I recently visited an online whistle shop (not TheWhistleShop.com) that directs those who are “serious about whistling” to visit the high end/professional whistle page. Now, I think this could be offensive to a serious ITM musician (which I really am not), but that isn’t my point. My point is this: the idea that someone who is “serious about whistling” should really buy a “professional” whistle is just silly. If someone prefers a high-end whistle, then that’s fine. It’s all about taste and preference. To my ears ITM sounds better on a Generation than on something 10 times the price; that is just my opinion. But the fact is that most of the real greats of ITM don’t play “professional” whistles.
Before I offend anyone: High-end whistles are just fine, if that’s what you prefer (and some of the real pros do), but the online shop I visited suggests otherwise. It suggests that to be a serious whistler, you need a high-end whistle. I think the website is unfortunately misleading to beginners who are often fooled into thinking that they need a high-end whistle to make good ITM. It just ain’t so.
Well… yeah. That’s what stores do, they convince you to buy things you may not otherwise have bought. I play Generations, myself, but I don’t think whatever shop this is is doing anything especially heinous. It’s just the nature of the beast, I suppose.
If it were any other instrument you wouldn’t be advised to buy a ‘professional’ standard instrument but you would be advised to select carefully, seek the advice of a good player and to avoid el cheapos. There is a pretty standard progression with guitars from ‘adequate beginner’ level through ‘intermediate’ to good enough for gigs. You would want to buy the best quality concertina you can afford if you are serious. There is such a thing as a concertina and guitar that is pretty much unplayable. It would be a false economy to buy one.
So why are whistles the only exception to this general approach? I don’t know. I know that great music can be played on cheap instruments. But somewhere, at the back of my mind, there is an insistent thought. Behind this attitude, buried too deeply for those who hold it to be aware of it, is the idea that whistles aren’t real instruments. They are toys, albeit toys that some people can play great music on.
I’ve been around here for quite a while and nobody has ever given me a convincing explanation of what is wrong with this thinking. If I’m wrong there must be something utterly distinctive to whistles that makes general principles of instrument purchase inapplicable. So, what is it?
But before you try to find the flaw in my reasoning, note what I am not saying. A certain kind of whistle does generally sound best to me for ITM: the Generation style of whistle. But there are medium priced Generation-style whistles—Sindt and Humphry—and I would be inclined to recommend them to beginners who can afford them.
I don’t hold the belief that whistles are toys. I do think that whistles are an exception to the general approach to purchasing an instrument. I doubt that any classical guitarist (to take a random example) would take the position that to sound like a true classical guitarist you should go for the beginner models. I think the pro classical guitarists by pro guitars because they really sound better in the hands of a pro.
Not so with whistles (in my opinion, of course). A Clarke of $10-$20 sounds more like the folks that I consider to be pros than another more expensive whistle would. Whistles are the exception because to many ITM enthusiasts the “el cheapo” sounds better than the high-end. I doubt a guitarist would say that about a guitar.
You’re agreeing that, if you are right—and lots of people around here think you are—then whistles must be an exception. I agree. I also think that the best whistlers can make a cheapo sound as good as any whistle. But I don’t really understand how this is possible and I’d like to hear explanations. Furthermore, I sound better on a Humphry or Sindt than I do on a Generation most of the time and I’d expect that of other intermediate players. I can overcome difficulties I have with some cheapos but I’d rather put my effort elsewhere. (I don’t find Clarke originals presenting me with problems but I do often find untweaked Gens a bit hard to control.)
As a retailer, let me point out one more possible motive - simple survival of the store. As a small and specialty retailer, it’s already hard enough to make a living. But when someone chooses a generation as their instrument, your profit is in the range of $5. With a high end whistle, it may be $30-$50 or more. With a guitar a beginner’s instrument is likely to net you $50 to $100 while a higher end instrument can net you $500-1000 or more.
Right or wrong, single orders which net you $5 are barely a break even proposal for a mail order outfit. I have nothing against cheap whistles nor the folks that choose them, but a low net profit does tend to bias a mail order retailer…
[I don’t deal in whistles btw - I sell something with an even smaller market share than ITM]
I don’t speak for professionals or makers, but the explanation I would give is that many (dare I say most? No, I better not) people think that “cheapos” like Clarke Originals and Generations just sound cooler than the expensive ones. I don’t think it’s that the pros make cheap whistles sound just as good as the rest; the cheap ones just sound better to many ears. By better I mean more suited ITM. Even listening to Clips and Snips I always think Trad tunes sound better with the Clarkes and the Generations.
