Hi, first of all, excuse my english. French is my first language…
I’m a recoder player and I discovered tinwhistle 2 years ago. unfortunaltely, the only whistles I can find here, in Montreal, are TOYS! It doesn’t play well (very «airy») and it is not tunable.
I love to play traditionnal Quebec music (which is made from irish and french music). I also play irish music with my soprano recorder but… it is not the same.
A friend of mine is going to Ireland soon, I want to ask him to buy a whistle for me. I want to pay around 20-25$ (US). I was thinking about Clare’s (in D). What do you think? Is it better to buy plastic ou metal? Help me please!
Thank you very much!
Gen
Aïe, aïe, aïe.
Oh-là-là.
First post, first sentence and:
- Native French speaking
- Naming the devil’s instrument, the Very One You Shan’t Name (re****er)
T’es mal barré, mon pote… 
Well… could you name these “toys”?
I may be totally uninspired as usual, else could be that what you call excessively airy (here we say “breathy”) maybe just a case of adapting from the re©ø®∂è® sound to… the whistle.
Now, maybe you also found a dealer who stocks only “original” Clarkes and/or untweaked Shaws.
Cheap whistles can be much improved (“tweaked”), leaving it to a specialist in the case of the above mentioned models.
Once they got perfectly tuned and tweaked, then after a few months you regret how they sounded before…
All-plastic whistles may give you a “cleaner” sound, but then some here will call it “re$0011001000101er” (*) sound…
Bref, patiente, traîne dans le coin, et écoute les trente-six avis diamétralement contraires qui vont suivre
And, of course, read the Main Site, esp.
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/inexp.html
and
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/Expens.html
- Moldavian Ascii, Janko keyboard, 7.5 bits encoding
Go to www.thewhistleshop.com, look under inexpensive whistles, and order one of each, lol. Seriously, the best cheap whistles I’ve gotten from there are a clarke original (which I tweaked a bit to cut down air), clarke sweetone, a Walton’s Mellow D, an Oak D, and a Gen C and F. There are several “step up” whistles that are usually superiour to the cheapos, but still don’t cost much.
Hi Gen,
There are many in that price range. I just bought an Oak brass D, which is working out well. Also Shaws are very good once there are “tweaked” by Jerry Freeman (can be found here on many postings), he sells them already tweaked in the mid $30.00’s. It’s all very subjective to one’s taste. Pure tone, breathy, woody, whatever. The D key is the most used in ITM. Do some homework and brows this BB. It’s loaded with valuable information about like’s and dislikes based on actual reviews. No one can “tell you” what you will like. You have to pay your dues and try some out. Welcome to the WhOA disorder and welcome to this board.
You can get a decent Sausato for $25 American.
Remember american readers: we here in the Great White North suffer from the exchange rate and taxes. A simple $5 whistle there is at least $10 here.
Since your friend is going to Ireland anyway, have him/her get a Walton’s Mello D and a Clare, both for the money you’re talking about.
Blackhawk said it. I love my Nickel Clare D one piece. The Walton Mellow D is also an excellent choice. I have an Oak D on order that is supposed to arrive Wednesday. I hope I like it as well as I do my Clare. Listen to some of the recordings by people on this board to hear what they sound like.
Keep whistling
Ron
You’re English is a lot better than my French…
but you as whether plastic or metal is better, and some of us persist in saying WOOD. Okay, there aren’t many whistles in your range that are wooden, but keep it in mind.
I second the suggestion that you try something that’s been tweaked by Jerry Freeman. You might try the Generation that he offers which I am rather fond of.
Welcome to the board.
Oh, and the toys that you mention are probably very servicable instruments. What kind are they? Sweetone and Meg? Clarke? The only ones I would say are flat out crap are Coopermans, which are meant to be toys.
The art of the tin whistle includes being able to make a toy sound like a real instrument 
That said, I second the advice to get a few cheapos and find out what you like. If you dislike breathy whistles, a Clarke original or Shaw, even a tweaked one, might not be what you are looking for.
Edited to add:
You are lucky to have a very knowledgeable whistler (and forum member) in Montreal, who also wrote a terrific online guide at http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/. Also check out http://www.siamsa.org/, though some of the people whose names I recognize in the teacher list may be willing to tell you more about it.
Have a lot of fun
Sonja
Oak. Good place to start. Nice tone. Not too loud for practice at home. Fairly well in tune with itself. A cut above the other low cost whistles.
I agree about the Oak d whistle. Very affordable and wonderful tone. No matter how many different whistles I buy (WHOA) 
…I still go back to the Oak most often.
stephen 
Hello Zubivka!
First post, first sentence and:
- Native French speaking
What about that? Shouldn’t I be proud of it? I am!
- Naming the devil’s instrument, the Very One You Shan’t Name (re****er)
Should I understand that whistle players don’t like recorders (I don’t care to name it, I am already damned…)? Why not? I agree that playing irish music with a recorder is not the best, but I love playing french and Québécoise music with it. Also, the alto recorder is great in songs…
Well… could you name these “toys”?
I have un Clark, tin and wood. But I think it had a transportation problem between England and Canada (problems between these two countries are frequent, not only in music) because the sound is very bad. There is almost no sound at all. Just air (or breath) I have another Clark, tin and plastic qui sonne très faux! Not tuned at all!
The problem is that, at that stupid store where I bought them, you cannot try the instrument before you buy it. Problem…
I may be totally uninspired as usual, else could be that what you call excessively airy (here we say “breathy”) maybe just a case of adapting from the re©ø®∂è® sound to… the whistle.
I know that whistle sound has nothing to do with recorder’s but, at least, there should be a sound!!! Not just air (or breath). And I love whistle’s sound. Espacially when it is played by Joannie Madden. I found a few irish CD from her and she is great!
Thank you very much for these advices. And be nice with recorders, they’ll be nice with you…
Gen
Gen - check your private messages.
Susan
Clarke is my favorite whistle and I have like 15 of them lying around in various places..
I usually adjust mine a little. I look down the blowhole and sight along the wood. The center of the metal of the little dimple in the blade should be centered in your sight. If not, take something thin enough to slip in the airway and raise it if needed or use some tool to press down on it until it is adjusted.
It should now play even though it may take a bit of air and sound breathy. Adjust up or down slightly if needed to play both octaves cleanly.
To decrease the breathiness, use some light weight hammer and tap the metal over the airway downword toward the wood. The end of the airway’s exit (the area closest to the blade) should be closer to the wood and have a flatter arch. Adjust these two things back and forth and you will end up with a whistle you will love.
A little cinnamon oil on the end of the wood helps with the taste of a new whistle.
Joannie Madden is known to have the magical ability to pick out good Generations and I believe she picked out the whistle Paddy Maloney currently plays. When I saw her last, she played a Sindt whistle, though.
I think the Clare brass whistle to be top notch for the inexpensive whistles. Plays almost consistently better than other whistles( I’ve not found a bad one yet) They’re recommended at the Whistle Shop as a good place to start because of their consistency.
Good Luck,
Jon Harl
hello!
Thank you very much for these advices. I didn’t dare to touch the whistles. I was afraid of making things worst! But I will try that tonignt, for sure. It was very nice of you to help me!
Thank you!
gen