Well, I’m sure Mr. Spock would tell us that chances we disagree 100% of the time over a long period of time are very, very slim 
Thomas, yer crazy man:
Quote:
- A larger than average voicing window
- A narrow windway that produces backpressure
- A larger than average “metal” body
- Large toneholes.
Unquote
Greenwood whistles are loud:
1: small window
2: bigger than average windway
3: larger than average “wooden” body
4: OK, the toneholes are bigger than some
My loudest whistle is a brass Chieftain D. It can be blown as loudly as you like without breaking the octave. A conscious effort must be made to get the second octave, involving changing the shape of the mouth cavity. Its simply impossible to play softly due its pressure requirements.
The quietest whistle I have is a Dixon D. You don’t blow into it, but rather breathe into it. Any attempt at more volume breaks the octave, a conscious effort must be made to play in the lower octave, as it plays in the second octave with ‘normal’ pressure.
Oddly enough, these two totally opposite whistles are my favorites. The Dixon for working out a tune, and the Chieftain for letting 'er rip once I have it down.
The rest of my whistles (Gens, Clare, Waltons, Oaks ect.) fall somewhere between these two. Can’t comment on ‘high end’ whistles as I’ve never tried any.
Where do the ‘high end’ (high price!) wooden whistles fall in this spectrum (especially Burke and Thin Weasel)?
In my experience, whistles cut through, even if you, the player, can’t tell. They are in a much higher pitch than any other instrument in an Irish session or band, for that matter. What is the situation in which you feel the need to be loud? Is it your bandmates who can’t hear you? That’s one thing, but, honestly, I find it obnoxious to have a really loud whistle in a session. - Kate Dowling
Volume seems to me to be dependant on the angle of the blade.
If you want to quiet a whistle then add some plastecine to the top of the blade…
The more vertical you get the blade the quieter the whistle. The one without the plastecine is rather loud, the one with is incredibly quiet.
Whitmores:
Your “greenwood” has a large body that induces free aircolmn flow at low breath pressure (they body doesn’t have to be metal) and the large windway increases velocity in the voicing. You already mentioned the larger toneholes.
I was giving “general best bet” choices.
Toots:
It is the size of the voicing window that controls the loudness(along with other factors). The angle of the blade controls the oscillations and their stability. A steep “Recorder” angle is more pitch stable with varying breath pressure and a “Tabor Pipe” shallow angle is less stable for fast register switching and pitch bending techniques.
Eric,
Just something to keep in mind. When considering another whistle, don’t go overboard on volume and get something that will dominate everything. Don’t forget that what others are hearing is always louder than what you’re hearing as the player. Even what seems like a “quiet” whistle to you can be heard by others in a session. And when playing with other musicians, you usually want good balance without someone dominating. One of the whistle players in our sessions of about ten musicians breaks out his Sweetone once in a while, and it has plenty of volume to blend in nicely. We can all hear him just fine. I do a lot of sessions, gigs, etc with my band, and from my experience, no instrument should dominate a session or group event, unless you’re prepared to be asked to leave. Whistles should blend, enhance, and not dominate unless it’s a solo section when the other instruments back off. I’ve learned from several excellent veteran session players that if a whistle player can hear himself/herself in a small to moderate session, they’re probably too loud. And I’ve found this to be true. You won’t always hear yourself, but everyone else will. Whistles tend to cut and project more than you think. I’ve been in many sessions where I could barely hear what I was playing, and when I’d mention it to others in the session, they’d all say, “I could hear you very clearly. It sounded great.” Whatever you do, don’t dominate the overall balance. And this will mean not being able to hear yourself clearly on occasion. If you do play a whistle that you can hear clearly over the other instruments (as the player), you’d better know the tunes well, and be an excellent player, because that’s about all everyone else will hear. The first time I tried my Sweetheart Pro D in session (an extremely loud whistle), it was obvious that it was very loud and dominating. I could tell from the shocked stares and snide comments, and the fact that all I could hear was the Pro D. So I immediately switched back to my favorite session weapons…Burke narrow bore aluminum and brass blacktip Ds, or my Sindt. Plenty of volume and cutting power for a nice blend with other instruments without dominating. I really like the Burke narrow bores. For tunes in C or Dm, I use a Burke composite C. Wonderful whistle.
DC
SlipJig Celtic Band
Hi Thomas
On that whistle i haven’t changed the size of the window, just the angle of blade. I started less steep and increased it gradually, the steeper i made it the quieter it became. I did try to go past the vertical but it just screwed up the sound completely.
Admittedly it’s not as stable in the lower octave, and it will go into the second octave with hardly any push, but it is very stable up there.
?!
So why doesn’t your maths apply to your statement like it does mine?
Several other tricks for making a louder whistle quite:
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Narrow the windway by inserting a paper match (flamable tip removed) or toothpick into the airway, sliding it to either as far left or as far right as possible. For windways shaped like a Clarke, you can insert the match from the end you blow into. For really narrow or curved windways, insert from the other end. See The Whistleshop web site for instructions on making a “muffler”.
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Cover part of the windway with electrician’s tape. Covering more of the hole makes the whistle whisper, less of the hole keeps it louder. I have experimented with covering the hole length-wise or perpendicular, both work depending on the whistle.
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For a super quite whistle, rest the whistle just under your lower lip and blow into the windway rather than into the end of the mouth piece.