new Reyburn Low D review

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pancelticpiper
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new Reyburn Low D review

Post by pancelticpiper »

I just got a new-model Reyburn on loan from Ronaldo and have spent a week playing it and comparing it to the two Goldie Low D's I have to hand currently. (Actually two Goldie heads which I switch on one Low D body.)

A Goldie and a Reyburn

Image

The Reyburn has the always-present Reyburn features of perfect tuning and unique complex somewhat "dirty" tone, a beefy fat presence hard to describe. It's not mere volume- I've had a Reyburn which appeared to have less volume when compared to an MK, yet the Reyburn had more presence.

What's remarkable about this new Reyburn design is that it has the same superb air-efficiency as the narrow-windway Goldie, which is the most air-efficient whistle I've had so far.

Making the Reyburn a delight to play, a wonderful tone and perfect tuning and even voicing across the range, efficient, a solid Bottom D, and high notes which aren't too stiff. It sounds great playing reels and jigs, and the efficiency allows really long notes in airs.

I should say that my two Goldie heads, from what I'm told, represent the extremes Colin offers in terms of windway height: .8mm which he calls the "hard blower" and 1mm which he calls "very soft/very easy blower". (Those are Colin's descriptors; they blow the same to me, but have very different playing characteristics.)

The three heads: 1mm Goldie, .8mm Goldie, Reyburn

Image

The Reyburn plays very much like the .8mm Goldie, with the same air-efficiency, and the same breaking-point with the high notes. I should say that neither the Reyburn nor the .8mm windway Goldie blow "hard" to me. But then in 35 years of playing flutes and whistles I'd never heard of "backpressure" or "hard blowing" or "soft blowing" regarding whistles until I joined this site.

One thing, though, is that the finger-holes of both hands are slightly more widely-spaced on the Reyburn than on the Goldie. For some reason my upper hand is very sensitive to the spacing of the holes, so the Goldie is more ergonomic for me than the Reyburn.

I've never been a fan of putting metal in my mouth, and I like the Reyburn delrin mouthpiece much better than the alloy Goldie one.

Image

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Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
Dan A.
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by Dan A. »

pancelticpiper wrote:One thing, though, is that the finger-holes of both hands are slightly more widely-spaced on the Reyburn than on the Goldie. For some reason my upper hand is very sensitive to the spacing of the holes, so the Goldie is more ergonomic for me than the Reyburn.
They don't look terribly dissimilar in the photo. I suppose, though, that even 1/8" difference between them could be very noticeable with such a large whistle. (I only play soprano D whistles at this time, and I don't notice such differences between the two I own.) I also assume you use the piper's grip on a low D whistle?

This was a good objective review. Thanks for writing it!
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pancelticpiper
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by pancelticpiper »

You're welcome!

Yes Pipers' Grip.

Being a piper, I have always naturally used Pipers' Grip on the lower hand of Low D Whistles. But on the upper hand I've always used the grip I use on the pipes, rather than the Low Whistle Pipers' Grip. :-?

But when I got into Bass Whistles, especially my Bass A, I had to learn Pipers' Grip for the upper hand.

I found that Pipers' Grip made playing Low Ds far more comfortable. Still, for me it only takes the upper-hand holes a tiny bit more splayed-out to make my upper hand start to cramp after a while.

I just measured, and the hole-spread, from hole-centre to hole-centre, on both the upper and lower hands of the Goldie is 72mm.

The Reyburn is 74mm on the upper hand and 75mm on the lower hand. Oddly the lower-hand difference isn't noticeabe to me, but the upper-hand difference is, when playing.

About Pipers' Grip, think about it this way: the underside of each finger has three soft fleshy pads, and it's these which work best for sealing holes, rather than the bony knuckles in between. Let's call the three pads the inner-joint, middle joint, and end-joint pads.

So on the uilleann pipes the standard grip is

M
M
E

M
M
M
E

while on the Highland pipes it's either

E
E
E

M
M
M
E

or

M
M
M

M
M
M
E

The Low Whistle Pipers' Grip isn't the same as any of these, completely, but rather

M
M
E

M
M
E

About "bitter-cold Michigan" here in California our temperatures have plummeted into the 70s, down from being near 90 last week.
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by benhall.1 »

Your review almost made me want one of these newer Reyburn low Ds, Richard. I have an old one, with a maple head. It's very good, but I'd prefer a delrin head. No spare money right now (spent it on making a CD :wink: ), so it will have to wait.
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by Dan A. »

pancelticpiper wrote:About "bitter-cold Michigan" here in California our temperatures have plummeted into the 70s, down from being near 90 last week.
I left California to move to Michigan. Though I could never go back, I do miss the warmth. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd rejoice because the temperature was 35 degrees!

