC” whistle??? No way. I got this one on special when I bought my Walton’s Mello D (which I don’t like nearly as much), or I don’t know if I’d ever have tried one. So when I get my Dixon, the folks at Dixon can thank Susato
That’s just the way my warped sense of humor works, sorry. If I had to choose between Bo Derek and Cameron Diaz, I’d take Ashley Judd. And I’d take a Dixon over any Susato, despite the undeniable quality of the Susatos. I just love my Dixons.
I agree with you on Ashley Judd, but definitely prefer Susatos over Dixons.
Neither whistle is for everyone, though. As I’m fond of saying, the Susato is not for the faint of heart. But if you really want to lay into a whistle and play with reckless abandon, there’s nothing better in the price range.
-I like the Susato VSB D Kildare (two piece) whistle for its clear tone, decent tuning, tunability & ease of play through two octaves and into the third. Its sound is quieter, thinner and less rich than the standard small bore Susato D, but in fine tune at the B note where my small bore D is flat. -peeplj on another thread mentions the small bore D has more chromatic cross-fingering options than the VSB, but this alludes to the bore size and not the tunability/not issue. I haven’t experienced anything to distinguish the one piece from the two piece in tone or volume, but a more experienced ear than mine might have something to say. -
-Tunability is nice to have even if one plays alone if playing along with recordings/MP3s or the BBC Radio Two session web site.
-I havent tried any Dixons.
Whistlito ergo …
[ This Message was edited by: brianormond on 2002-06-07 22:31 ]
I have a number of Susato Kildares in various keys and like them all. The Kelischeks have put a tremendous amount of thought into the development of these whistles. Bottom line: They sound good,are priced well and easy to obtain. The small bore Eb, D and C are loud whistles, but the small bore Bb isn’t. I think my Generation Bb is louder. The very small bore D is not as loud as the small bore, but still a very strong whistle with quite a different sound from the small bore. I’ve always thought of the Susatos as bold whistles.
I definitely agree that there is a whistle out there for everyone. Or, more correctly, a dozen … or maybe two dozen … or
I also own a Susato Small Bore set (D/C/Bb) and a VSB D. They’re all good whistles and each gets playing time depending on the mood or occasion. They have nice intonation and a warmer tone than my metal whistles which is probably why they are sometimes characterized as sounding a bit recorderish (though they don’t sound like my wife’s recorders). The Small Bore D is a strong whistle alright, but not compared to my Chieftain–that one is BOLD.
Seriously, for the price, the Susato is a good buy and the Kelischek folks are extremely nice to work with. We’ve had nothing but good experiences there.
I bought a Susaton low D Kildare for very non-musical reasons. My job requires me to be on the road about 100 percent of the time, so I wanted something that would (a) break down into small enough pieces to fit in a computer bag carry-on; (b) hold up under the beating it would take getting bounced around in the bag and being stuffed under airline seats; and (c)not light up like a gun barrel or something equallly suspicious on the security monitor.
The Susato low D fit the bill in all respects. Broken apart, it just fits into my laptop case, and I’m pretty sure I’d have to hit it with a hammer to break it. And I don’t get my bag tossed because there’s something funny looking in there that the security monkey can’t identify. (I used to get shaken down pretty regularly carrying harmonicas, even before September 11, because the metal lit up, and security did’t have a clue as to what it was.)
Coindicentally, I think I also got a pretty decent whistle, although admittedly I am tyro enough that I do not have much to which to compare it. I have since acquired Kildares in A and small bore D, and I do like playing them and enjoy the sound, although I would agree with the comments above that they are louder than any of the other whistles I have and that they do have to be blown with some authority in the second octave.
And finally, as to the tunability of Kildares – We have an old $50 piano that is tuned half a tone flat. I can tune down to it without any trouble, although admittedly there ain’t much holding those two whistle parts together when I do.
Here’s a related question: Does anyone know the origin of the name “Susato”? I visited their website hoping to find a clue, but couldn’t find anything. I must admit, the first time I saw these whistles advertised, I assumed they were made by a Japanese company, because “Susato” sounds Japanese to my ear.
Also, does anyone know how it’s supposed to be pronounced? I’ve been saying “soo-SAW-toe,” but have no idea if that’s correct.
