But I promised to give some feedback when my brass body Killarney arrived; in particular, feedback on the differences, if any, between the brass body and the nickel body Killarney whistle.
So here goes ...
Ordering was as painless as last time. I ordered my new whistle online directly from the Killarney whistles website on Sunday 3rd April 2016. I received a confirmation of my order the next morning with a statement that “You can expect delivery in approx 2 weeks.” I received the whistle on Thursday 14th so just 10 days and that’s coming from Ireland to the UK. As usual for Killarney, exceeding expectations.
The whistle is gorgeous. (Pics to follow.) I ordered a pouch with it as well for an extra €5. It’s a solidly made pouch and will protect the thing. A completely unnecessary luxury in my opinion, but nice anyway and hardly expensive.
I was already raving about my nickel body Killarney whistles. But this one is, at least for me, even better. It’s easier to play, in that the nickel body one requires so little breath that it can tend to break into the second octave, whereas that doesn’t happen with this brass one, which requires just slightly more breath. It’s got a lovely, old-fashioned tone in the bottom octave, rounded – almost plummy, if that makes sense. It transitions smoothly to the second octave where the tone is clear, bright and … well, just lovely. It’s actually hard to tell the brass body whistle and nickel body whistle apart in the second octave. Both have a pure sound in the second octave, but, as with the lower octave, this new brass bodied whistle is just a tad louder.
There’s not all that much of what I call “chiff” with this whistle; but there is enough to punctuate the beginnings of notes nicely and give flow to the tune when you play it. (There’s slightly more chiff to the sound of the nickel body.) It’s very responsive – both the brass and nickel are – so rolls and other ornaments flow well (or at least they would if I were any good).
There are very slight differences in the hole size and spacing, and also in the ramp, which is just slightly deeper in this newer, brass body whistle. I wonder if that’s because, good though they have been from the start, they’re actually getting even better. Because, overall, I do prefer this brass body whistle. To me it feels and looks nicer too. (I’m not getting rid of the older one though!
It occurred to me that a lot of the differences between the two whistles may be because of the head, which is just slightly different (as you’ll see when I put pics up). So, of course, in good C&F tradition, I swapped the heads. A lot of the differences were lessened when I did that, but not all. The old head played pretty well on the brass bodied whistle and I slightly preferred the sound to the old head on the nickel bodied whistle; the new head (from the brass bodied whistle) improved the nickel bodied whistle; but the best combination was definitely the new head on the brass bodied whistle.
I think maybe I’ll use the nickel whistle for when I want to play a tiny bit quieter, and the brass bodied whistle the rest of the time. Having said which, the difference in volume is not huge, just a very small difference.
I thought I’d just whip out my old Gen D which has long been my benchmark whistle. Funnily enough, the nickel bodied whistle plays and sounds closer to it. Both Killarneys are very close to the old Gen sound though. The scale’s better though! (I.E. the Killarneys are very in tune across their range, whilst there are some awkward notes with the Gen.)
Overall, both are great whistles and congratulations to Killarney for making these, and such great prices too.
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