Why I prefer cheap whistles

Whistle
1

A decent bloke here on C&F sent me some high end whistles to try. The subject of this message says it all. Admittedly I have never played a high end wooden whistle. But I have played a variety of plastic and metal high enders and very high enders. He has saved me from spending inordinate amounts of money. Why do I perfer cheapies?
A: I can tweak a $7 whistle to where it sounds ALMOST as good as a $90 one.
B: You have all that extra fun doing the tweaking
C: The whistle that you work on yourself becomes loved, like family.
D: No buyers remorse. If you don’t like the final product you can say: “I had hours of fun for the price of a six pack.” Then give it away…more fun.

There is a difference, yes. But it’s not worth the money IMHO. I have a tweaked Acorn that I wouldn’t exchange for any whistle…well…maybe a Rose.

A big 000XXX to all C&F’rs.

[ This Message was edited by: Whitmores75087 on 2002-10-29 19:22 ]

2

Hey, I make the blurdy things, and I still consider my D Clarke Black With Ugly Gold Diamonds part of my family! :slight_smile:
Cheers,
Bill Whedon

3

A: I can tweak a $7 whistle to where it sounds ALMOST as good as a $90 one.

I’m interested in what methods you have used successfully to improve your “cheapie” whistles. Any tips?

Whilst not totally agreeing with your opinion, I’ll just say that I think that all good whistles have their place.

4

Well, your worship, you must be new around here. If you run a search of the P/Structural Whistle Forum you should find lots of stuff on tweaking cheapies. The most basic being the blue sticky tack stuffed into the cavity behind the window of the mouthpiece. The second is trimming, sharpening, dulling, or replacing the blade that cuts the air. (I usually end up replacing the blade with tiny pieces from plastic drink bottles, but the conventional wisdom calls for guitar picks). And in some cases (notably the Walton’s Mellow D) it is necessary to partially block the end of the barrel by sticking a wad of sticky tack into the end. This will flatten the bell note (D in this case). It is notoriously sharp on this brand of whistle, which is one of my favorite brands.

5

Reasons I like cheap whistles:

  1. Good excuse for having 5 whistles in the key of D (Gen, Sweetone, LBW, Feadog, Oak) and still looking for more (WhOA).

  2. Easy guitar keys are the same as easy whistle keys (D, G), and you can tune your guitar to your whistle.

  3. Full set of Gens cover nearly every key your guitarist OR keyboardist friend plays.

6

Reasons I DON’T like cheapies:

…!!?#…Oh what the hell! Haven’t we covered this subject innumerable times?

Nick
(Champion of VERY high end Rose whistles)

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On 2002-10-30 06:02, nickt wrote:
Reasons I DON’T like cheapies:

…!!?#…Oh what the hell! Haven’t we covered this subject innumerable times?

Nick
(Champion of VERY high end Rose whistles)

Let’s cover it one more time (or a hundred). I like cheap whistles because it’s how the Irish learn to play. It’s an Irish thing.

8

Cheapies are the way to go. Especially for a D whistle. Why pay more for something that’s really not going to sound any better? For a while I thought that one day I would pick up the perfect whistle and it would be so easy to play. It would make playing easy and effortless. Well, after much buying and trying I came to the conclusion that no such animal exists, and I liked my tweaked Clark and Gens as much or better than any of the others.

Whitmores; don’t bother with the Rose. It’s a great whistle, but nothing overly special. (besides of course its great looks)

I think that you might want at least one loud expensive D whistle just to be heard in a group (or hear yourself). For that I would recommend a Copeland.

9

A whistle like any tool is only as good as it users. The ability to play a cheep whistle well may say more about the ability of the player rather than the whistle itself.
The ability to recognize and play around flaws in a particular instrument are the signs of a good musician and just means that the rest of us need more practice to achieve that level of playing.

10

I’m with Nick on this one! You find me a cheapie that sounds better or even as good as a Rose, I’ll let you stay at my ocean front property that I have here in Colorado for a whole week!

He he…

11

Well, I’m here to say that both cheap and “high-end” instruments appeal to me. One of the wonderful things about the whistle is its affordability…it’s truly an instrument for the masses. At the same time, there’s something special about owning and playing a fine, hand-crafted instrument…something that someone has carefully labored over and lovingly fashioned…something that didn’t just roll off the assembly line and get thrown out there on the market to sink or swim, regardless of whatever problems it might have.

Yes, a good player should be able to accommodate his instrument’s shortcomings to at least some extent, but I wouldn’t say that’s a good reason for only playing instruments with serious shortcomings! It’s equally true that a really fine instrument will showcase and enhance a good player’s abilities, allowing room for expression and creativity that may well be stifled by the needs of “babying” a poorly designed instrument. A good pianist can get amazing music out of a cheap spinet, but is that any reason to suggest he should never play a Steinway grand?

Redwolf

12

I don’t see many people espousing the wonders of cheap flutes (with the exception of Olwell Bamboo Flutes)…

I like playing a nice looking/feeling wooden/metal whistle for the same reason people play nice wooden flutes.

