So the low D I so wanted is now out of my financial reach for the time being. I’ve decided to pick up two whistles that are more cost effective. The two together need to be under $50. One is for me, the other for the little one. They don’t need to be the same whistle.
I know there are numerous threads of recommendations. I’ve read a ton of them and my head is swimming and I’m hoping there are a few people with patience enough to answer the same question from the gazillionth angle.
I’m looking for which whistle(s) would provide the best experience for a beginner, one of which being a child with accompanying small hands. The least amount of squawk, the best amount of nice clear tone. Since I’m going to be teaching, the instrument itself needs to be the best possible for the money. Otherwise the two together (my teaching with a poor sounding or difficult playing whistle) will create disaster and forever turn her off music lessons. My intent is to eventually move to a low D while the little one will stay on a high whistle.
What would you recommend? I’m really grateful for the help.
As far as a high whistle goes I would recommend using a Clarke Sweetone D. They only cost about $7. I use one in a Celtic band and it’s great. The low whistle I use is a Kerry Low D. Of course those things aren’t cheep ($200-$300). It’s a great whistle though.
I second going for Sweetone. If there was no Overton, I´d probably play Sweetone - not only it´s very cost effective, but the sound is really good on its own.
Yeah, there is sort of “middle step” between Sweetone and high end whistles, Black Diamond, Susato, Dixon…but honestly, I think that sometimes, they sound marginally worse, or or marginally better. You will hear the difference, but when you´re buying good whistle, why not to add some 50-100 bucks to have a cream of the crop.
It doesn´t suck too much air, it´s responsive, and your little one sits on it, you can buy a new one. Just try it if you don´t mind “plastic tone” (I don´t think it sounds plastic, in my opinion it sounds very good, but you may be one of the few who don´t like it).
My students tried many cheapies…and Sweetone is clear winner (with Generations being second).
i needed a G whistle so i stopped by our local story that sells cheiftans if you catch them on a good day. i was hoping for a G lower than a D. all they had was a G higher than a D. the holes were so close together, i couldn’t even get my fingers situated on the holes. who plays these things?
I also recommend the Sweetone. It has a great sound, little hands have an easy time with it (I’m teaching my 4 year old this year on one), and (most importantly if your little one is indeed little) it comes in great colours I’ve had a great time teaching mine on Sweetones. They’re even great to play as an adult.
I agree with this…and the while the Sweetone is great for kids, it’s also a great whistle in general. I still play the one I bought a few years ago when I first started from time to time, especially when I’m teaching the kids.
I would also like to jump on the Sweetone bandwagon.
Here is the clincher.
They come in colors !!!
While I prefered a non-painted one myself, the colorful ones are the same whistle… only painted on the outside.
Personally, I would make sure she gets to pick the color she wants and then you get to pick something different. I think in that way she will have “ownership” of her very own whistle.
I would also recommend the Sweetone as a beginner instrument. Great value, good player.
BUT you need to know a few things.
You should know that a Meg is basically the same as a Sweetone. Same design, same sound, same company. I believe it’s made in China and sells for a few dollars less in most cases. We tend to lump these two together on this forum, but you are much more likely to find a Meg than a Sweetone when you go shopping.
These whistles have a distinctive sound that some people don’t like. I do. But for most tunes, it’s not my favorite sound for a whistle and I am sure I play my Meg less because of that.
This whistle can benefit from some minor tweaking. I just fill in the area under the windway with some blue poster putty. Details and directions are on the home page of Chiff and Fipple. Look for “tweaking inexpensive whistles” near the bottom of the page.
(If you find you don’t like the sound, consider a Dixon Trad. Not my personal favorite, but it has to be one of the best values out there.)
No one that I know of. We all own one, or did. Back in the day there wasn’t the profusion of whistles available, so getting a gen in all 6 sizes was de rigeur.
I will definitely get it over the Meg. I’d like to support working wages and don’t mind paying $7 instead of $4 to do so.
It looks like the tweaked version ups the price to $15. Does this make a big difference? If it were you, would you buy 2 Sweetones, 1 Sweetone and 1 tweaked, or 2 tweaks?
I got three small trolls at home, now 8, 7 and 5 years old.
When they first wanted to pick up the whistle I let them loose in my whistle bag, which they now
consider to be their possession (I don’t mind as long as they leave my pipes alone ).
At that time the D whistle had a bit to much of a spread, and to many squeaks took away the fun of playing.
So I got them (and myself) a Generation “F” each to get the basics. After they had got the scale and
twinkle twinkle litter star down, the two older ones had no problem to move up to a D whistle.
Also, for very young kids I would recommend to glue a bit of plastics tubing around the bottom of the pipe
to dull the rather sharp edge as they seem to prefer to run around while playing and sometimes even put
the wrong end in the mouth just to scare the heck out of their parents
You still play the same one that you got several years ago?! I have to replace mine every half year or so. I guess I bite to hard. Oh well, it helps me achieve good sound.
Oops! Didn’t think of that and – if anything – I tend to be over protective of children. At least the mouthpiece is one of the larger ones for D whistles and, therefore, is less likely to be swallowed.
As Walden says, the Sweetone was designed for kids.
Michael Copeland designed the whistle head, in fact.
It’s just great for kids.
I like it less for adults, myself, namely.
A bit like bubble gum.
I would prefer a Jerry Freeman tweaked D generation,
which has a considerably more interesting tone, IMO.
The Generation pretty well defined the Irish whistle for, well,
generations. So that’s the sound that started it all.
The tweaked Gen is very playable, unlike the
untweaked Gen.
However the untweaked Sweetone
is indeed playable. Hardly bad, but
I’m not sure it has what makes whistle
so beautiful.
Marcus, mine is right in the middle of all of yours. I will keep the safety tips in mind. Thank you!
Thank you all for all the advice! With your words and the wonderful reviews and clips on the Wandering Whistler’s website, I have put in an order for a Freeman tweaked Generation and an untweaked Sweetone.
I listened to the various clips over and over again and liked the Generation the best, but I couldn’t take the one-in-a-hundred chance of getting a good one. Since I don’t have a local store and had to buy online, I decided a tweaked whistle was my best bet.
I had some trouble finding a website that sold both of them and had them in stock, but Elderly Instruments had them. The Sweetone cost over $2 more there (which is a 34% increase in price from the Whistle Shop), but it was worth it to have the combined shipping cost. I went 95 cents over budget with the shipping. It would have been nice to come in a lot under, but I think I’ll be much happier with the tweaked Gen and won’t need to get another whistle until I can get that low D.
It’s a great whistle though.
I’ve had a great time teaching mine on Sweetones. They’re even great to play as an adult.
).
I have to replace mine every half year or so. I guess I bite to hard.