buy a high whistle

hi…
how many whistles have you tried? in your opinion, what’s the best (price, sound quality, difficulty ecc…)?

…ah, another one question: what kind of whistle does Finnegan uses?

Thx!

Hello, death. If you’ve not already, check out http://www.chiffandfipple.com for some excellent whistle reviews.

Trying whistles is a lifetime journey. How many tried? Tough question. I have whistles all over the house.

Ordered a three whistle susato set this week and recieved it yesterday. Herself only grumped and ignored me for three hours. So she must have figured they weren’t too expensive.

Not like when I spent $150 on my Michale Burke. Very long silence!

I’m only just getting addicted so I’m a beginner. There’s a few whistles that have been around the house for ages - 3 or 4 Generations (D, C and Bflat) and a Feadog in D. The C Generation is OK, the D Generations are disappointing, but the Feadog (an old one) is lovely. I recently bought a Susato D and I like it, but it is very loud so I’m mostly practicing on the Feadog to spare the neighbours. Yesterday I ordered a Dixon Alto in A from Hobgoblin because I think it will give me a lower range of notes for playing in D (that’s my excuse anyway). I want to get a cheap whistle in E for playing in A but they seem hard to find.

I think Brian uses Overton. I have a dixons high D that I’m very happy with (but it’s quite quiet) and a couple of Generations.

Actually one of the Generations (brass with a green mouthpiece) is OK - just tried it again. Must give the other (blue) one the sandpaper and blu-tack treatment.

green mouth piece? that does’nt sound like a generation. Perhaps the body is but the fipple not….. The old Feadog were my favourite, I have a couple of oak, A dixon which I dont like, Susato are great. some generation.s…..

I have tried a few. The Sweetone by Clarke (est 1843) is a nice whistle, for a very reasonable price.

Don’t know who “Finnegan” is. Probably says something about me. ;>}

Main whistle is Overton high D. Perfect
I have a Shaw A. MMM not bad
I use a Black Diamond C will get an Overton soon
Generation Eb, good enough
Trimmed Generation for E, Ideal
I have a brand new Chieftan in high D, I prefer the Overton
also have the Black Diamond high D and a few other Generations lying around, they must breed and interbreed

“There’s a few whistles that have been around the house for ages - 3 or 4 Generations ”

Jeez, that is a long time…

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION THE SUSATO TOPS THEM ALL ,ITS LOUD AND IN TUNE IN ALL OCTAVES ,IVE SPENT HUNDREDS OF POUNDS ON ALL TYPES OF WHISTLES CLARKES GENERATIONS OVERTONE CHIEFTAIN AND EVEN COPELAND [ WHICH IS FOR SALE BY THE WAY } AND I ALWAYS GO BACK TO MY SUSATO WHETHER IT BE GIGS OR SESSIONS, THE SUSATO IS A GREAT WHISTLE AND WONT LET YOU DOWN ,BUT SAYING ALL THAT YOU WILL PROBABLY SPEND A FORTUNE JUST LIKE ME TO FIND THE PERFECT WHISTLE FOR YOU ,GOOD LUCK

PS [ SUSATO ]

I also mentioned D Generation - that’s pretty much how I feel!

Good on yer, Silas - you obviously like to be heard!

He’s shouting because he’s deaf… 😉

Either that or he’s from Devon and thinks we’re all foreigners…

A few whistles I’ve tried:

Syn - kind of cool because of the interchangable bodies, mine wasn’t terribly in tune so I got rid of it
Burke - I really like the aluminium narrow bore D, and when I needed to buy a whistle, I got that one
Oak - these are nice, low breath requirement, quieter
Clarke - ugh. good car whistles though. Not too loud, but not terribly in tune or pleasant-sounding.
Susato - I think they sound like recorders. Some people hate how they sound, others think they’re fantastic. They’re certainly loud.
Sindt - it’s like a really good cheap whistle, they’re nice instruments. I think they’re really good.
O’Riordan - fantastic, stupidly expensive now.
Thin Weasel - I’ve not played on the wooden ones, but I really like the water weasels. Hard to find as the maker recently passed away.
Rose - nice-looking, great sound, possibly too quiet

SINDT!!!!!!!!

reenactor--a couple of experienced players recommended the Clarke to me. Sure sounds better than my blue Acorn whistle, which has never even been in the house--I bought it, tried it, and left it in my car’s glove box (and promoted the brass Generation D). ;>}

If you create sort an embouchure by blowing “crooked” into a Susato, it sounds less like a recorder.

sort *of* (jeez, I’m typing as badly as llig, lately!)

