I’ve seen a lot of threads about favorite whistles and recommendations here. Now, just out of curiosity, I would like to ask what is your least favorite one of all the whistles you have – and why. I know, it might not seem like a very constructive topic but I figured it might be fun to compare what people dislike in whistles. One person’s black sheep might be another one’s favorite.
Out of my mighty collection of seven whistles (ahem), my least favorite one is a Clarke Celtic. I hardly ever play it. It’s completely untweaked and jumps up into the second octave if I as much as look at it the wrong way. I feel no urge to tweak it either as I hate its nasal tone. It’s also quite ugly. And yes, if anyone wants to trade it for some other cheapie, I’m game.
For me, it would be my Feadog D. I have tried all the home tweaks I know, and no matter what. the low note always have a ringing sound to them like they are about to go into the 2nd octave. And the 2nd octave notes arent any better.
Breath control doesnt matter, either your blowing too soft or too hard, theres never been any happy medium with it. Which is a shame, cause the few notes that do play well make it sound as nice as my brass Acorn D.
If you’re going to cite a least favorite whistle, please give at least some details of your experience with it and the reasons why you don’t like it (as several people have done here, and several have not). Otherwise it’s not particularly useful or informative. Thanks.
Well, if you have unplayable whistles, then the Hoopy Home for Abandoned and Abused Whistles is open 24/7. See: http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=61941&start=105
for details of a recent success story. Sweetones are particularly welcome.
I agree with West, I have one Clarke Celtic in my collection which is, hmm, getting substantial… I don’t like the nasal tone of the Clarke Celtic and the color almost makes me sick. The color is close to the same tint of green that makes you think of the the walls of a hospital or asylum though that shade of green a bit brighter. Douglas Adams put a nice name to that particular color, Gang Green…
My Generation Bb. I have the whole range of Gens in red tops and all seem to play just fine, but not the Bb. I’ve tried several minor tweaks to get it to sound ok but nothing seems to work. It seems to be out of tune and most certainly hates to kick up into the second octave. I would much rather listen to a cute small furry animal screaming in pain than play this horrid peice of brass tube with holes in it.
I should get another one and send the old one to the Hoopy Home for abandoned whistles. Only Mr Hoopy don’t like Gens. Ah well, I still got my Overton Low D and my O’Brien Rover as well as my Meg and Mellow D in my favorites list.
I had a run-in with two Waltons Little Blacks that I bought at a local souvenir shop. The lower octave notes played reasonably well (no excessive raspiness or tendency to flip up uncontrollably), but second octave notes from F# on up seemed very shrill and raspy. I tried the usual tweaks on both whistles with no significant improvement. Also, the thin aluminum tubes did not seem very durable.
I’ve had a little better luck with Feadog D’s, although my sample size is small at 3. One is a JF tweaked version, which plays nicely, except for the second octave B. I just don’t have the skills, yet, to make that note non-shrill. The two stock whistles were much worse in the second octave - very raspy. I used their tubes with other heads. The stock Feadog D sound just grates on my ears, so they’re high on my list of bad guys.
I have a fake Overton high D I bought on e-bay. It looks nice but the head will drop off the body. If I tape it together and it’s unplayable. I could never get my Oak D to work well either although I blame that more on me than whistle.
Ooh interesting. I can’t get along with my brass Bb Gen either, although I’m working on it, given that many people say that the Bb is the best Gen around. Are the nickel ones any better? I wouldn’t say that any of my whistles are my least favourite though.
I made the mistake of buying a bright red Clarke’s “Meg” - it sounds decent enough, but the feel of it is just like you would find in a toy shop. Every time I try to play it I start hankering for my old train set, and I develop this strange desire to go into my back garden to play cowboys!
Not sure if that’s the whistle or pre-senile dementia.
if i had to list a least favorite, it would be my Generation D brass. horribly out of tune from the get-go and my self-tweaking didn’t help too much with the sound.
I’ll try again… maybe I won’t get deleted this time.
I got a Cooperman as a souvenir in Williamsburg last year that was the worst thing I’ve ever played. The 2nd octave was unreachable without extreme air, and even then it was mostly just an air sound. After tweaking, I can play easily up to high b but the sound has a raspy metallic buzz to it.
Some of my least favorites include a Waltons (wide bore), Clare and Clarke Sweetone. The Waltons and Clare I dislike because they require a lot of air to play and sound too breathy for my taste (not that I’m after a perfectly clear tone, I’d dislike that just as much). The Sweetone I used to play a lot but once I started playing Generations, Feadógs and Oaks (now all favorites) my ear can no longer take the poor tuning of the Clarkes.
I cannot go with this one. The Gen Bb for me is the only inexpensive whistle that can compete with expensive whistles. It has a steady tone, stable, good bellnote, is responsive and goes easily between the octaves but not to easily.
My Sweetone C and Gen high G are whistles that are my least favorites. I also had a Chieftain high D which had a very nice full tone, but was impossible to play, far too much backpressure (more than my Overton low D) and far too loud.
I have a Clarke Original unpainted whistle that I can’t do much with. For any note above g I have to blow my brains out, and the sound I get back isn’t worth the effort.
