Tin whistle Burke’s or BW (GAL HILTCH)

Hello guys it’s been a while i ve been wondering which C whistle to buy and what could probably be the best for my needs. I know Burke’s tin whistle sound amazing and i really like them, they would surely be a safe purchase.
But, i dont know it it ever happened to you (yes i actually know, dont try to fool me), i came across some reviews and videos of Gal Hiltch whistles and his C whistle sounds exactly like the one i was looking for!
I’m not really an expert, i can only play and i like doing it a lot so i need some advices from you guys because i really can’t decide what to buy.

This is the sound i really like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83NwhfIAo3w

play video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKRWjdEcsko

play video

I’ll eventually buy them both but not yet so give me some tips!

(Sorry for my english, i m not a native speaker)

Welcome to the discussion board, Luck Adversa! And your English sounds perfectly fine to me! Just curious as to what whistle/whistles you are currently playing? I don’t own either Burke or BW whistles — they are kind of out of my price range for the time being. But I hear tons of great things about the whistles Michael Burke makes.

I never heard of Gail Hiltch whistles, sorry.

But I own Michael Burke whistles in several keys. They’re very nice whistles.

However I prefer my old c1980 Generation C over the Burke C, and I ended up selling the Burke.

The old Generation has a much sweeter easier more nimble 2nd octave, yet the low range of the Generation is nearly as strong as that of the Burke. The Generation is more balanced between the octaves. It cost $6.

I have a Bb Generation a D and C Feadog and a D Susato, i tried many other cheap whistles and i find feadog the best ones with no dubt, but i guess that highly depends on the fact that i can’t tweak whistles and i don’t know any other guy here that can show me. I read some tutorials but i never attempted because i m afraid i can ruin them. I’ll probably buy few generation whistles late this year so i can try my hands at tweaking them. Now i m thinking about one of these 2 brands but i can’t decide yet. Price difference between them is about 60 dollars if i m not wrong but to be honest i m able to afford them. I read that both of them are good for Inside/Outside playing but the first part is what i look for more since i play at home 90% of the times. A Burke Narrow bore would be perfect i guess but still i m not brass fan. About Gal Hiltch whistles i really appreciate their sound but i can’t see any review about them. Even if i can return them i always prefer to keep what i buy so i want to choose carefully.

I have a Generation C which I purchased in 1971 and it’s like Richard’s. Battered and bruised as it now is, it still produces the sweetest tone of any of my numerous whistles. In fact I’ve used it to record jazz tracks too.

Do you think generation’s C whistles are still that good nowadays or they lowered the quality? As i said’ i m probably going to buy few of them to try my hands at tweaking but not in the very next future

As long as it plays fairly well and in tune your good , susato, Feadog.did me fine for years, Its all about the music your play. My all time favourite whistle maker is Olivier Bouchard. Thats the place to go IMO .Burke is good too dont get me wrong and its good for resale. But you wont want to part with your Bouchard 🙂
Its all in the hand carved boxwood fipple.
Ps any whistle will sound good with reverb through a mic .
Never heard of the other guy, sorry.

@Will Evans I know, and it makes perfectly sense. About these videos they may also be edited but i heard many other videos of people using these whistles so i was looking for a review or some comment about others. About the music i play i m more into Eluveitie but my whistles don’t sound that good when it comes to play songs like in these 2 videos. This is why i m looking for advices : )

Let us know if you get one then. Sounds good to me.

About the tweaking, the voicing of my great old Generation C was fantastic as it came, and I didn’t do any sort of modification to the windway or blade.

The only thing I did was to put stuff in that dead space under the windway, which (seems to me) helps raise the 2nd octave, which tends to be a bit flat with Generations.

I did tweak the tube a bit. As it came, the note that emits from Hole 4 (written G, on a C whistle sounding F) was a bit sharper than the rest of the notes. For a few years I played that whistle with tape on that hole. I’ve seen many a photo of old-school whistle players with tape on that very hole. One day I decided to do away with the tape, which meant bringing up the pitch of all the other notes to match the sharpest note. I chopped the bottom a tad to raise the bellnote and its octave, and carved out Hole 6, 5, 3, and 2 a bit. Didn’t take much. Hole 1 I left alone because I prefer the crossfingered "C natural" to be in tune. The result was a perfectly in-tune whistle with no tape, and it’s been great for 35 years now.

About changes in Generations, it seems to me that the old ones played better in general. However one does occasionally run across a newer one that plays great. They vary so much from whistle to whistle, due to the various parts of the mould that makes the head aligning a tiny bit differently each time (so it seems). I’ve played through a new unopened box of 24 new Generation D’s and found one superb whistle, one very good whistle, most mediocre, and several horrid. Those might be your odds at finding a really good one.

@ Richard D Cook thank you for your answers, i had in mind to do the same with a pack of whistles.
Do you have any thought on gal hiltch whistles?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_AiC9SdWaM

play video

I own several of Michael Burke’s whistles, which one is a C! I love them all and wouldn’t own any other whistle! I’m now spoiled.