I am currently contemplating a low D. I’ve narrowed it down to an Overton, Howard, Copeland, or Burke. Any suggestions on which one to go with if I can only have one?
–Christopher
Aside from a big variation in price, these are all very different beasts with differing sound and other qualities.
What do you want to play? What types of higher whistles do like best? Do you like brass whistles (Copeland, some maintenance), prefer a light weight (Burke), have plenty warm up time (Overton), like the haunting tone of the Howard and not mind plastic mouthpieces)? Any issues over hand size 
?!
A difficult question as it stands and you’ll get four different answers that’s for sure!
Trisha
I figured it was a difficult question. No hand size problems here. I guess I’m just trying to get the desert island answer. Price variation is no problem also. Does anyone know if Patrick Olwell makes a whistle?
–Christopher
Again, more information is helpful, and may make what seems like a difficult decision an easy one. Are you an experienced player or relatively new to whistles? What kind of music do you prefer to play? What qualities are you looking for in the low whistle? Is this your first low whistle or do you have others? If you have others, are you looking for more of the same, or something different. If this is your first low whistle, what high whistles do you own and like?
You already mentioned that price and spacing are not issues, so what are the key factors in your mind? What kind of sound are you looking for? Do you have a preference as to materials? How important is volume (do you tend to play for yourself, solo for audiences, in band, in session)? All these bits may make it easier to comment.
There are not that many reviews of low whistles in the archives (as compared to high whistles), but there are some. Searching for those may be a useful exercise, because most will not repeat a lengthy review every time a “what should I buy” question pops up.
- Bill
welcome savage, really tough question…they really are all different…if you go to an desert island you may not need warming up the tube, overton might be for you…but then again it depends on what kind of sound you are looking for…hmmmm
…guys, did you hear that…price variation is not a problem…
i hate him.
No bad choices there. Although I love Burke high whistles, I’ve never tried his Low D. I gave away an old original style Howard because the tone holes were a bit too large for me, but it had a unique and satisfying low end. The other two are sure bets, though totally different and the Copeland more expensive. My personal favorite is the Copeland. Matter of personal taste/style. Copeland is flutey in tonal quality with a bunch of heart warming resonance. I find it easy to finger; it takes a good deal of air, but not to my personal discomfort. The Overton has a good deal of back pressure and takes a great volume of air but does not have high air requirements (i.e., you shouldn’t get out of breath easily as you play). It’s also, as I recall, relatively easy to handle with respect to reach.
Others can tell you more on the Burke (there’s a Viper model that sounds interesting) and Overton (seek out Bloomfield, resident Overtenite).
Enjoy,
Philo
The Copelands are expensive & take awhile to get, but they can be nice - surprisingly enough I’ve tried a few here & there that turned out to be absolute dogs…
Burke low Ds are HUGE, especially as far as reach goes (I’m a not-small person with not-small hands, too) but if you can manage that then they work fine. I seem to remember finding the cross-fingered OXX OOO Cnatural being a little squirrely though…
My personal favorite low whistles are by Phil Hardy - his new range of Chieftain low whistles are absolutely first-rate. They’re not as expensive as his KerryPros which are handmade (and which he has recently returned to making on a regular basis I believe), but they still retain many of the good things of those whistles in a solid, inexpensive-to-produce design. They’re very smooth and easy to play as well. I own Kerry Pros in low D and low F as well as this New Range design in the same 2 keys and, although I prefer the KerryPros in my own playing(which you could just go ahead and get), the Chieftains are still very similar and perfectly great whistles on their own. I would definitely see about trying one at least & see what you think.
As an added sidenote, Kevin Crawford of Lunasa told me recently that he recently acquired a batch of New Range Chieftains from Phil in Low D and Low F in fact, all of which he himself has personally tested. He told me he loves each and every one of them & finds them to be great, great instruments, and that the band is now selling them on their website (www.lunasa.ie) with the Lunasa logo engraved on the bottom.
Just my $.02 
Thanks for everybody’s replies. I think the answers I’ve been getting are very helpful. I will use the information/opinions already posted so I don’t have everyone reposting what they have probably wrote a million times. Thanks again.
Christopher. 