I think this mindset probably comes from the fact that with most instruments, especially stringed instruments, more expensive often means better. This isn’t always the case, but I think it is a safe generalization. Whistles are different, true. Also, people have different opinions on which whistles sound good. About a year ago, I didn’t like the sound of Generations, but I have since grown to like them.
Dude, it’s a piece of cheap, extruded, brass/aluminum/plastic tubing with some holes drilled in.
If it makes you feel any better I’ll select the tubing from deep in the forests of the Carpathian mountains, carefully age it for 25 years, rotating regularly for even curing and then charge you $500 for it.
I think its just their way of selling whistles, because they need some kind of phase to catch peoples attention, to at least look and consider. I dont think that they are trying to affend anyone.
I think that in this case, dDave is probably right about the store trying to steer business toward items which are more profitable. Is it deceitful? Maybe, maybe not as it is an opinion of the one who wrote it as to whether or not a pro needs a professional (and more expensive) instrument. It could well be that they have not heard an inexpensive instrument that sounds good.
I make instruments for a living. Although I don’t make whistles, I am painfully aware of how little profit there is in a lower priced instrument. I have one instrument, a student dulcimer, which I have been making for about 10 years now. I first charged $99 and in 2003 raised the price all of a buck, to an even $100. It has reached the point of where due to higher costs, I am going to have to either raise the price or quit making them. That old saw about “loose a little on every job, but make it up in volume” doesn’t put bread on the table.
OTH, I have been keeping the price low so that I don’t chase people away into the arms of the cheapo imports, which are usually what we call DSO’s or Dulcimer Shaped Objects. I want there to be a good reliable instrument that anyone can afford to get started on, so this is in a way a pet project of mine. So I have been trying to figure out what that break point is so as to stay under it. An increase of $10 doesn’t even cover my increased costs, but having the price go up to $125 is as one person put it, a 25% increase that the buyer may not understand.
It is hard for builders who are trying to stay in the mid priced market.
Heh, exactly. It’s not too hard to make a good mouthpiece for a whistle. Plus they became popular with performers while still in their dirt-cheap incarnation, as opposed to really any other instrument out there, so that’s what people associate ‘em with, and that’s what people have learned to sound freakin’ good on.
Oh, there is definately an attitude of, “Well, if it costs more it must be better” that applies to whistles, along with just about everything else. It’s not always true, but a lot of people seem to think it.
You bring up a good point Ramzy. One of the great things about the whistle is that you don’t need to spend your life savings to make great music! I have a sneaking suspicion who the retailer in question is ! Being a “serious” traddy myself I wasn’t thinking along those lines when writing up the verbiage, just trying to organize whistles by category (hence the nature of the silly beast…) Seriously though, good point and I’ll see if I can’t change the verbiage up a bit…
See you’re from TN… I moved to Nashville there right after college and it’s where I met Deb (my wife). Great times! We make it out there from time to time to visit with friends and such…
If you were buying an oboe or a trumpet, spending more would almost certainly yield a better sounding instrument, for most applications, because the standard of sound has been established by the more expensive instruments. The standard of sound–our expectations-- for ITM whistles has been set by Generations. Many finer whistles do not meet these expectations.
You could make M&M’s out of finer chocolate and better shell materials, but it wouldn’t be an M&M.
Yep! I actually like Hersheys chocolate better than Godiva! But then again, I’m no “pro” chocolate eater! At least not until someone offers me money to eat chocolate!
You could say the same kind of thing about drums and flutes. But nobody with even the tiniest bit of knowledge of music would say it.
Aside from the bluster, the content of this explanation is that the peculiar magic of the whistle lies in its primal simplicity. But that is obviously true of drums too, but materials and construction skill are vital to producing good drums.
So, this is not such a good answer, at least not until you can explain why whistles are different to drums. It might help if you stopped thinking that the answer must be obvious.
! Being a “serious” traddy myself I wasn’t thinking along those lines when writing up the verbiage, just trying to organize whistles by category (hence the nature of the silly beast…) Seriously though, good point and I’ll see if I can’t change the verbiage up a bit…