i think it was only a matter of time before the skilled carpenter turned whistlesmith did it - but the wait has been worth it! Mack is now producing whistles in wood. i am the proud owner a black walnut low g that is the best whistle i own and one of the best i’ve ever played.
mack has two styles - one with his black top and the other with a wooden fipple. i have played both and both are excellent. the black top is smooth and lends itself to a wide variety of styles and sounds. the wooden whistle has a lot of back pressure - which has taken me awhile to get use to, but now that i’m getting the hang of it, it lends itself to great expression.
but the best thing about the whistle is its voice. the lower register is full. some whistles may have a nice low sound - but it doesn’t fill the air. this whistle produces a full bell note. and its upper register is sweet without a hint of shrillness. mack’s whistles have always been known as producing a clear tone - again, i would say, this whistle has just a hint of raspiness to give it the perfect mixture of a complex voice.
i have never been a fan of whistle in the key of g - that is until i played macks…can’t really put my finger on why i didn’t care for this key - perhaps the voice seemed lacking depth - but mack’s version is quite nice.
and the black walnut looks beautiful…
i wish i could say something bad about this whistle to make the review sound more objective (well i guess i did with the backpressure comment) but i’m hard pressed to find anything.
More pictures at http://mackhooverwhistles.com/. Enter Mack’s site and then click on “Announcements” on the left menu bar. Scroll down the Announcements page to see a fair variety of these near the bottom of that page.
What wait? I have had a wooden Hoover whistle for quite some time now. This is Mac’s picture, but I own that whistle. It is made of Redwood and sounds fantastic.
“What wait? confused I have had a wooden Hoover whistle for quite some time now.”
To clear up the confusion:
The redwood high D’s (I made ten about three years ago) were an experiment that never really came to fruition. I have had heard that some are still in tact (thanks IDAwHOa), but I am not making D’s, just low G’s.
I have had a wooden Hoover whistle for quite some time now. This is Mac’s picture, but I own that whistle. It is made of Redwood and sounds fantastic.
