I have been saving up for a few weeks for a new whistle. I have around $200, but I don’t know what to get. I am not sure wether or not I want a low or high whistle. This is going to be my first High-End whistle. Also I was wondering about a Burke. Does anyone have any experience with them, and if so what so you think of them?
Burkes are always good, especially the brass ones. In lieu of low, or high, figure out what you need more. If I had money to spend right now, I’d get me a Burke Brass Soprano C (being I play just about everything in C). Another good whistle (I’ve heard of) is the Silkstone Alloy Dplus, with the Low C note. I think that The Whistle Shop carries them in their New Items Section. Happy whistle buying!
My tastes have evolved back to the more traditional sound - assuming you’re wanting a good high-endish whistle with those characteristics, I can’t see how you could go wrong with a Humphrey D (wide- or narrow- bore, your choice) or one of the new Black Diamond whistles (haven’t tried them, but am very fond of Erle Bartlett’s older Syn models).
If you like the husky/airy end of things, you could (cheaply!) get that with one of Serpent’s Sweet Polly whistles (once Bill Whedon’s back in production, that is - he’s relocating to your neck of the woods).
But that being said - I don’t own any Burkes myself, but I’ve had a chance to play several and they were uniformly excellent. If you prefer a purer sound, I don’t think they can be beat. If I didn’t already own several Syns (somewhat similar in sound and playing characteristics) I’d own at least one by now. Despite that, I like them enough I’m pretty sure I will end up owning some sooner or . . . medium sooner.
Now if you were talking LOW whistles, I’d probably advise putting the money towards an Overton Low D or Low F. Since I’m trying to move to flute for the Low D range, I’ve put off getting the low D model, but I really, really, really want a Low F.
For what it’s worth, I own a fairly large number of cheap-to-midrange high D whistles. The ones that get the play time are: Humphrey D, Serpent Sweet Polly D, Syn D . . . and Feadog D.
I have a Burke delrin D (plastic). It is an average whistle. To me, the Burke is about the same as my Susato Dublin D, but I have had the Susato longer and have some history with it.
If you are not sure what you want, not even as far as low or high whistle or key, or type of sound, I suggest you keep an eye out on the for sale posts here and on Ebay and look for good deals. That way if you don’t like it, you can sell it for about what you bought it for. This also avoids the waiting list on certain brands and lets you try more whistles for the same money.
Yes, please do tell us what sort of sound/timbre you are looking for in your new instrument. That will help us give you better suggestions based on our experiences.