I’m VERY happy today. I spoke to Pat O’Riordan on the phone last night and he has agreed to make a whistle for me I’ve always wanted an O’Riordan but they’ve been selling for silly money on ebay for the last couple of years.
Anyway, I am selling one of my other whistles to make way for the new one. It’s an Abell high D made from African Blackwood with sterling silver fittings. It’s absolutely immaculate as I’ve always considered it to be too nice to use as an everyday whistle. It’s less than a year old and it’s honestly only been played a handful of times.
If anyone is interested let me know and I’ll post some pics.
Good point Tommy. I actually do have another whistle to sell but only if no one wants to buy the Abell. If nothing happens over the next week or so on the Abell I’ll post details.
That is a very good question. You might get it and not like it at all. Just because something is very popular or highly sot after, doesn’t mean that you will like it either. I heard so much about a Rose whistle, and after I got one I wasn’t crazy about it at all. O’Riordan is one of my favorite whistles, but I would stick with the Abell until you play the O’Riordan.
Just curious - How do O’Riordan’s (say high D or C) compare (general playing characteristics) to some of the more popular designer whistles, such as Burkes/Sindts. (Yes, I know this is bit unspecific…) I don’t figure I’ll ever get a chance to play one, so was just wondering.
All are pure in tone and easy playing but in my experience with an O’Riordan high D owned by the other whistle player in our band who has several O’Riordans, both Burkes and Sindts have stronger bell notes and low end. The O’Riordan has a very, very touchy low end and especially the bell note that jumps the octave way too easily that Pat wasn’t able to improve after returning it twice. I played his O’Riordan C a few times and it’s nice, but my favorite O’Riordan is the A. Lovely whistle.
Sorry just noticed this post now. Yes I have played an O’Riordain (albeit briefly) and I have heard his whistles played at a few sessions here in Dublin too.
Yeah I can’t wait for it to arrive to be honest. I’m confident it will live up to my expectations. When I spoke to Pat he said that he is busy preparing for some sort of festival or fair over there in The States that’s happening in September. I sent him an e-mail to confirm the order and he wrote back to say he’ll be in contact again after the fair. I’m hoping to have the whistle before the end of the year but I’m happy for Pat to take as long as he needs to make it so basically, whenever he says it’s ready will be fine with me.
Don’t know that it matters, but which whistle is Pat making for you, e.g., an anodized aluminum Traveler or wood? I have the Travelers in D/C, Bflat/A, G, D. The D/C fit that description of very pure with good volume (and balance), but I never noted that the bell note was weak or jumped easily. The low D is the 3-piece I believe of the type he originally made for Joannie Madden and it’s quite nice although not my favorite low D.
I save best for last as Pat has IMO mastered the middle range - simply the best from Bflat to G - there the pureness gets dipped in honey somehow.
All of the ones I mentioned my band mate has are anodized alum. Overall, I’m amazed by the consistency high end makers maintain but not every whistle every high end maker puts out is going to be perfect and there will be a rogue here and there. Unfortunately, my friend’s O’Riordan high D is one of those…and one that Pat has been unable to fix in two attempts. So it sits unplayed.
A wooden high D. Preferably in blackwood and nickel but if he has problem sourcing either the blackwood or nickel I told him that I wouldn’t mind kingwood and brass.
Well I finally took delivery of a brand new O’Riordan high D in Blackwood and Nickel. I’ve had it for about a week now and I can’t quite describe how much I love this thing. Firstly it’s big. It’s like a proper man size whistle. Check out the pics below beside a Sindt high D (which is for sale by the way - I will clean the inside before I sell it too )
Secondly, it’s incredily well made. The slide is smooth and takes only a little effort to move which I like a lot. Other tunable whistles I’ve owned have had very stiff tuning slides which always annoyed me. Actually I have to say, the cratsmanship throughout the entire whistle is really incredible. This thing was made by a man with incrdible attention to detail. Thirdly, it’s sooooo easy to play. It slips between octaves so easily and beautifully. Even with my ham fisted playing I can sound half decent with this thing.
I have to confess that I bought this half out of curiosity and half as a possible investment (we’ve all seen these things sell for crazy money in the not so distant past) but now having owned one for a week, I truly understand why people would be willing to pay so much for one of these things. This is one whistle that you definitely won’t ever be seeing in the For Sale section!!
I had the rare treat to try one at the session in Clear Lake, TX a few months ago. It looked like it was made of delrin and silver, but it might have been blackwood. It had that sort of oily feel of acetyl plastic. The place was pretty dark. The whistle was perfectly balanced and had a “singing” quality that I liked very much. It was medium loud and pure sounding. Very little chiff. Air requirements were low and you had to blow gently to make it come out right. It was easy to overblow the instrument. Overall, the workmanship was outstanding, as one would expect.
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