Does anyone have any info on this whistle? I’ve had one for a while and didn’t know what kind it was until just now when I noticed it on the C&F guide to cheapies. It’s been my favorite whistle since I started playing it. I has an airy/raspy tone but it’s loud, and it takes a more air than most (even than my Walton’s wide bore, which is actually my least favorite whistle) but you can do a lot of volume variation before it flips to the next octave or squeals. I did have to tweak it into tune, though. Is mine just a freak or are most of them like this, and are they available anywhere?
The top one:
"Walton’s (formerly Soodlum’s) C,D Cylindrical, brass or nickel $6-10. Tunable. Cylindrical whistles with yellow or green mouthpieces. Fine tone, easy to play. Mine have an especially pure sound for an inexpensive whistle. However, my experience, which seems to be shared by many, is that they are often made so that the lowest note is noticeably sharp. In addition, the brass tubes are usually coated with a laminate that slowly peels away and is an irritant, really. : Some of these have a narrow bore that makes them resemble Feadogs. Others have a wide shaft which make them sound better, in my opinion. They are really quite different and you can’t be sure which you are ordering if you can’t see them. Some of the wide ones have the word “mello” on the label. As my friend Masami Yoshihara (who imports whistles to Japan) points out, whistle manufacturers occasionally redesign their whistles without notice. This makes the life of a whistle webjournalist like me A LIVING HELL!!! You people have no idea. "
The Walton’s narrow bore whistle is the standard Walton’s whistle. It is much common than the wide bore (Mellow D).
If you’re refferring to the tone/sound quality, it varies really. some are just bad, but there are also good ones (most of them, in my experience), it’s just a matter of chance finding a “good” one - like the principle of finding a good Generation, the same thing applies. and what do you mean “are they available anywhere”? well, if you have one, then it must be! hehehe
i just came back into the Walton after trying to get my generation brass D to cooperate. I gave the Walton a poster-putty tweak andit sounds very nice now.
For those of you who are familiar with Walton’s whistles: how does the standard narrow-bore Walton compare to the Little Black D in terms of feel? I’m thinking of ordering a couple of Waltons and I’d like to know if their brass whistles are more sturdy than the LBW, which feels a bit too light and brittle for my taste.
I think the standard narrow-bore is a much stronger and more stable whistle than the LBW. It’s a bit more breathy than a Generation or Feadog (due to a higher windway) but they’re not bad whistles at all. I’ve got a box of 'em at home and they seem fairly consistent though I did notice a few that stood out among the lot. Not a favorite of mine personally but the best Waltons product out there IMO.
Yeah, we were putting them in the hands of the kiddies at a festival a few weeks ago so I have some left over from the bulk order. Since I’m a whistle player it only seemed natural that I would “hold on to them” for the organization until the next distribution
My wife came back from a trip to Scotland a couple of days ago, and she brought presents! Besides a small bottle of Ledaig and some Macallan Highland fudge, she gave me one of those Walton’s whistle starter kits (“Learn to play the Scottish Whistle”) complete with tunebook, cd and a narrow-bore Walton’s whistle in D.
This is a really great whistle. The tone is almost identical to the LBW, if somewhat raspier, but I like the feel of it a lot more. It’s heavier, sturdier, feels more like a real instrument. The second octave was kind of unpure-sounding right out of the box, but just like mcurtiss I tried the poster putty tweak and now it plays beautifully.
Walton’s might not be the fanciest whistles around but there is something about their tone that I love… maybe it’s the mysterious “chiff”? At least they have sort of a chirpy sound that I find very appealing. So to answer Whiddler’s original question… I doubt that yours is just a freak, both my Walton’s are really good. In fact, the brass D is rapidly becoming a favorite.
