Sweetheart Low D

Whistle
1

I’ve been loaned a Sweetheart Low D.

I’ve not been able to name a favorite Low D whistle over the years. I love the muscular complexity of the Overton, the purity of the Burke, the flute-like Copeland.

That said, this may be the finest Low D I’ve ever played.

Dale

2

Hi Dale,

So how would you describe it - Muscular, Pure, Flute-like, Mischevious, Lustful, Authoritative, Delicious …?

3

Hm. I’d say … adjective-defying.

Sort of authoritively, muscularly pure in a complex and transparently mysterious sort of way.

4

In an overtly subtle sort of way?

5

Wow, that’s one hell of a rap coming from you …

hmmm … has anyone actually done any quantified comparative analysis of this stuff (apart from Wanderer’s excellent review page - among others) ??

For example, I ran a couple of clips from someone’s comparative post through a spectrum analysis on Cool pro (Clark and a Tully I think it was) Turned-up some very obvious differnces, particularly in the high-order harmonics …

Perhapse establishing a set of standards and benchmarks might be of value to some folks, then again, why upset the mystery.

I think I’m about due for a labour-of-love …

Opinions?

6

Didn’t someone make a page with the acoustic wave stuff on it of a lot of whistles recently?

7

I was also thinking of a test for loudness. Reviewers work really hard to qualify loudness by comparison to other whistles, but there are enough concrete-sequential sciencey types aroud that we might be able to find a standard. This would, of course, be in addition to the poetic elegance of our usual reviews.

I was thinking of a Radio Shack digital SPL meter, A weight scale, 10 feet distant, in a large room, making as close to hemispherical radiance as possible. The el-cheapo ($60 Canadian) spl meter is widely available, and pretty accurate.

We could pick a test jig where the a-section is in the 1st octave, and the b-section goes up to A or B, then provide figures for both.

Is this getting too persnickity?

8

Loudness is a very relative thing. I ran all my soprano D’s through this test, and found that the one I considered mellowest and not at all loud was by far my loudest by the meter. Loud appears to be as much a factor of ‘pure’ as it is of volume.

Glad Dale likes that Low D!

Tyg

9

I’ve done that with several whistles as a means of comparing methods of “muffling” them. I’ll publish the results sometime. Obviously, how you play the whistle has a big effect on how loud it is. But one thing which is interesting from such a comparison is octave balance.

I don’t know if it’s particularly instructive in terms of choosing which whistle to buy, though. One thing which might be nice is a standardized set of adjectives for timbre. But sound recordings and hearing live performance are, in the end, the most informative things for me.

10

Hey, I have this vision of a Cat scan… :smiley: i.e. does the cat stays in the room or runs away… then if he does, how far he goes would give a measure of loudness… :boggle:

Kidding appart, even when I record using dual mics, it isn’t unual that some of the high notes have a higher db level from the mic channel that is further away from the source (the two mics are the same). It seems that high notes propagation and perception is a complex phenomenon. I also find that two recordings at the same db level, one with a Low D, and the other with a High D, that the Low D sounds (to my ear) louder… go figure…

11

Sorry to dredge up a really old thread, but I haven’t been able to find a “real” review of this intriguing whistle yet — and no mp3 files anywhere. I think Tygress may have said Walt Sweet was going to post a clip at www.sweetheartflute.com , but there’s nothing there yet. Any Sweetheart low-D players want to post your impressions, and maybe a soundclip?

12

I really really wish I could post a clip right now, but the fact is – in a fit of generosity I sold my whistle, knowing that I would be able to replace it as soon as a new batch was made. As soon as they’re done I’ll claim my replacement, and we’ll get clips on the Sweetheart Flute site.

Sincerely,
Tyg (who may never have a fit of generosity again in re: whistles at least!)

13

Here’s a thorough review, but no mp3: http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=29952

Someday, someone will come forward with a good sound clip.