I’m kinda the opposite, if I can find a beautiful wooden whistle that sounds and plays as well as some of my favorite cheap whistles (and is at least a bit louder), then that’s what I want.

-brett

13

Well, I haven’t been playing long so take this for whatever it’s worth but it seems to me that there is a fundamental difference between a tin whistle and just about any other instrument that I can think of, tin whistles started as cheapies. Some of the fine craftsment like Copeland and Burke as well as others have refined the cheap instrument that the tin whistle started as to make it a better technical instrument but the cheap clarke and Generation made the tin whistle a popular instrument to begin with. I haven’t played anything high end yet but I’ve heard a few and they do sound really great however I still like the sound of a Clark original and I heard an Oak last night that sounded fantastic (I’m thinking of getting one now) For me, the reality of the matter is that I don’t know if a $400 Copeland would give me any more enjoyment at this point than a $10 Clarke. I’m sure it’s a fine instrument well suited to even the finest concert halls but I’m playing in a one bedroom apartment for myself and my birds right now (sometimes for my wife too) so I don’t think they mind that I’m using a cheapie :slight_smile: The Irish flute however, from what I’ve read, started with older concert flutes that became available more inexpensively when the Bohem system flutes came out so they were never really cheapies to begin with. So a cheaper flute is a step down from the traditional Irish flute whereas a cheapie tin whistle is where the tradition started so an expensive tin whistle is not as authentic. Not that they don’t sound beautiful, just not authentic. Possibly authentic is not the word I’m looking for but I can’t think of a better one right now. These are all my opinions though and I’m sure everyone has theirs as well. As long as you are happy with what you have, then all is right with the world :slight_smile: Have fun!

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On 2002-10-30 11:00, McChastain wrote:
I’ll let you stay at my ocean front property that I have here in Colorado for a whole week!

Oh! California finally had the big quake?!

John :wink:

15

Every whistle I own, every whistle I’ve played, has been a different instrument, and had a different personality from every other.

That said, these days some of my favorite whistles are inexpensive ones, but part of that is a function of where they are usually played: at home, in an apartment, where a loud whistle is not frequently desirable.

I love Oak, Acorn, Generation (good ones, anyway), Clarke, and Feadog (at least after it’s tweaked) whistles for playing at home.

For playing with others, or in public, I want a louder, more projective whistle, and that’s when my Susatos come out, my Cronnolly, and my Sweet whistles. For this kind of playing, the more quiet whistles (which tend to also be the cheapies) just don’t work for me.

There are a couple of whistles I have that deserve special mention because they do “double duty,” and work pretty well for both: a tweaked Walton Mello-D and a Dixon. Both have good projection and volume, but neither is overpowering in my small apartment. But when I play in large venues where there is no available sound system (like playing over lunch hour in the hospital cafeteria, which is something I try to do when I can), neither of these whistles have quite the volume. For that, you need a Susato or the Cronnolly.

That’s my experiences, your mileage may vary. :slight_smile:

Best,

–James
http://www.flutesite.com

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On 2002-10-30 10:19, dlambert wrote:
Cheapies are the way to go. Especially for a D whistle. Why pay more for something that’s really not going to sound any better?

Whitmores; don’t bother with the Rose. It’s a great whistle, but nothing overly special. (besides of course its great looks)

The Rose is SO much better to feel, to play, to look at (less important) and to listen to; so much better in fact that I donated all my cheapies to the local charity store.

I guess we’ll continue to go round in circles with this one.

BTW, whoever said it - yes, the Irish learn on cheapies, but when they get the chance they buy Roses, et al.

17

A funny thing happened in my whistle case the other day…

I have one of Michael Burkes whistle roll cases that will hold 8 whistles. I keep my best whistles in it, while the others live in a desk drawer. It contains Burkes, Sindts, a Busman, a brass Chieftain and a rotating cast of a couple of others (my Overton won’t fit). Anyway, I opened it up a few days ago and found my Clare 2 piece??? Wait a sec, this whistle is supposed to be in the glove compartment of my truck…how’d it get in here next to my Busman??? Freaky.

The mystery may never be solved, but my Clare now lives in my whistle case.

18

I prefer the cheapies.

Because I can afford them.

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..you should find lots of stuff on tweaking cheapies

Sorry, I should have been more specific – I meant your own experiences, with specific whistles you own, rather than generic fixes, which can be found elsewhere.

Peeplj, my experience tallies with yours. I choose to play a specific whistle (cheap or otherwise) to suit its personality, my mood, where I’m playing, the tune, etc. To dismiss expensive whistles, based on costs and playability alone, is to denigrate the art and craftsmanship that has gone into them. (It would also be a facile argument)

On a personal note, as a watchmaker, it is impossible to justify the prices of mechanical watches, based on their performance alone. One must look at the intrinsic value of the aesthetic, rather than cold logic. (In addition to my being out of work!)

[ This Message was edited by: jtbishop on 2002-10-30 13:39 ]

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On 2002-10-30 13:28, Michael Sullivan wrote:
I prefer the cheapies.

Because I can afford them.

Me too, honesty is the best policy :slight_smile:
-Jim