Tin Whistle Reviews?

[ickabod]

[ Mod Note: Edited the title slightly to reflect the topic. ]

Hello Everyone,

With my newly acquired medical illness, WhOA disorder, it dawned on me that there are not many resources or sites that I’m aware of that offer Tin Whistle Reviews ..

Here are a few I know of:

I came across a website that offers reviews of whistles: http://www.tinwhistler.com/reviews.aspx In my humble newbie opinion, a lot of what is said on tinwhistler seems fairly accurate to me.. Unfortunately, I think it is just one individual running the site. So there are a many instruments that are not reviewed. I really like setup and criteria the tinwhistler site uses.

The Chiff and Fipple sites general reviews for High End, Low, and inexpensive whistles are fantastic. I’ve read through that more than once. This gives a good general idea of the instrument(s), but doesn’t always get right down to all the semantics.

Another type of whistle review system I use is to simply search youtube for whistles in the hopes of getting an earshot of what an instrument sounds like. This works fairly well for comparison results. Many people have done comparison vids of different Low D whistles for example. Unfortunately, what you get nine times out of ten is just people playing a songs as opposed to doing whistle review..

Of course there is always the old tried and true Google it method.. By simply googling the name of the whistle you’re interested in, you could find a review or two.

These are all the resources that I know of…

I was wondering if any of you would be willing to share some of the resources/sites you are aware of or methods you use to review or learn more about a whistle you’re interested in. If the topic has been discussed before please point me towards the link or the right direction..

Thanks in advance for all input!!

[stanton135]

http://pipersgrip.50webs.com/Instrument%20Reviews.html is a pretty good resource for reviews of low whistles. Also, you can try the search function on this forum. If you’ve narrowed your interest down to one or two whistles, you could also start a thread soliciting input.

Good luck finding the white whale!

[pancelticpiper]

@ickabod

I came across a website that offers reviews of whistles: http://www.tinwhistler.com/reviews.aspx In my humble newbie opinion, a lot of what is said on tinwhistler seems fairly accurate to me..

I’d not seen that site before, and I read a few of the reviews on there just now. I find myself disagreeing with around half the stuff he says… oh well it’s like that oftentimes.

I only see him reviewing a tweaked Generation (not a good untweaked one). He says that the tweaked Gen preserves the cherished classic traditional Gen sound… I have not found this to be the case. All the tweaked Gens I’ve played (several, in all the different keys) have a distinctive tone and performance which is quite unlike that of a really good untweaked Gen, or indeed of any Gen, good or bad, that I’ve ever played (hundreds).

I did not find this to be the case with the tweaked Feadog I tried, which played remarkably close to my cherished c1980 Feadog MK1 which is still my go-to whistle. Were I to misplace that Feadog I wouldn’t hesitate to replace it with a new tweaked one.

Another thing that reviewer says that I disagree with is that Burkes have low (or did he say moderate-to-low?) air requirements. Of all the brands I’ve tried, more air passes through Burkes than any other. Of course there are quite a few brands he reviews that I haven’t tried, so perhaps several of those other brands are real air-hogs. Anyhow my Burke Session soprano D has an air-requirement on par with many makes of Low D. That Burke Session is a great whistle, don’t get me wrong!

Also he says that Burkes have a ‘perturbed’ bore… I think the word he’s looking for is ‘perturbated’. The slight variations of the bore are called ‘perturbations’ I believe. I’ll have to check that out.

Anyhow I’ve read a lot of reviews, written quite a few, watched YouTube videos comparing whistles, made YouTube videos comparing whistles… in the end, none of it gives a very clear idea of how whistles actually play. One needs to acquire (purchase, borrow, whatever) a large number of different makes and find out how they play for oneself. Actually playing a whistle, even if only for a few seconds, tells one more than any number of reviews.

[pancelticpiper]

@stanton135

http://pipersgrip.50webs.com/Instrument%20Reviews.html is a pretty good resource for reviews of low whistles.

I’ve read quite a few of this guy’s reviews and I find myself, over and over, completely agreeing with what he says. These are the most useful reviews I’ve seen.

I’m a “low whistle guy” and I’ve owned a fairly large number of different brands, and in some cases a half-dozen Low Ds from the same brand (in cases where they tend to vary quite a bit). This guy sounds like a “low whistle guy” too and maybe that’s why I find myself always agreeing with his assessments.

[Peter_Duggan]

@ickabod

With my newly acquired medical illness, WhOA disorder, it dawned on me that

You need treatment if it’s genuine and not just a silly way of saying you fancy some more whistles?

(In which context the tiresomely fashionable WhOAD is distracting enough, but ‘medical illness’ a sadly unfunny gambit!)

