"Every" whistle tour

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:34 am

Aanvil wrote:Hells bells... just chill kids.

I'm Peri.

So you do know me Annie...a little.

I seem to remember a certain someone that had a nice wooden for good while last tour we did.

I've had it packed up and sitting on my office desk this last week and I just kept having stuff get in the way of me walking to the post.

Mea Culpa.

Neat little whistle BTW.

It will be out tomorrow.

Hey, I did say, "Stuff Happens!". LOL! Glad to know that it's you and that you are OK.

Crysania · Post by **Crysania** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:46 pm

I just got the whistle this evening. On first playing, both my partner (who mostly plays fiddle and banjo, but also plays a little whistle) and I are loving it! I can't wait to try it out at session this weekend.

And I did see the note about the flu -- hope you're feeling better! I gave it a good going over with some alcohol so hopefully all is disinfected!

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:21 am

Crysania wrote:I just got the whistle this evening. On first playing, both my partner (who mostly plays fiddle and banjo, but also plays a little whistle) and I are loving it! I can't wait to try it out at session this weekend.

And I did see the note about the flu -- hope you're feeling better! I gave it a good going over with some alcohol so hopefully all is disinfected!

Glad you have it now. I feel much better, thank you. got to go to session tonight and have been sewing again today. I hate being sick!!!

Whitmores75087 · Post by **Whitmores75087** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:50 pm

I just bought an Every whistle. I wanted one that could be muted. That alone is worth the money to me. I have to say that whistles are like children or works of art...no two from the same maker are exactly alike. Having said that...if all the whistles from Parks are like this one, then we have a real good value here.
The workmanship is outstanding.
The sound is louder than I expected. It's in the middle range. Louder than cheapies. It's a tad louder than my Susato (very small bore model).
The tone is good. Not shrill. It's not as round sounding as a $300 whistle, but better than cheapies (Generation, Feadog, Susato).
I had to use tape to block off a substantial part of the tone hole nearest my mouth. This brought the C and C# into tune nicely. All other notes are where they should be (or as close as you can get with a whistle).
I know this is going to be one of my favorites. Not on a level with my $350 Abell, but what the heck, I paid $35 for it! Actually, I noticed that the tone holes in the Every look a lot like the holes in my Abell in terms of size and spacing. Holes are on the large side.
This is a whistle for both newbies (it's cheap) and anyone who wants to practice quietly. If Parks makes them all like the one I have, he'll be selling a ton of whistles.

Carey · Post by **Carey** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:27 pm

Whitmores75087 wrote:I had to use tape to block off a substantial part of the tone hole nearest my mouth. This brought the C and C# into tune nicely. All other notes are where they should be (or as close as you can get with a whistle).

Whitmores, that's odd. I'll swap that whistle out for you if you wish. I just checked the several in stock and they all appear (to my electronic tuner) to be OK.

Cheers,

Carey

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:39 pm

No, it isn't odd, lots of whistle makers tune the whistle to equal temperament, trusting an electronic tuner over their ears to judge the tuning.

A lot of whistlers (including me) prefer just intonation (in harmony against the bell note drone) rather than equal temperament (equally out of tune) tuning.

If I had had more time to evaluate, I believe I would have found the F#, C and C# hard to blow into tune.

Carey · Post by **Carey** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 7:32 pm

I can make a just intonation whistle if that's what someone wants. It seemed the defacto standard is equal temperment, possibly because of the electronic tuners, or playing with other instruments that are equal temperment (that would be my problem in the session I think.)

Do you know what ratios you prefer? For example for the C nat possible ratios could be 7:8, 8:9, or 9:10. 8:9 being the closest to equal temperment tuning. Do you normally go for the ratio that's closest to the equal temperment freq?

I wish this would have come up a day sooner, I just drilled the holes in an Every whistle with the tuning slide moved up a bit for you. Dang!

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:12 pm

In Naomi's Fancy, we used to (when I was in better health) tune to my drones and most of the ET instruments were played "open" and tuned to "no beats" in D and/or G (the harp is the most out of tune instrument, even worse than the concertina).

