which whistle - advice please?

Whistle
1

I’m hoping for some advice on which whistle to buy next. I’m a general woodwind player (oboe, flute, recorder) of many years, but haven’t been playing the whistle for all that long; I’ve currently got a basic Feadog but it is always slightly flat when I play with other people, which is annoying me. So I want to buy a new whistle; important criteria are:

  1. must be available in the UK!
  2. must be tuneable
  3. I play in a band which is on the loud side, so want a whistle with a bit of oomph or otherwise I’ll never be heard
  4. I prefer a clearer tone to a breathier one
  5. I don’t mind spending a bit more, but preferably not too much (preferably around £100-ish / $200-ish).

I don’t mind going to a shop to try models out, but there don’t appear to be all that many shops that have a particularly wide range. Similarly, I don’t mind buying online, but obviously then I need to know that what I buy is what I’m after!

All advice appreciated :slight_smile:

2

It would seem to me that given your criteria, if you could make it to the Big Whistle Shop in the UK, they should have an extensive assortment of whistles on hand and many within your budget. Definitely worth consideration.

Good luck in your search.

Cheers,
Cayden

3

A couple of whistles come readily to mind that fit those criteria.

Susato make two models which might work or you. The Susato Oriole, which is a fairly new design, Is well under your target price point. You could get the Eb, C and Bb bodies to boot. The classic loud Susato tunable Kildare S-Series runs a little more but should still be under £30. Both of these have a crisp clear tone compared to most other whistles.

Impempe whistles are made by Ian Turnbill in South Africa. The Impempe high D is quite nice and should run about £60-ish. Check one out. It might not sound as clear as you prefer but it is worth looking into.

Those are the ones that come to mind instantly. There are others as well. Both should be available from Big Whistle and possible others in the UK.

You’ll get suggestions of just about every whistle on earth for under £100 and some a bit higher if this thread has legs.

Hope that helps.

Feadoggie

4

Where in the UK are you, ctaylorjay?

No question at all that, given your criteria, I’d be talking to Hans Bracker (who’s also a member on here) about a standard or wide-bore D (£90 and up there with the very best!). Not something you can try at Big Whistle etc. (they’re built to order in a tiny workshop at Findhorn), but I’ve tried many whistles including some very big names and like Hans’s best of all for their combination of clear tone, accurate intonation and responsiveness.

Might add, in response to Feadoggie’s post (think he’s also tried plenty!), that I’ve also got an Impempe (which I bought just before Hans sent me his standard-bore D to try) and several Susatos (a good shout at a lower price point, although I’d rate the Oriole C higher than the D), but couldn’t say any of them stand comparison to my Brackers. And I’d agree that the Impempe, as an altogether ‘breathier’ whistle (one of the few such I really like, despite a second octave I find sharp at more than a whisper… and I did try two before keeping one!) may not be what you’re looking for.

5

The other answers here are good. But this puzzles me:

That implies that it’s in tune when played alone - i.e., that the self-intonation is good. Is that the case? In fact, the Feadóg tube is set up for equal temperament (12TET), and is one of the best stock tubes out there.

So if you’re flat to your bandmates, why not just tune to them? You know the Feadóg is tunable and the head is moveable. In fact, it meets your five criteria. Of course, all cylindrical whistles will be slight flat in the upper register without breath compensation.

If you just want a louder, fairly pure ET D whistle, and traditional trad “chirp” is not an issue, an Susato S-bore or Burke session bore will work.

6

At only 20$ over your limit, you could get a new burke. Now, I know you said “Available in the UK” , but I’m not sure quite what you meant by that. The Burke can indeed ship to the UK. Also, you can likely find a used one for under your limit, from somebody located in Europe who can ship it to you for cheaper.

When I read your specifications, they all seem to just point directly to the burke, in my opinion. If you can’t find a used one, it might be worth that tiny bit of extra cash to get a whistle that really gives you everything you want. Rather than buy one for slightly less, then end up wanting something else slightly later, it might be better to just go for one that has a better chance of giving you what you are going after. I think it’s something like 220 USD .

You mentioned volume, and the session bore D has great volume.
You mentioned a clear whistle, the burke is the epitome of clear, in my opinion.
You mentioned intonation- It’s extremely in tune, difficult to blow out of tune, and is tunable, so you can simply adjust to your bandmates to get things perfect, if they aren’t already.

Oh, and it can be returned for the majority of what you spent back, if for some crazy reason you hate it, but I doubt that would happen.

