I don’t suffer from WhOA, I enjoy it! Buying a new whistle now is simply to hear what it sounds like, to see any design differences, or maybe to check out a new material. If I can’t play it, hold it, see it, then I don’t know if I’ll like it. Sounds clips do nothing for me. That is someone else playing, their talent. Only my playing tells me how a whistle responses to me.
My first whistles were a Clark Original, a Feadog & a Walton’s Mellow D. If I hadn’t bought a Dixon within 3 months of the first purchase I would have quit whistling. The Dixon allowed me to play with less squawks … less frustration. It’s ease of playing allowed me to get to the point where I could appreciate the other whistles. My collection now has high end whistles, cheap whistles, and several in between. It has slowly been shrinking as I give some of them away or sell the higher end ones. Now I also have DAD, dulcimer acquisition disorder. Whistles are cheaper.
I only have 14 whistles so far, ranging from high D to ‘low’(?) F (the one that’s two whole tones above low D) and I still play all of them. Each of them has a different sound and playability, even the two Clarke originals [original finish and painted; I adjusted the sound blade on the painted one to lessen its tendency to blend 2nd and 3rd octaves, which also made it less breathy and air-gobbling] and the two Walton’s Mellow high Ds, one tweaked, the other not. The process of learning to play each one makes my playing improve, I think, and it’s necessary to find what I like since I don’t know any whistlers but me. WHOAD is fun and instructive.
BTW, the professionals I see on television and in youtube videos seem to go mostly with high-end whistles, and sometimes lots of ‘em. Even Paddy Maloney plays a John Sindt, and Joanie’s collection of Burkes is almost legendary. The one pro player I’ve seen that uses cheapies pretty much exclusively is Teun Ramaeker, the flutist/whistler with André Rieu’s Strauss Orchestra. I’ve seen him using what appears to be a Walton’s Mellow in one piece and something similar or identical with a green head in a couple of other performances which didn’t include close enough shots to be sure of the brand. Never saw him use anything but a plastic-headed classic cheap one. Brendan Monaghan of Celtic Thunder [yeah, yeah, I know] uses several whistles ranging from a brass Burke to a Generation D to Overton style low whistles, and there may have been a Walton’s Little Black in one song. Yes, song. There was singin’ involved.
After nearly a year I now have a total of 5 high D whistles. Two are a little bit pricey, one is my beginner whistle, and two are garage sale bargains. I’ve purchased them mainly to see if changing the whistle would help the quality of the sound.
The short answer is “no, not really.”
Practice seems to be the main influence there (surprise, surprise!)
Just the other day I stumbled upon a Clarke whistle in a local store for $5. You know, it doesn’t sound too bad, but then again I have had a year to practice up
I used to be a photographer (documentary/PJ), and then did some shooting for feature documentaries. I’ve used a load a cameras of different types, and there’s no doubt that equipment does matter. It’s a very personal thing, the fit between you and your cameras - or whistles, for that matter. There’s nothing wrong in looking for what suits you best, and if you’re lucky, you’ll find it. And if you end up with several versions of what you enjoy - what’s wrong with that?
Oh, well of course there’s nothing wrong with that - especially if you already know enough to play your whistle with the proper lighting and length of exposure!
I think the problem that many amatures fail to understand is that the whole buying and trying of many whistles in the earlier stages of learning can be and often is a hinderance to their development. Burke whistles were mentioned earlier in this thread, and they are a perfect example of what I am referring to. Yes, Joanie Madden plays Burke whistles - but she also had exemplary breath control long before Burke whistles came into existence… breath control that would be extremely difficult to develop on a Burke whistle for someone who didn’t already have it mastered. Why? Because the Burke is such a pure-voiced whistle that it is very forgiving… maybe too forgiving in some instances, because they are so refined. Countless amatures have remarked on this forum how they bought a Burke whistle and suddenly their playing was “transformed.” The problem is, their playing wasn’t transformed - not at all - and this way of thinking leads them to the belief that the whistles they have trouble playing (or at least the majority of them) are inherently flawed. They aren’t, but as long as these people think they are, they probably won’t ever put the kind of focus into their practice that is neccessary to develop truly good breath control. In addition, it’s going to be somewhat difficult for them to discern what they are doing wrong in terms of breath control on such an efficient whistle. I’m not trying to badmouth Burke whistles per se - that isn’t the point at all. However, I do think they can be a poor choice for the beginning whistler. Burkes are performance whistles, more so than they are practice whistles, that is why you find professionals playing them… in performance.
Another thought on this disorder… whistlers have it relatively good! I regularly look at a mandolincafe.org and banjohangout.com which are the Chiff and Fipples of those respective instruments.
The prices that people will pay for those stringed instruments are simply astronomical. What those folks consider a decent, low end Asian mandolin costs more than most high end whistles. Ditto for banjo. From there the prices go easily into the multiple thousands, tens of thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands. Count your blessings
Though he doesn’t need any help making his case, I totally agree with Paul on this point.
I’ve been looking for my first mandolin on ebay and mandolin cafe. Any entry level instrument, used or new that is even worth consideration is $275 - $350. And for those of us who believe in looking for value in well made instruments that are a cut above entry level, the equivalent mandolin can get to $1000 quickly and $5K - $10K or more is what a pro will pay.
No one is forcing anyone to spend more than they’re comfortable with but it is very satisfying to hold, appreciate, and create music on, a hand made instrument of any kind.
Some wisdom here, folks! I love my Burke whistles, and often play them when I really, absolutely, can’t afford to screech a high note, (i.e. in performance). But my best learning and playing has been on more challenging and spirited whistles. My favorites happen to be O’Brien blackwood ‘Rovers’, but some of the ‘cheapies’ are every bit as useful, IMHO.
I’d advise beginners to buy and learn on a demanding whistle.
I can’t imagine any instrument teacher outside of whistledom advising their pupils to start with instruments which are difficult to control and play in tune. It’s bizarre, very bad advice.
My experience is the opposite. I started out with some high end whistles, having tried the cheap ones, and now find the cheap ones easy to play after all, with a little extra attention to breath control. They have their place if you want a particular tone, I suppose. But for a bombproof performance instrument I’d still take an Ormiston or Rose over a Generation.
You’re right. Things like student flutes, they don’t really exist. It’s all just a gimmick to get players to periodically pay more money for the same flute as they progress. And no teacher of the guitar has ever suggested - let alone insisted - that their students start out on an acoustic guitar rather than an electric model. It just doesn’t happen. Same thing is true for the violin. Only in whistledom Folks - you heard it here…
With you on everything bar the guitars, where comparing acoustic to electric is not the same as comparing poor/cheap violins, flutes etc. to better/more expensive ones and there may be good reasons to adopt that route (eg our school classes, where we start everyone on acoustic in S1 before adding electric and bass, for which we have more limited resources, in S2). But, yes, to change just one word of the statement that sparked off this particular sub-discussion, I’d advise beginners to buy and learn on a decent whistle (where ‘decent’ refers to quality of intonation, response and predictability rather than any particular price point).
You missed the point entirely. Some instructors - especially in certain styles (jazz leaps to mind immediately) strongly advise against regular practice or beginners learning on the electric guitar. This has more to do with conditioning the hand for strength, dexterity, and control, as well as fingering or picking techniques, than it does intonation or other aspects of the tone… most of which are determined by the luthier, not the player.
Some instructors - especially in certain styles (jazz leaps to mind immediately) strongly advise against regular practice or beginners learning on the electric guitar. This has more to do with conditioning the hand for strength, dexterity, and control, as well as fingering or picking techniques, than it does intonation or other aspects of the tone… most of which are determined by the luthier, not the player. >
Since this thread is still undead, let me just expand on my reply to AvienMael. Sure there are beginner flutes and so on - but they are designed to be easier to play than the more advanced conservatory and performance models. With whistles the cheaper instruments are actually harder to control. That’s why I don’t believe crookedtune’s advice is sound (in fact, I believe it to be very bad advice) - it does a disservice to the player in the early stages.
I started with the Clarke C that came with the Bill Ochs book years ago, then a bit later took classes with Bill, and he distributed at group sessions and played a variety of battered cheapies like Gens, Waltons. etc. He also had a low and a high D Copeland that were tarnished with age and use.
I then fell in love with the music, the instrument, the learning, the community. I soaked myself in shops and concerts everywhere I traveled and tried all sorts of instruments, but never deluding myself or caring about which instrument made me sound better; I sort of intuited from the start (and Bill would only roll his eyes at the thought) that the whistle doesn’t make the player, although we’re all generally more comfortable with some than others.
Granted, you could do the whole immersion for love’s sake with just one or two whistles, but the collector in me took hold and I love that too!
Now, I have over a hundred whistles of all kinds and keys amassed through the years, including high, middle, and low costs. I play pretty much every day if not honkered down with work. Every day for several years I use pretty much one whistle - Sindt D with sterling silver tube. Ocassionally, I’ll fiddle, er, whistle around with some others just for fun and comparison or to test remarks made by Board members, etc., or grab a low whistle for a moody series of airs or the like.
When I travel, I carry either a Busman delrin or a Parks WalkAbout.
