The Stonehenge Whistle on tour from Mahan Woodwinds

Whistle
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Greg Mahan, AKA our own Wanderer, has taken up making whistles on top of playing them, and has sent one of his new Mahan Woodwinds’ http://www.tinwhistler.com/store/ Stonehenge Whistles out on tour. I am lucky enough to have gotten in on that, and here are my observations:

I love this whistle!

The very whistle shown in the photos at http://www.tinwhistler.com/store/stonehenge.htm is the one on tour.

It is made of Dupont Corian®, with what appears to be a delrin fipple plug and a thin brass tube making the outside of the fipple. You can’t ask for much more stable materials to resist temperature change, moisture and wear.

It is not just beautiful to look at, but has a weight and smoothness that balance with the marble-like appearance to give it a tactile beauty as well… almost a worry-stone, or prayer-bead pleasure to hold.

I really like the sound - Sweet and Mellow. It doesn’t take much breath at all, and it is easy to get to the third octave D … even the E, with a bit of practice. The only thing close to negative I can say about it (other than that it isn’t mine), is that it is a bit wispy in the bottom notes … not bad, but if Greg works to strengthen those, it will make it an even better whistle.

I think he’s hit on a very unique, incredibly stable whistle here, and it should prove quite popular. I know that I would order one immediately if I were not the proverbial ‘starving artist’. LOL!

Thank you, Greg, for letting me ‘test drive’ it. I showed it off to folks at our session, and it was quite popular. I also put some serious effort into identifying the joint line, and it took me a long time to find it.

Excellent material, and excellent work.

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i saw those and wondered how they sounded. thank you for posting this, i really like Greg, and i bet his whistles are outstanding. i WILL buy one some time in the future.

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Thanks for the kind words Annie :slight_smile:

I’m finding that the joint line doesn’t come out that super-invisible in all of the whistles…it mostly depends on how much “white” is in the whistle, and how close to the edges there are spots of it.. If there’s a lot of white in the color, it can show up on the seam. It’s still not too bad, but not invisible.

I’ve also decided to go with a little thicker brass..I like the end result better :slight_smile:

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I was also lucky to be included in the tour. The whistle is cosmetically gorgeous - who woulda thunk ya could put holes in your upscale kitchen counter and play it! Had a bit of chiff, took little air, effortless transitions (and only when you want them), and was well balanced between octaves, with overall moderate volume ( a bit shy of my Burke as I recall). Lovely mellow tone as Annie said.

I had only one real suggestion. I found that the top end of the whistle (i.e., where you blow) was relatively (moreso than any other soprano D I’ve ever seen) close to the top of the windway, and at first I found myself covering the top with my mouth thereby stopping all sound. This is easy to avoid, and frankly with good form is not an issue; but I sometimes think I’m some kind of blues freak and get all kokopelli and move around a bit tipping the whistle up (bad form but it happens). Point is I found myself having to be conscious of that and that is the first time it ever happened.

I would love to see from Greg eventually a tuneable whistle with some nice ferrules; obviously he can do anything. Very nice.

Philo

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Say, Greg, you’ll need to change your sig line…

“Mahan Woodwinds. Fine tinwhistles in exotic hardstuff.” ??

(keep it clean guys!)