@pancelticpiper

in the end, none of it gives a very clear idea of how whistles actually play. One needs to acquire (purchase, borrow, whatever) a large number of different makes and find out how they play for oneself. Actually playing a whistle, even if only for a few seconds, tells one more than any number of reviews.

What pcp said, but beware buying to try unless you’re talking cheaper instruments and/or just don’t care about the money! On which note I’m surely not alone in having bought few whistles ‘blind’ (even those liked by others) that haven’t quickly disappointed me or been put aside, whereas most of my core favourites/workhorses and more useful alternatives have come through personal testing.

[free-feet]

@Peter Duggan

@pancelticpiper

in the end, none of it gives a very clear idea of how whistles actually play. One needs to acquire (purchase, borrow, whatever) a large number of different makes and find out how they play for oneself. Actually playing a whistle, even if only for a few seconds, tells one more than any number of reviews.

What pcp said, but beware buying to try unless you’re talking cheaper instruments and/or just don’t care about the money! On which note I’m surely not alone in having bought few whistles ‘blind’ (even those liked by others) that haven’t quickly disappointed me or been put aside, whereas most of my core favourites/workhorses and more useful alternatives have come through personal testing.

I’ve found that most whistle makers will happily allow you to try a whistle and refund the purchase cost if you pay the postage.

To paraphrase what PCP said… there really is no substitute to trying any instrument yourself, whether it be a whistle or any other instrument. Reviews can take you in the right direction, back pressure, air requirements, noise level, etc., but at the end of the day, you are the one playing it, you try it for yourself.

I remember wandering whistler last time i was here about 4 years ago. All well and good to put up your opinion, but it is only that. If you play soprano trumpet you’ll have a different idea to what back pressure means to someone who plays a low A didgeridoo. It’s all perspective and should be taken with a pinch of salt IMHO.

[Tommy]

@ickabod

I was wondering if any of you would be willing to share some of the resources/sites

If the topic has been discussed before please point me towards the link or the right direction..

Thanks in advance for all input!!

Yes this topic comes up very frequently.

The best source for whistle reviews is on Chiff & Fipple. Look at the top of the whistle forum page and click on the search feature. An example would be search for topic ‘‘Generation whistle’’. Leave the author space blank and click on the whistle forum then click search. You will find several reviews and comments about the fine Generation from some noted whistle players such as Peter Laban. Peter has a very unique way of selecting the best Generation whistle that could be also applied to other brands.
The Chiff & Fipple search feature is the greatest friend of whistle players in search of the finest whistle available at an affordable price.

[free-feet]

@Tommy

The best source for whistle reviews is on Chiff & Fipple. Look at the top of the whistle forum page and click on the search feature. An example would be search for topic ‘‘Generation whistle’’. Leave the author space blank and click on the whistle forum then click search. You will find several reviews and comments about the fine Generation from some noted whistle players such as Peter Laban. Peter has a very unique way of selecting the best Generation whistle that could be also applied to other brands.
The Chiff & Fipple search feature is the greatest friend of whistle players in search of the finest whistle available at an affordable price.

If you can find “that” generation whistle. Most are crap! Let’s be honest!

[free-feet]

Would generation allow anyone who buys one of their whistles to return it free of charge? No they would not!

A lot of other whistle makers would.

[benhall.1]

@free-feet

@Tommy

The best source for whistle reviews is on Chiff & Fipple. Look at the top of the whistle forum page and click on the search feature. An example would be search for topic ‘‘Generation whistle’’. Leave the author space blank and click on the whistle forum then click search. You will find several reviews and comments about the fine Generation from some noted whistle players such as Peter Laban. Peter has a very unique way of selecting the best Generation whistle that could be also applied to other brands.
The Chiff & Fipple search feature is the greatest friend of whistle players in search of the finest whistle available at an affordable price.

If you can find “that” generation whistle. Most are crap! Let’s be honest!

OK. I’ll be honest. In my opinion, most Generation whistles are fine right out of the box, and a sight better than the majority of so-called “high end” whistles out there.

[Mr.Gumby]

OK. I’ll be honest. In my opinion, most Generation whistles are fine right out of the box, and a sight better than the majority of so-called “high end” whistles out there.

They are certainly much nicer to play than most of the whistles I have bought sight unseen based on reviews on this website. Most of which, let’s face it, were a grave disappointment, for a variety of reasons, and a lot more unplayable than any cheap whistle I have ever owned.

You will find several reviews and comments about the fine Generation from some noted whistle players such as Peter Laban. Peter has a very unique way of selecting the best Generation whistle that could be also applied to other brands.

Taking the piss are you?

[pancelticpiper]

@Peter Duggan

beware buying to try unless you’re talking cheaper instruments and/or just don’t care about the money! On which note I’m surely not alone in having bought few whistles ‘blind’ (even those liked by others) that haven’t quickly disappointed me or been put aside…

When I realised that I could no longer play flute, and had to switch to Low Whistle as a substitute, I sold my flutes and went on a Low D Whistle buying spree.

