I have only had my D whistles for 2 days now, and am already looking for the next one . An Irish-Indian musician acquaintance recommends that I get a Bb because, says he, “it is wonderful when in desert canyons to echo it off the canyon walls playing an Irish tune.” (Yes, he is of weird descent, Irish father, Native American mother). Apparently he feels that it resonates better with nature. But then he right now is in the middle of the Superstition Wilderness with nothing but his horses (one for riding, one pack horse) and his whistles, so he likes to whistle in strange places.
Still, he has been playing whistles for more years than I have been alive, so perhaps I should take his advice. What do you think? Should a Bb be my next whistle? Is the Generation Bb playable, or should I spring for something a bit better?
My Generation Bb is playable and enjoyable, but if you’re interested in playing with others the C would be more useful for Irish sessions. I think the Bb is a pretty good key for accompanying singing.
All the keys are nice in their ownway and have their own characters. How ‘useful’ any one will be depends on your needs of the moment.
Since you’re presently going the Clarke / Waltons route, the Generation line fits right in price-wise. Honestly, since they’re among the most affordable of instruments, I’d get the whole set of Gens just to play around with. Heck, you can own a bushel basket of these things (a lot of us do!). They don’t eat anything, and you never know when you’ll want that special key.
I like C and Bb a lot. Since you just started playing the C will be easier for you. The hole size and finger stretch is only a little bigger on the C but the sound will be mellower.
Seriously though egreen, when it comes to the low-cost whistles, don’t worry too much about which one to get next. Explore, learn, and enjoy. I’ll bet every serious player has at least a coffee mug full of these whistles, no matter what other fancy stuff they might own. If you get to the point where you’re saving up to buy at $300 whistle, that’s different. But where else can you have this much fun for under twenty bucks? You can’t even go to the movies where I live for that money.
Thanks guys. You’re right, these things are so cheap that just buying one would mean the postage is more than the whistle. I’ll get a whole collection . Starting with Bb and C whistles since I already have D.
I’ve found the nickel-plated Eb and F to be pretty good whistles but they hurt my ears more than others do.
I was testing my my Bb brass again today and find that I have some trouble playing in the second register without squawking. But it wouldn’t surprise me to hear someone else play it beautifully!
As I recall, (I don’t have examples here) the Eb has a smaller body/tube than the D, and the Bb has a larger body. I don’t know about the C. If the problem with the D is in the mouthpiece, then it’s likely that choosing a whistle in a key that uses one of the differently sized mouthpieces will avoid the problems in the D.
Tell your friend that if he really likes that Native American sound he (also) should get an F. Those deep plains flutes, although usually having only 5 holes, are typically in the key of F.
I recommend that for your first expensive whistle you get either a Sweetheart Pro in D or C, or a set of O’brien’s ramblers or rovers. I like these whistles because in the case of the Sweetheart it breaks down into 2 parts (lots of whistles do but this one does it a bit closer to the middle) and the O’briens break into 3 parts. These whistles fit into pockets very well and I find that my most played whistle is the one I remember to take with me.
I own Gens in the key of G, F, Eb, D, C and Bb. They are all good whistles and I didn’t have to “search” for any of them. I have all of these keys in brass and D and C in aluminum.
I really like the Gen Eb. The new ones have a slightly different head to my absolute favourite ones from a while ago, but they’re still very nice.
I like the Bb too. Both those keys seems consistent in terms of QC in my limited experience. But then, the last few Ds I’ve bought have also been consistent
Is there a good chart or way to figure out what two keys the whistles play? What I mean is, you have D whistle and it’s also easy to play in G. So are these right:
C and F?
D and G
Eb and A? (Do they come in E natural?)
Bb and E?
G and C?
Am I right on these? Without a piano in front of me, I’m afraid I might have made an error.
Close. Eb also plays in G#, and Bb also plays in Eb. Just count up five half-steps from the key of the whistle. (e.g. G, G#, A, Bb, B, C, C#, etc…). And of course you can play in other keys, (e.g. the D whistle can play in Em, Am and A quite easily).
I do sort of remember someone posting a chart that listed all of the keys the whistles can play in, but you’d have to search for it.
. An Irish-Indian musician acquaintance recommends that I get a Bb because, says he, “it is wonderful when in desert canyons to echo it off the canyon walls playing an Irish tune.” (Yes, he is of weird descent, Irish father, Native American mother). Apparently he feels that it resonates better with nature. But then he right now is in the middle of the Superstition Wilderness with nothing but his horses (one for riding, one pack horse) and his whistles, so he likes to whistle in strange places.
. Starting with Bb and C whistles since I already have D.