Well, I have put it off long enough. I promised on this board that I would write a review of the new class of Serpent “Village Smithy” whistles, and I have been too busy to really give more than the first peek. Please forgive my tardiness.
I originally contacted Bill because there is a new dog in my house. Like Jerry Freeman’s mouse Ralph, she likes to work on whistles, too. Unfortunately when she finishes tweaking them, the sounds that come out are usually not for public distribution (my mother in law once made me an afghan with #$*$! all over it).
So the new dog tweaked my couch whistle. I tend to leave whistles everywhere, so they are never out of reach when I need one. My couch whistle was a Dixon, and I was quite pleased with it before the tweak, but could not figure how to finger the additional holes after that tweak.
So I needed a new couch whistle, one less susceptible to dog tweaking. As Bills Village Smithy is supposed to be durable (to say the least) I thought it would just fit the bill. So far, the dog has ignored it completely, so I’m good there, unless I want to pay a vet bill for broken teeth.
I still think of it as a blues whistle. It has a sweet tone, with just a hint of roughness. It’s sort of like a Marlene Dietrich sound. It has a bit of chiff, and I would not call the note pure, but it is purely intriguing. It’s just right for tunes when you want to evoke some emotion from the listener – like a sigh, or a tear.
The whistle is not loud, but it isn’t quiet (like a Hoover narrow bore) either. But don’t plan on playing in front of a band and being heard. (As I can only aspire to be a whistle pre-beginner, this is a good thing.)
I would subject you to the horror of a sound clip, but I am still experimenting with the mysteries of recording and transferring it to midi or mp3. So please forgive (or be grateful for) my inability to post a clip.
It won’t be the only the only whistle in my case, but thanks, Bill for a whistle I’m keeping for it’s special sound