Thing is, the money I got from the sale of just one of my several flutes was enough to buy a dozen Low Ds from various respected makers. In that sense, whistles are quite inexpensive.

I put the whistles through their paces and sold off all but the best of the best (for my personal tastes and way of playing).

There’s a ready market for used whistles, and since I had got many of the whistles used, I was able to sell them for around the same amount I bought them for. Even the whistles I got new I was able to sell for close to new price, and considered the small amount of money lost to be money well spent, the cost of hiring the instrument for a period for testing, if you will.

But yes I bought 20 or 30 Low Ds and ended up with one! (Well I have a few more, ones that have fallen into my lap one way or other which I’ve not got around to selling off.)

[pancelticpiper]

@free-feet

If you can find “that” generation whistle. Most are crap! Let’s be honest!

As I’ve posted here many times, a few years ago I got a crack at a new sealed box of 24 Generation Ds right from the factory. One whistle was superb, a second nearly as good, several were unplayable (wouldn’t go into the 2nd octave at all, or would just make squeaking noises), most were in the mediocre middle.

Was it just that box? Probably not, because the proportion more or less reflects what I’ve found in 35 years of playing new Generations at various shops, festivals, etc.

I actually worked in a shop for several years in the 1980s which carried Generations and most played decently.

I ended up with “that” Generation C, superb, but never ended up with a D or Bb that was very good.

[hans]

@benhall.1

OK. I’ll be honest. In my opinion, most Generation whistles are fine right out of the box, and a sight better than the majority of so-called “high end” whistles out there.

Quite a general statement you make there, and an affront to many whistle makers creating fine whistles indeed. But to each their own opinions. Personally I find Generation whistles very unsatisfying to play.

[Mr.Gumby]

I suppose from your perspective, that of a maker, you’d say that Hans and that’s fair enough.

From a player’s perspective though I think it’s not unfair to say way too many people have jumped on the whistle bandwagon and are producing instruments they charge an arm and a leg for. Instruments, if soundclips on maker’s webpages are anything to go by, they often can’t play very well themselves and if somebody can’t play an instrument expertly how can he/she be expected to set up and voice it expertly?

Over time I have had a whistle that was beautifully made, the maker having metal working skill gained in another specialised trade, that was so incredibly poorly balanced it was downright torture to play high notes. I have had a whistle that had a bottom note 25 cents sharp. I have had a B whistle that was fitted to a head designed to cater for a whole range of pitches that was unable to finish a tune even once through because it would clog and unable to sustain a tone for the length of tube. I won’t mention ones that had tonal qualities that were eventually not satisfying, there were a few of those too but taste and all that. They were however all whistles that weren’t up to the playing qualities of player selected run of the mill mass produced whistle.

Fact remains, whistle making is a bit of a free for all and there are an awful lot of whistles around that are at best mediocre players. The forums are ever ready to rave about the latest, all examples above for example where instruments highly recommended here.

Anyone remember the Serpent whistle? Enough said.

[hans]

No, I was writing from a player’s perspective. I have played a number of whistles from different makers, from Chinese factory mass-produced ones to carefully hand-crafted ones, and various in-between ones. Mass produced injection moulded heads do vary a lot, and you may find one out of 20 which sounds good and stands out from the crowd of mediocre ones. I once bought two boxes of Soodlum MelloD whistles, because so many coworkers asked for a whistle (in a Camphill community I worked as a gardener a long time). Apart from the differences in quality of the heads all these whistles had a rather sharp bottom D. I’ve seen “expensive” factory produced aluminium whistles which had appalling intonation problems. But generally the hand-made or hand-finished whistles I’ve come across were quite good and some fine, beating the mass-produced injection moulded ones head down.

From my own perspective as a relative new whistle maker I can only say that I do not see a bandwagon at all. There is little financial incentive to make these instruments. There is relative little demand, and the pricing is such that it is not worthwhile to sell through a shop. An arm-and-a-leg for a hand crafted whistle? I don’t think so.

[pancelticpiper]

@Mr.Gumby

if somebody can’t play an instrument expertly how can he/she be expected to set up and voice it expertly?

That gets me to think… who is the expert player behind Generations? If no one today, who did the initial plastic head designs (back decades ago)? If there is no expert player, if there never was an expert player, then why are some Generations so very good, indeed unequalled? Blind chance?

I remember a good player telling me years ago that the Generation D played the most poorly of the various Generation sizes, because it was the only one not designed “from the ground up” with a specialised head and tube diameter, that the D was a later addition to the range, in fact being nothing but a stretched Eb.

Who did all this initial R&D? They must have known something about instrument design, something about playability, about voicing.

Now about the assumed path “top player > good maker” for sure that’s the traditional path with Scottish Highland pipes.

