My wife and I stopped at The Whistle Shop in Bloomington Illinois,
a yearly visit we make, usually on our way to a
conference somewhere. Thom showed us some prototype
Ralph Sweet low D whistles, one rosewood, one maple.
They have the same bottom half as the D flute,
the top is a well crafted whistlehead.
These sound very good in a woody way,
they were slightly different, the maple one had
a shorter beak, I believe the rosewood will
cost more. Anyhow these seem to be on their
way to the world and they promise to be
quite good, IMO.
The Whistle Shop is something like perpetual Christmas
for whistle fanatics. Newbies can check the whole
thing out online.
It would be interesting to play this whistle against my Bleazey Low D. My whiste was described as sounding like “melted butter” by a player at the Chiff gathering last weekend and now HE wants one!!!
I’ve never seen or heard a Bleazy low D.
Actually these are the first wooden low
Ds I’ve heard. Thom likes them very well;
the maple one appears to be his main
low D. They aren’t as loud as metal
ones, no surprise.
The back of the Shop is set up with
mikes and recording equipment; there
are sessions there, a slow one on Sat from
10 to 12 I think. If only they would
move St. Louis a little closer to
Bloomington.
Jim, I’ve been fortunate to have played the Sweetheart Low D all along its development path, and I think its a tremendous whistle. The air requirements are very reasonable, and Walt has made the bell note solid and the high notes easy to reach without strain. For me the biggest draw is that I can play tune after tune without running out of breath.
I’ve played about 8 different low D’s, (Kerry, Overton, Copeland, Cook, Burke, Shaw, a few others) and this one has everything that can make it my favorite. For starters, I still love wood, and haven’t found another wood low D that I find playable.
Walt has also concocted that add-on to the headpiece that makes it almost side blown. I like it, but I think its more gimmick than actually useful. I have no problem with the reach in the normal position.
Thanks to both of you. The Sweethearts have no metal in them,
I believe, in contrast to the Bleazeys. Right, the breath
requirement is minimal. I think they sound fine,
as does Thom, and wood sounds like nothing else.
I suppose the wooden competition is Bleazeys,
Grinters (sp?) and Rayburns (the head is wood,
anyhow; sorry about the spelling), which
I’ve never heard. Was there once a rumor of
an Abell low D?