Getting back on topic, I understand the piper's grip a little better now. Were I to get my hands on a low D whistle, I'd most likely try to play it as one does a soprano D first. And uilleann pipes are not something I can see taking up. For one, I'd most likely need to get a left-handed set. And I've heard it takes seven years of learning, seven years of practice, and seven years of playing to become proficient on the uilleann pipes. If I picked up a set and started learning today, I'd be 60 by the time I put in those 21 years!
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pancelticpiper
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by pancelticpiper »

Dan A. wrote: I've heard it takes seven years of learning, seven years of practice, and seven years of playing to become proficient on the uilleann pipes.
I've put in my 40 years on the things and I wouldn't call myself "proficient". Maybe "decent"?

(Actually its the 40th anniversary of playing the same Quinn chanter. I started the pipes a couple years earlier, on a sh!te chanter.)
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
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pancelticpiper
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by pancelticpiper »

benhall.1 wrote: I have an old one, with a maple head.
Ooooh those have a gorgeous tone.
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by benhall.1 »

pancelticpiper wrote:
benhall.1 wrote: I have an old one, with a maple head.
Ooooh those have a gorgeous tone.
It certainly does. It's gorgeous. :)
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by Dan A. »

pancelticpiper wrote:
Dan A. wrote: I've heard it takes seven years of learning, seven years of practice, and seven years of playing to become proficient on the uilleann pipes.
I've put in my 40 years on the things and I wouldn't call myself "proficient". Maybe "decent"?
You have spent over 40 years playing the uilleann pipes...I'd say you're probably better than "decent." But then again, I have some work to do before I'll consider myself a musician. We are our own worst critics, so the cliché goes.

I certainly can't see myself taking up the pipes. If I wore a hat, it would be off to you!
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by whistle1000 »

Isaac alderson learned the uillean pipes in 5 years. Also flute and whistle in that same time. He became proficient enough to win the Senior All Ireland, on all 3 at the age of 19 after those 5 years :boggle: So it may not take the 21 years but it may take being a bit of a musical freak of nature! :lol:
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by Dan A. »

whistle1000 wrote:Isaac alderson learned the uillean pipes in 5 years. Also flute and whistle in that same time. He became proficient enough to win the Senior All Ireland, on all 3 at the age of 19 after those 5 years :boggle: So it may not take the 21 years but it may take being a bit of a musical freak of nature! :lol:
It certainly could be done, but one's capacity for learning diminishes with age. I also do not have designs on being a multi-instrumentalist. Whistles, flutes fingered in the same manner as a whistle, and maybe a recorder would be more than enough for me!
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by gariwerd »

Its possible one's capacity for learning might diminish with age but that age is probably much later than we think. Our ability to learn quite often improves with age however with qualities such as focus, maturity, understanding of the music we love and time to practice enhanced. A major reason older people won't take up new challenges is the fear of failing and looking foolish. They won't say that however. They will just say they are too old. Children are great learners because they don't care about those things. I know in Australia mature-age university students have a higher rate of success in their courses than those straight from school.
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by Dan A. »

gariwerd wrote:A major reason older people won't take up new challenges is the fear of failing and looking foolish. They won't say that however.
I have no such fear! Only two people, a dog, and three cats can really see how I look, and if I sound horrible, there aren't many more people around to hear it...unless a whistle's sound carries over fifty feet or so.
gariwerd wrote:I know in Australia mature-age university students have a higher rate of success in their courses than those straight from school.
I'd think that is due at least in part to their days of partying and chasing girls being largely behind them...
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by pancelticpiper »

I know it's offtopic but I taught pipes for years and the difference in "learning curve" between youngsters and middle-aged people is immense.

I've heard the same thing all my life from teachers of violin, ballet, bagpipes, 2nd languages... you want to get hold of the learner before puberty if possible, if not, while still in the teens.

My best personal teaching example is that one day it so happened that two of my students, a 10 year old and a 40 year old, were to learn the same ornament the same day (seperate lessons).

I demonstrated it, once, for the 10 year old, and he played it back for me flawlessly, and every subsequent time he played it he did it perfectly. He never had to practice it, then or later.

With the 40 year old I ended up having to slow it down, and break it down into its component steps, and we went through the steps over and over for nearly an hour. This guy was an ardent practicer, and practiced that ornament every day. After a year of practicing it, probably hundreds of hours, he still couldn't do it consistently. If I asked him to play it five times in a row (I did do) he would do it correctly most of the time, but still do it incorrectly sometimes.
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
Dan A.
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Re: new Reyburn Low D review

Post by Dan A. »

pancelticpiper wrote:With the 40 year old I ended up having to slow it down, and break it down into its component steps, and we went through the steps over and over for nearly an hour. This guy was an ardent practicer, and practiced that ornament every day. After a year of practicing it, probably hundreds of hours, he still couldn't do it consistently. If I asked him to play it five times in a row (I did do) he would do it correctly most of the time, but still do it incorrectly sometimes.
I'm close to 40, and the student in the quoted passage could just as easily be me. Learning a skill (be it playing a musical instrument, speaking a foreign language, driving a manual transmission, what-have-you) is certainly easier as a youth! Makes me glad I have a working knowledge of German and learned how to drive a manual almost 25 years ago. As far as the whistle goes, all I have to do is keep plugging away!
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