There’s a fantastic book Highland Bagpipe Makers (by Jeannie Campbell) which covers every known maker from the earliest record to the present. In the “golden age” of bagpipe making (around 1880-1940, open to debate) you read the same path over and over, which is:

1. a boy is born in a “piping family” coming from generations of pipers
2. the boy takes lessons from a top master
3. the young man begins winning top prizes
4. oftentimes the young man joins the army and has a sparkling career as an army piper (continuing to win top prizes in solo contests)
5. the man goes into pipemaking, his high reputation helping sell his products (if an army career, not until retirement from the army; if not in the army at a rather young age)

The notable exceptions are the Glens, who were turners and instrument makers in a general sense (lawn bowls, clarinets etc) and Starck, who came from generations of London flutemakers and knew nothing about making pipes. Both Glen and Starck made pipes of the highest quality.

Thing is, a whistlemaker can make great whistles while being a non-player. Volume, response, pitch, etc are quantifiable and can be engineered into a whistle. What such an engineering approach lacks of course are the musical insights of great players, which I think is why Michael Burke quickly got his whistles into the hands of good players for feedback.

No one can deny the explosion in the number of whistlemakers. When I started playing there was Generation and Clarke, and Clarke only made C’s. So there was one and only one maker of soprano D whistles. Now, every time you look some new maker has come onto the scene.

[Mr_Ed]

I don’t think one needs to be an expert player in order to make good whistles.

What if Leo Fender waited until he was an expert guitar and bass player?

[Impempe]

@Mr.Gumby

I suppose from your perspective, that of a maker, you’d say that Hans and that’s fair enough.

From a player’s perspective though I think it’s not unfair to say way too many people have jumped on the whistle bandwagon and are producing instruments they charge an arm and a leg for. Instruments, if soundclips on maker’s webpages are anything to go by, they often can’t play very well themselves and if somebody can’t play an instrument expertly how can he/she be expected to set up and voice it expertly?

I must say, that I have the utmost respect for your opinions Peter as well as your pedigree in whistling circles. I have followed your posts often and many of your clips I have saved and listen to over and over. Just to bring another perspective to your first world view of the whistle music scene. I come from a third world country that has precious little in the form of whistles available and even less of the trad (celtic) music available. I got into whistle making because the cost of importing them was prohibitive - I had managed to buy a very mediocre generation in D and a Clark trad and nowdays its only generations available - I feel that I provide a service to my fellow South Africans that few are able to do in this part of the world. My local prices are ludicrous in terms of what you pay (and what I also charge) internationally, but thats how I choose to do business. If I can help a local lad get into whistling - and there is a huge, dying musical genre in the form of Kwela - then I will do my best wether it is to provide one cheaply or for no cost. If you are expecting me to be an expert in order to be a maker, then sadly I will have to quit. Perhaps one day I will get there and I do aspire to getting there, but today - no. Do I set up a whistle and voice it satisfactorily? I think I do. I have made some doozi’s over the years - sure, I have also made some top drawer whistles. Do I have experts playing my whistles regularly - yes. I have spent 10 years continually trying to improve my product. I have never once solicited buyers through this or any other forum. I have done a whistle tour once through a strong request. So what I am trying to say is that I am not an expert whistle player, I believe my whistles have value and are meeting a need (certainly locally) I make whistles because I am absolutley passionate about them. Making whistles is not my livlihood, but may one day have to be. I don’t charge an arm and a leg for them in my opinion and if you asked nicely, I would give you one, remembering that a local lad may have to do without if you could have afforded it. Whistle circles on forums like these are often closed minded and very first world orientated that they don’t see the ‘bigger’ context. If a requirement for me to have a website is to have some clips of experts playing my whistles - please would you (or anyone for that matter) volunteer to do a clip or two for me and you can keep the whistle and I can keep my website.

Fact remains, whistle making is a bit of a free for all and there are an awful lot of whistles around that are at best mediocre players. The forums are ever ready to rave about the latest, all examples above for example where instruments highly recommended here.

Sure it is a free for all and with the wonderful info that Guido Gonzato has put together how fantastic to have more people promoting whistle playing and getting into doing some worthwhile hobbies - I wish more local (south african) makers would jump on the band wagon! There are not enough whistles around!! Sure we all want a good sounding whistle and I am very happy to help achieve that and willing to share any info, as many others on this site have done for me. No need to begrudge someone giving it a go.

I don’t often post but often read the posts - I am a quiet and shy type - This reply is just to show there is another side to what perhaps is a fairly blinkered view not trying to be controversial or put anyone down - what do I know anyway, I am a bagpipe playing whistle making South African with Scottish roots, go figure

[retired]

"I am a bagpipe playing whistle making South African with Scottish roots, go figure " - Yes Ian - and don’t you dare stop !