The one range of whistles that are, in my opinion, far superior to any others are the Burke whistles, though a little expensive.

I’m very surprised to hear reenactor say that about clarkes. Admittedly I’ve only had one but it sounded really lovely an was in excellent order, not to mention easy to play, and most people I’ve heard mention them have said the same. I’d certainly recommend it a thousand times over a Generation -they’re not a bad sound if they work but I’ve had a few that were just junk.

I started learning a few years back on a clarke sweetone and it seems compared with what I’ve seen since to be the easiest to play.

Well, I wouldn’t even contemplate a Clarke’s, personal taste I suppose.

RichardB - short of a custom-made I don’t think you’ll find an E whistle easily.
Two suggestions; try modifying an Eb or F, by loosening the mouthpiece and re-positioning ( I recommend a cheap Generation as a first experiment ! ).
or; back here in the discussions there’s a link to a “making your own whistles” website, full of measurements and tips for every standard key. Try averaging the dimensions between the Eb and F, and see how you go.

Thanks Pete - I bought an Eb today with that very thought in mind, plus a Bb (Generations, under £10 in total!) However, my other plan was to try to learn a few tunes playing along with Mary Bergin’s Feadoga Stain cd which seems mostly to use flat keys (and is brilliant, by the way). For many of the tunes the Bb seems to fit nicely without any retuning, and the Eb on others. I’ll get another Eb to try and change it to E - perhaps I would need to remove the fipple and shorten the tube slightly. Does anyone know what Mary Bergin plays?

I can’t tell you which brand of whistle Mary was playing in 1979, when ‘Feadóga Stáin’ was recorded (and this was long before musicians would acknowledge manufacturers on their albums), but the liner notes reveal that she used whistles in Eb, Bb, F, D, C and G.

My favorite D whistle is the Generation I bought back in 1975. At the time I bought it because it was all that was available, but the recording that inspired me to take it up featured a well-worn Generation brass with red fipple on the cover. It was the 5th Chieftains recording. The whistle I bought back in 75 now looks just like the one that was on that cover with the label barely recognizable and a nice patina on the brass. If only I could make it sound like Paddy’s one I’d have come full circle. I was playing Women of Ireland on it with a friend that plays harp the other day and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up -- I’m getting closer.

I have an acorn and a sweetone. I have played them both against a tuner. They’re both pretty reasonably in tune. But the acorn sounds nicer than the sweetone. I like them both well enough, though.

The problem I think is that the fiddles tune too sharp. Then you don’t sound good no matter what you try.

Perhaps I’ve not played the right Clarke.

I was with Des Seery yesterday and tried some of his high D delrins. Sounded great. Clear tone, and good tuning, though they take a bit more wind then my Burke DASBT. €200 each.

As I’ve said on other threads I have Overtons and love them. Susato are pretty good but I would only ever gig with one if I was stuck. In hot countries or even on hot days here the can go very badly out of tune at outdoor gigs as they are plastic (mine was black which made it worse) . They are tunable but the further you tune away from concert pitch the poorer the tone.

Thanks everyone! I too have multitidinous whistles and the search goes on. I think I’ll pull out my susato and try her again, but I’m curious about the Overtons. How expensive, what are they made of, are they shrill or mellow?

Well, i was not recommending the clark however this made me consider them again; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H9aIrs3ZsI

play video

I think the sindt sounds like my kind of whistle.

my mistake, what whistle is she playing? anyone?

Lovely playing there. And a very nice whistle.
Here’s an Overton - playing a tricky whistle tune
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP7GH_tLQds

play video

Great band eh🙂 I used to have an Overton low G many years ago. But not encountered a high D…. yet.

I have a Chieftain. It’s good and it’s loud, but it takes quite a bit of breath. And a nice tone. A very good whistle, but nothing on an Overton.
And Mickray - THAT (bald guy) is Brian Finnegan. Now you know what the fuss is about.