In sessions, especially if there are pipes, fiddles and flutes, they sound more just intonation than equal temperament. The Clarke original will blow into tune with pipes/fiddles easier than any whistle I have (well, the Burke does too but is too "pure" sounding to me for pleasure playing. I use it for unamplified jams).

I tune by ear, so I don't know the exact ratios for my tuning.

Give a listen to The South Wind, a waltz in G using my concert set along with the rest of Naomi's Fancy. That may give you an idea of the tuning I like.

You might find suggested ratios with a search on the uilleann forum here or on the other Uilleann forum BBS.

I'm sorry you went to the trouble of making a whistle for me as I have re-calculated my finances and they won't stretch for a Christmas present for myself. The old medical bills keep adding up instead of dropping.

Hopefully some spare cash will show up before the spring gatherings/sessions/old time fiddlers conventions start back up as I have my eye on 3-4 more whistles.

I need to make some more drone reeds as two of them are acting up either with this winter weather or my lack of strength.

Carey · Post by **Carey** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:54 pm

Thanks, Sounds like the ratios closest to the equal temperment. Between posts I made a just intonation body for my Every whistle using the closest ratios and playing along it sounds Ok. But someone with a better ear might detect something.

jkrazy52 · Post by **jkrazy52** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:11 am

The Every whistle of tour 1 has landed in Ohio!

On an acquaintance of about 5 minutes .... nice, very nice! Sounds in tune (haven't pitted it against a tuner), love the 'muffle'. That feature will get a workout tomorrow. My mother is in ICU & I've been quietly whistling between visiting hours for an hour or two each day. Really good acoustics near the elevators ...

Whitmores75087 · Post by **Whitmores75087** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:45 am

Hi Carey,
I think the root of that "C" issue is the fact that I like to give a whistle lot of air at the high end. In any case, I'm too fond of this little unit to part with it, even on a swap-out. Thanks for the offer, though.

Rest of the world,
This is a very good value. The mute device on this whistle is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I practiced on a full plane yesterday. I gave it 100% mute, but I could still hear a little airy sound. The whistle is rugged enough to take anywhere without special packaging.
I'll comment further as time goes on and I get more familiar with it.

Carey · Post by **Carey** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:49 pm

Yes rugged they are. I wedge mind under the seat in my kayak, and if it gets sand and muck in it, I simply rinse it in the sea. I sometimes see people have made a hard case for their wooden whistle out of PVC pipe and I tell them "Well, I guess I should be making a wooden case for mine then!"

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:34 pm

Glad to see that one of your EveryWhistles is in the hands of a session mate... or rather, his wife, whom he got it for. He tried the tour whistle when I had it and it was love at first play. His wife was playing hers tonight, and it sounded very good.

I've started stalking the mail lady, waiting for mine.

Carla Ruth · Post by **Carla Ruth** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 7:00 am

Mine arrived today! Sooner than I thought too.

I'm just a beginner and don't have much experience with a variety of whistles, but I like, I like. Sturdy and well made, with a lovely clear, full tone. Seems to take a little more breath than I'm used to with my Sweetone (which I know is light on breath), but that could also be because I have flu. I have enjoyed playing around all afternoon and think this will most likely become my regular practice whistle.

And Carey is very helpful and pleasant to deal with.

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:30 am

I received today a whistle with a just intonation tube, the tuning slide adjusted upwards to compensate for my thumb's "grip" position and an equal temperament tube to evaluate.

The just intonation tube is a dream to play!

It is nice and chiffy in the lower octave, perhaps very slightly less than the tour whistle but memory may be affected by my puny spell's medicines.

I have played it along with some of my bagpipe recordings and it is very easily blown into tune with the drones. I want to make some new drone reeds for my D bagpipe set and play it against those, but I am sure it will be in great tune.

The tuning slide resistance is just perfect, not nearly as hard to adjust as was the tour whistle.

I have to open the windway to at least 30% (tour whistle was 25%) to get the nice breathy sound so similar to my Clarke original design, (but sweeter in the octave than the Clarke).

It has been hard to put it down, but I don't think my neighbor can hear it if I adjust it just right.

I need sleep but I gotta whistle!

BTW, can you make the Ghost whistle in just intonation tuning as well?