Apologies for the lateness of this. I’m last on the list, and Charlie very kindly offered me extra time since these whistles arrived at a very hectic time for me. It’s not often you get to compare four whistles from the same maker, I’m really grateful for the opportunity - especially considering the stylistic range Charlie offers.
For a very reasonable price, Charlie offers unique, well crafted whistles with lots of character. I’m a philistine when it comes to materials, and I don’t have much to much to say about the looks and construction of these, except the woods are gorgeous, and I like that the finish on them is minimal - there’s not much between your fingers and the wood. I don’t know if that effects the tone, but they sound very woody too.
I’m finding the whistles on this tour to be quite different from each other in terms of tone and range. One in each key was either fabulous in the high or low range, and not nearly as good the other way 'round. In both keys those with the clearer more focused tone were better low and those with the softer tone were better high, so therefore more useful that way on both ends. Charlie always takes the trouble to explain the tonal uniqueness of each whistle in his posts on C&F. If his description for a particular whistle sounds appealing, I say try it, you’ll probably like it.
I applaud Charlie for making C whistles with a larger diameter than his D’s, which gives them a fuller, richer, (and possibly breathier?) tone. So many makers offer C in the same width as D, which I find hugely disappointing, it usually means the low notes suffer. Charlie’s dogwood/brass C is the clearer, more focused of the two C’s, and has a very solid bottom range that’s fairly well in balance with the high range, no mean feat, although the low D note is slightly weaker than I’d like (as is the low XXXXXO note on most whistles) so not my ultimate D minor axe (I’m a D minor freak), but very nice. The high octave is quite usable up to XOOOOO although XXXOOO is kind of harsh and stands out a bit too much. The dogwood/aluminum C is a bit too weak to be useful on the lowest two notes, but the upper octave soars all the way up to a very serviceable 3rd octave C that’s not too loud and well in tune! It’s softer than the brass C and better suited for this sort of thing.
Both Cs have a have a soft, woody, breathy sort of tone, but are still fairly loud whistles with a strong presence, which I find very nice. As Charlie explained these are works in progress and he’s offered apologies for the high air requirement. I’d say these are not bad that way - a bit more air efficiency would be welcome, although it would probably bring down the volume; I like the volume these are at and I’d consider them session whistles. Of larger concern for me is tuning these to concert pitch. With the tuning slide pushed all the way in both of these are almost a semitone high. I have to pull both of these out further than I’d like to get to concert pitch and this effects the tuning and playability (negatively for the brass but positively for the aluminum). Then again I put a lot of air into whistles, so this might be less true for some of you. C’s are a new adventure for Charlie and he hopes to improve them. I hope the above is helpful, I really like where he’s going.
The D’s are lovely whistles. Charlie’s got the backpressure just right for my liking - about medium - you can hold out long notes with ease, but also push them hard, tongue them without fear of the note breaking, and back off if you want to play quietly; they have a nice wide dynamic range. They’re very responsive to trills and ornaments, and handle half holing exceptionally well - with almost no perceptible volume drop (on any note!) which is unusual. The C’s are also not too bad with most of the above, but the D’s are better (naturally, he’s been working on them longer).
The plum D is quietish but not too quiet, with a soft tone - in both ways similar to my Freeman Mellow Dog, ok a wee bit softer. It has a great high range right on up to the 3rd octave D, although that note and the C# are a teensy bit harsh, but better than many, well in tune and useful. The lowest two notes are a bit too quiet but still clear and useful - overall quite a good range. If you wanted something that sings in the high range without blasting out your eardrums this would be the item. The olivewood D is much louder (not quite as loud as my Susato, but getting there) and has a very clear, focused tone I imagine would cut through almost anything and still sound great - that is, in the low octave - which is truly impressive - not many whistle have such a strong, clear, responsive low range. I’m finding it’s useful up to the second octave G, then it suddenly becomes very harsh and too loud for me. That being said it’s my favorite of the bunch. For playing tunes within the low range (which I frequently do, medieval music in E minor for example) it’s killer.
Having experienced the range of Charlie’s unique offerings I intend to keep an eye on his postings. Maybe I’ll find that… just right, one of a kind, whistle. Maybe you will too.