Trying out new whistles ....

Whistle
1

Just came back from a trip to Seattle. We’d been to Lark in the Morning before and had to try Dusty Strings this time around. It was great! Lots of cool instruments, CD’s, music, etc. They also had quite a few whistles in stock including Sweetones, Generations, Susatos in numerous keys, Howard Low D’s, Overtons, Harpers, Albas, Weltmeisters, Sweet, and a couple others that I just don’t recall the names of offhand. It was really cool trying out a number of higher-end whistles that I’ve only ever seen on the internet.

One whistle I ended up being very pleasantly surprised by was a Ralph Sweet D whistle in cherrywood. What a very, very nice instrument! It is not overly loud, very sweet in the upper register, has a purer tone, but still very much a whistle and not a recorder. The response is very quick and, for the price, I snatched it up.

I definitely endorse Dusty Strings and also want to say that I think Ralph Sweet whistles are highly underrated. They are a good value in a nice-playing wooden whistle.

2

I’m so jealous! I’d love to have a chance to pop into a Lark in the Morning outpost and have a go at some of those whistles, as well as their incredible percussion instruments. Guess I’ll have to content myself with thumbing through the pages of their catalog and putting little yellow post-y notes by all the things I want to buy.

BTW: Did you actually buy the Sweet?

3

As a matter of fact, I did :slight_smile:
My wife bought a nice tipper for her Bodhran and our boys each picked out an inexpensive item (a whistle and a kazoo). So, I needed a souvenir, too, and that whistle just seemed to have my name on it. I like the way it sings … not at all how I expected it to play or sound based on some of the comments I’ve read. Just goes to show that there are so many factors involved in selecting the right instrument for your particular style and that each instrument, no matter whether it’s a clarinet or a whistle, is as individual as the person playing it.