Trip report.

Whistle
1

A report on the results of a trip to Elderly’s Music this Saturday with the Duck man.

  1. Chieftian high D. Very difficult to hold in the upper register. If I want that kind of effort I’ll stick to the Susato.

  2. Weltmeister. Inconsistant between two different instruments. Nice tone and tuning on one but less tone on another.

  3. Sweetheart high D whistle. Very nice sounding. Loud on upper register and a little tendency to slip down but overall wouldn’t take much to overcome.

  4. Rick Thum hammered dulcimers. Beautifully crafted and sounding instruments. Someday…

  5. Unknown make of bamboo whistle. Tuned in B. They may have had others but I didn’t check. I should have because they were only 8.00 and sounded very nice.

Purchases made.

  1. Sweetheart high D “fife” as they call it. I prefer high D “flute” as I think of a fife as being in Bb. Very nice. Might be a bit flat though. I may have to remove part of the bottom to sharpen it up. We’ll see.

  2. Very nice sounding silver colored 6 hole G flute. Made in Vietnam. I have no idea who made it. Excellent tuning. Doesn’t appear tunable so extreme summer heat might throw it off. Very heavy. A clear rival to the Village Smithy in terms of weaponry. It has embossed flower designs on the head and body. Hits the high G with almost no effort. Very nice tone rivaling my Gemeinhardt Boehm. I’ll try to get a picture of it to post.

2

Hi geek4,

I wonder if this might have been a Nabi & Sons whistle, made in India. I have puchased a couple of these from Hobgoblin in the last year, one D one C. They’re quite cheap (less than a Susato in the same key), in tune with themselves, and are quiet.

Mine initially came with blue nylon whipping round them, and the C has a metallic diamond shaped label on it. On the D I removed all this stuff so it’s just plain bamboo. Holes are burnt through, the burnt smell is fading with time.

Not sure how these would stand up to long term playing over a period of years, could moisture collect inside & rot it?

3

Many of these in India, various makers, often
quite nice, oftne in B. Good price at Elderlyies.
How much was the G flute? Is it loud?
I’m lookin for one. Is it externally
in tune? Is it really very heavy? Thanks

4

Martin, It might be. There were dragon designs on the bamboo whistle. It was longer then normal because there were two extra holes toward the bottom. Sort of like some Irish flutes.


Jim, the silver flute was $56 USD. Yes compared to my electronic tuner it appears very well in tune. It has very good tone. It’s AS heavy as a full sized Boehm flute. Maybe a little heavier. It’s midrange on the volume. The second octave C# and higher is just a tad shrill but I’ve managed to get it smooth with breath control.

Edited because I forgot this link:
http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/items/LSF1.htm

5

Does require a certain amount of “concentration” at A’ and beyond :blush: and I sometimes lack it…

Trisha

6

Thanks so much for the info.

I have always considered the chieftain high D
too shrill and acrid for my tastes.

7

Acrid…I like that!

8
  1. Sweetheart high D “fife” as they call it. I prefer high D “flute” as I think of a fife as being in Bb. Very nice. Might be a bit flat though. I may have to remove part of the bottom to sharpen it up. We’ll see.

Might piccolo be a better term?

9

Is the Sweetheart high D optimized to play in the first and second octaves (like a flute) or the 2nd/3rd (like a Bb fife)?

I have a Cooperman Bb plastic fife that I use for at-work practice, and the 1st octave is noticably quieter than the 2nd/3rd. Since I am using it primarily to work on my chops for Irish flute, I play 1st/2nd octave anyway, but it would be nice to have a “flute” that plays in the same range as my D tinwhistles.

I’m also drooling over the G flute - that sounds really tempting.