If those are your four choses, I’d choose Copeland. I loved the one I had. The tone is really rich and intersting. But I have heard that some folks have had issues. Fortunatley, the Copeland folks are really good about trying to solve any problems you may have with your whistle. Also, it wasn’t an easy instrument to play due to high breath requirments and no back pressure. I sold mine, because it was too much instrument for me at the time. It sure sounded great though.
Overtons seem to have quite a fan base, and I imagine you’ll get a lot of replies in that regard. I don’t have any experience with them other than a brief blow on one when Lee Marsh came to Houston. It reminded me of my Chieftain…and luckily, no one has lynched me yet for saying so.
I believe Jessie K has called the Burke low D “nothing special” (to paraphrase). And she really likes his High D’s, as do I, so I take her at her word on that score.
I’ve played Howards quite a few times at Melody Music (they have quite a stock of whistles), but was never that impressed with them.
I agree with Hornpiper about Cheiftain low D’s. Great bang for the buck! I recently sold one I’d had for nearly 10 years and replaced with with a newer model. Phil has really improved his whistles in all those years…I loved my first one. And the second is far and away the better instrument. Easier to play, more in tune, louder (the first was really quiet), not shrieky in the second octave. I took it to session last night, and everyone had positive things to say about it…I even overheard the hammer dulcimer guy telling someone he wanted to get one.
BillChin asks some excellet questions, and you’d be best served by answering them for us and yourself, before making a decision. It’ll help you be more informed.
Burke is probably the best bang for the buck, and very easy to play. Nice sound too. But if you can afford a Copeland, go for it, get the sterling silver one if you can. It’s awesome.
To answer some questions: I’ve been playing for about 6 months so I guess you could say I’m relatively new. All my whistles are high D as I haven’t felt experimental enough to try other keys. All currently inexpensive whistles. I do have an Olwell bamboo flute, to stray off topic ever so slightly. I couldn’t really describe the sound I like. When I hear it I know it. But I think with all the good advice, I’m down now to either a Copeland, a Howard, or a Chieftain.
Thanks again, --Christopher.
OK, let’s try something. Do you want to play long, wailing sounds as in Davy Spillane’s collabs with Enya, or do you want to play lively jigs in fast tempo?
That mournful, haunting sound, would be an Overton, Chieftain of Copeland.
The fast and aggressive playing would be a Howard or Burke.
g (going to very wide generalizations here, but HTH…)
I prefer that mournful, haunting sound. Chris Abell has been left out. What about his Low D’s.
Christopher.
You can play fast stuff on Chieftains, KPros and Copelands just as well as you can play slow, haunting stuff - check out “At First Light” with Mike McGoldrick and John McSherry.
I don’t think Abell makes a low D does he? I know he makes FABULOUS high Ds…
I have been thinking about a low D myself. I have had the opportunity to play about 6 different low Ds, one of which was an Overton. I have determined that at this time I am not ready to play a low D. I can make the stretch okay but I cannot reliably seal the holes. This does not give the beautiful haunting sound, more like a Banshee wail. I did buy a Dixon G. This I can play. Maybe after a whlie I will be able to play the D. I will be getting a chance to play the Alba low C in about 6 weeks. I hope I will be able to play it much better. Then maybe I will get the Alba low D.
The gist of this is I recommend playing some low Ds before you make up your mind.
Ron
A very good point, ronkiley. There are none around my way that I can play so that is out of the question. However, I can make use of listening to sound files that play different whistles. And, of course, I can always buy them all, Keep the ones I want, and give the rest away to some local charity.
Christopher.
I’ll take the Copleand 
Ron, if you can make the stretch, you can learn to seal it. I had the same problems at first with my Howard. The answer is practice, practice, practice. I’m not 100% myself, but I went from “I’ll never learn” to “hey, this sounds pretty good” over the course of a 2-3 weeks.
What I found works for me is a combination of three things:
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Try moving your thumbs a little lower on the back - this seems to help in angling the fingers better.
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Keep the fingers as straight as you comfortably can - curled fingers are much more likely to have sealing problems
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Try for gentle, even, pressure on all holes. Pressing HARD tires you out, slows down your fingering, and is more likely to cause leaks. This last is one I still need to remind myself of constantly - but a gentle, even, pressure really helps.
I was really discouraged the first week or so I had the Howard, but I’m happy I spent the time to work through it.
A guy once tried out my ‘new range’ Chieftain, saying he was thinking of buying one. After a few minutes he said that it was so similar to his Overton that he wasn’t going to bother.