While trying to figure the whole screaming high note problem I wrote about in the Ouch, high notes are killing me thread, I asked my friend Larry (who had gotten me into this mess by giving me an old Perri) if I could try some of his other whistles. I wanted to check and see if any made it to the octave without getting too loud. He’s a musician, somewhat of a collector and loves cheap stuff, so I shouldn’t have been surprised by the number of whistles he loaned me. These are all from the late 80s, early nineties except for my VSB Susato, LBW, C Sweetone and Jubilee PVC low D serving as display rest..
The old timers are various keys of Gens, Feadog, old Susato (with wooden plug), a Clarke in C, and a couple of no namers.
When I returned the whistles and mentioned that was going to post a picture, he pulled out the rest of his collection.
The top whistle is showing the bottom cut sound hole (finger holes are on the other side).
Finally, a few more regular ones. His nicely decorated Perri on top of a James Galway signature model and a little G Generation on bottom.
I had a boat load of fun trying all these out, my thanks to Larry.
Didn’t notice that sig. I just sold my Cremona (Japanese) 3/4 a couple of weeks ago. We bought it for my wife in Japan in about 1979, and I finally resigned myself to the fact that she wan’t going to play it. Actually, I played it in a Washington (state) band in 1980-81.
Even have a picture of it on the Web. Isn’t this a good-lookin’ crew? (And don’t I have the prettiest smile–and the best haircut–of the lot?)
Of the metal tube/plastic top bunch, I liked the Feadog and the Galway signature since they both have a very even sound going lower to upper octave (upper octave retains a full sound). Larry loves Gens (as you can tell), but of the bunch, I found only the Bb to my liking, and I really love it. Big bottom, sweet breathy top.
The big surprise for me was how much I liked the whistles with wooden plugs. The Clarke, the wooden plugged Susato and the no-name tin all had different sounds, but I liked all of them. Definitely will have to explore that type.
Well, you should definitely check out the link in my sig. Good, knowledgeable folks. I’ve learned a lot in those forums.
Bass is my primary instrument and I’ve found the whistle to be a great way to get out of that “box”. Let’s me look at, play and feel music from a different perspective.
Ah, the joy of youth. And yeah, nice haircut, is that a flat top or a slick top?
And yeah, nice haircut, is that a flat top or a slick top? 