Clarke ‘Celtic’ whistle.
I haven’t bought a Clarke in what… 15 years? I have a basket full of whistles, but thought I’d buy this one for a lark at $10, new. After all, it had a nice little knot painted on top, and I tend to enjoy green things. Probably should have just kept the ten bucks. Quite honestly, I’ve never had a whistle this bad. My charm of Oaks, Feadogs, Generations, never had such issues, at least not collected all in the same place.
My complaints for such a tiny investment are probably as numerous and annoying as the whistle itself, so I’ve summed them up for you here.
1. Annoying ridge on bottom of barrel;
2. Breathy tone in lower octave, practically as much air as tone;
3. Close to a semitone out of tune, right out of the box;
4. Lack of volume, see number 2, above.
I’m idling away my lunch hour reading ‘whistle improvement’ guides on the web. I can live with the ridge, I suppose. And I can tune it with some hot water, maybe. But the breathy bit and the volume problem…. is there any way to get a clear blast from the fipple in that lower register?
Your experiences and suggestions with this little guy are much appreciated.