New to the forum. Have checked out the web page a few times and found some really good info here. So my first time posting.
A little background, I play whistle, among other instruments, in a church worship band. I have several Water Weasels and some Susatos of various keys, all standard concentric. And I have a D and a C conical Clarke’s. They are not tunable. And it seems like neither are very accurate throughout the scale.
So here’s my question: what is a good conical whistle that is also tunable and fairly accurate throughout the scale? I am looking for a D and maybe several other keys later. I just love that breathy sound and want to use it. But I need to be able to be in tune with the rest of the folks.
Thanks all for your help and comments. So far, sounds like the closest to my needs is the Shaw. Hopefully it will be fairly well in tune. I am primarily looking for the breathy sound that I hear with the Clarke.
I asked about it being tunable because that is what I am used to. If it’s close, especially across the scale, I can “lip” it up when necessary, hopefully. Are there any others for me to consider?
Just barely, Bloom. The extremely slight bore taper of the Kildare whistles is there to facilitate removal of the ABS plastic from the injection mold, and not as an acoustic design feature. Mike Kelishek explained and confirmed this a while back:
Re-measuring my Kildare D S-bore tube tonight, I get:
Top of tube: 12.08 mm / Foot of tube: 11.70 mm = 3% taper
By comparison,
Copeland D: 14.5 mm / 10.0 mm = 31% taper
Sweetone D: 16.0 mm / 9.3 mm = 42% taper
So the contrast with a true conical-bore whistle is pretty clear. Susatos are tapered a wee bit. Conical … not really. And the Susato Dublin whistles not at all.
Let me back up a sec: My real question was which whistle would give me the “breathiness” that I hear in the conical Clarke (gold diamond model) that I have. I am afraid I made it sound like I wanted it to be a conical whistle. My bad. I actually don’t care what shape the whistle is, just that sound. I probably confused myself also. I would just stick to the Clarke if it was tunable and consistent across the scale. So …sorry
I have gotten some good ideas from this post …THANKS. This really helped my own research in the last several days. Best I can tell there really isn’t anything that totally meets my criteria in the $40-$60 range I am targeting. So I probably will get a Clarke Sweet Tone since I can do the “remove the glue from the mouthpiece” trick and see how that works. Cheap enough. I was thinking about getting one of the Shaws also because I don’t really have much confidence in the consistency of the Sweet Tone across the scale. But I gotta try it anyway But it won’t hurt my feelings if I am off base on this and someone tells me so
I’ve got three Shaws: high and low D and low F. All three are great whistles with great intonation, and they require more air from the lungs to get them to play than other whistles in general. I think if the Shaws were my main instrument, I’d have an easier time with them, but I find it takes a lot of energy to make them play.
The Copeland, on the other hand, is more pure in sound, without that breathiness.
Michael,
The intonation comment is good to hear. I feel better now. I am assuming that that means the whistle is on key also as well as in tune with itself. That will meet all three of my criteria. And then the Sweet Tone will be kinda fun to mess with.
Fred
Very interesting and helpful info from everyone, especially the taper comparison of Sweet Tone and Copeland. Just curious if there is any metric for the Shaw D or C whistle?
Again, a big THANKS,
Fred
I don’t want to sund like a killjoy, but going back to the last sentence of your original post is key. Given what and with whom you wish to play, I have serious doubts that a non-tunable whistle of any style or make will get you where you want to be. At least not for long. I hope I’m mistaken, but from my own church music experience, you’ll eventually find yourself playing against instruments that are not readily tunable, like a piano for instance. The piano, like the non-tunable whistle, can be perfectly in tune with itself, but not at perfect concert pitch. If that’s the case, all the guitars and such will tune to the ‘fixed’ instrument and be fine, but you might quickly find yourself back at square one with the same old problem. Many whisltes can be ‘blown into tune’, but only to a degree and it’s not always as easy as it sounds. In a great many instances, a tunable whistle is the only practical solution, even if it’s not exactly the tone you hoped for. Not to say that you have to settle for an unpleasing tone, but no matter how sweet the individual sound, being out of tune ruins everything!
Just something to bear in mind as you move forward.
Here’s a nutty idea. Fashion a tunable Clarke from two whistles. Carefully decapitate the head from the body of one whistle; cannibalize the middle section from the second whistle to make the female portion of the tuning slide; solder that middle section to the barrel of the first whistle and insert the head. You’ll have to find a way to flatten the inner seam of the tuning slide. My guess is it would be best to desolder the seam, flatten the folded edges, cutoff any excess metal, and resolder the overlapping edges. Expect some sanding. Of course, you might find a Sweetone is actually better (tweaked perhaps with a bit of putty), and a lot less work.
I recently did something like this with a brass D Generation and some extra tubing because I had cracked the plastic head of my previous Generation by pushing the tube in too deep. The experiment worked out quite well.
Tim,
Points well taken. Thanks. I am sure it will work as you are pointing out. A decent whistle, a bit of lip, and group tuning. A little of all to get there. Likely can’t be avoided. I was hoping to. Maybe I can get close. Thanks for your candor. I am totally new to this and will always welcome all comments, ideas, input, etc.
Guinness,
Will that really work? Sounds like a Frankenstein kinda thing That maybe a bit more work than I want to get into. Could be interesting though. I have done the putty trick in the head before and messing a bit with the holes. Maybe I am ready now to step up. Let’s see how the Shaw does or messing with the Sweet Tones since they are on the way.
I recently tried out a Chieftain Low D V3. Greatly breathy! And pretty much in tune. (Some of the holes in that whistle were too big for my fingers, so I returned it.)
I believe there are “V3s” in all keys. (?) And they might all share the breathiness you seek.
But it won’t hurt my feelings if I am off base on this and someone tells me so 