The only parts of your criteria that it doesn’t meet, is that it’s just a tiny bit over 200$. It can indeed ship to the UK, or you can likely find a used one within somewhere nearer than the states, if you are patient.

If this is too far off your criteria, my apologies. However, I think this fits what you are after in a whistle, from how I interpret it’s qualities, and the things you say you are seeking. It’s at least worth looking into a bit.
http://burkewhistles.com/

7

You might want to look at Tony Dixon’s whistles.

The ‘Trad’ is a well respected instrument and well under your budget. I used to own the previous model of the DX204 - it was pure and loud (too loud for me), and again, well under your budget. If you live anywhere near Tony (Bideford) phone him up and ask to visit. He is a very friendly chap, very helpful.

Let us know what you decide.

8

Question… while acknowledging that we’re all different (so can’t duck Feadoggie’s point about ‘just about every whistle on earth’), have you tried a Bracker? Because I’ve tried a couple of Burkes but still thought the Bracker a better match at the price (or indeed at any price because I wouldn’t personally swap my Brackers for Burkes!).

I’ve got two DX203Ds and two DX203Cs. They’re lovely whistles and almost ‘perfectly’ tuned (NB slightly flat bell notes on the Ds!), but only really ‘work’ within a very narrow band of (medium volume) breath pressure. So gorgeous for some things, but quite limiting for others when you just can’t push them at all. That said, they record very nicely where this narrow response band seems less of an issue.

Would agree that Tony Dixon is very helpful, however!

9

Thanks for all the hints, I will consider those carefully and will see what I can get hold of for a try-out.

I’m interested in what you say here about ‘push’, Peter, could you explain a bit more? Do you mean that they overblow easily? I think I often try and push my Feadog to get more volume when playing with the band, with varying degrees of success. I’m also an oboist in my other life so I’m used to putting a lot of air through the instrument; I think I need a whistle that will let me push!

10

And this still puzzles me:

11

Sorry for the puzzlement, but it is flat! Ie. it’s in tune with itself, but is not at 440. I’ve tested it against a tuner as well as my ears, and it’s not playing at 440. And I’m presuming that if I take the head off, it is already pushed in to its maximum, ie. I would only be able to adjust it out, thereby making it flatter. But please correct me if I’m wrong!

(I don’t think I’m going to be able to make my other band members play sharper to fit me…)

12

Hm, why would it come from the factory with the head pushed all the way in? Mine sure wasn’t, and I could tune it just fine.. as I could with other, non-Feadog whistles with similar type of plastic heads.

-Tor

13

Yes, easily but precisely, with exceptionally smooth and accurate slurring between registers (no inter-octave ‘growls’!) in either direction. So they really reward good breath control in tunes with much register crossing (for which I love them), but simultaneously have little headroom in the second octave before overblowing again (especially when tongued), hence that ‘narrow band’ which doesn’t really encourage playing with abandon. Give them exactly what they want and they’re great, but feed them the wrong stuff (tune- or technique-wise) and you’ll be reaching for a more colourful and/or forgiving whistle!

14

Okay, my mistake. In that case I’ll put the kettle on.

15

You might take the head off that Feadog and remove a small amount of the brass tube at the top to sharpen the whistle. Start with only 1/16" or so. You could do this on a grinding wheel, with a Dremel tool, etc. Trim off the burrs inside and out and give it a try, repeat as necessary.

16

Freeman whistles are available from http://www.bigwhistle.co.uk.

Best wishes,
Jerry

17

That sounds a bit technical for me… I did take the head off last night, but I think it was already as far on as it would go. We’ll see what happens at band practice tonight!

18

You could always cut an 1/8 inch or so off the top of the tube with a hacksaw. You’d only be losing a flat Feadog if things went strangely wrong.

If you’re playing with a loud band a whistle with high back pressure is easier to control pitch wise in my opinion. A band I play with is very loud and I use Goldies whistles - they’re very versatile, tuneful and reliable. You’d have to stretch the budget just a wee bit but not many would argue with the quality of a Goldie.

19

I have several Feadógs, and all of them are very sharp ex works, like ~50 cent. Furthermore, IME they are very consistently made, so they are all more or less equally sharp (as opposed to Generations for example, which are sharp too, but very varyingly…). You seem to need a louder whistle anyway, but I just wanted to express my puzzlement as well. Before someone thinks that Feodógs were bad whistles!

20

I got the tip off the other night so it’s now movable, and I seem to have shoved it on a bit further - and yesterday at band practice it seemed a lot more in tune! But I’ll keep an eye on it, and will contemplate splashing out on a new one eventually anyway. Thanks for all the hints recently :slight_smile: