Hooleh wrote:
whether to keep searching for a whistle that feels as right as possible on the first touch and blow, or to keep the old one(s) which are very good but "not exactly what I'm looking for" and don't just "feel right for me".
This, to me, raises two points.
One is the question of how much playing time is required to know what an instrument does. Opinions differ. I feel that, after decades of playing flutes and whistles, I pretty much know what an instrument does after a minute or two of playing.
Which is not to say that (especially with flutes) the more time you spend with an instrument the more you can get out of it. Of course. But hours of "face time" on a mediocre instrument won't transform it into a great instrument. You're able to mask more and more of the mediocre instrument's built-in flaws. How much better that time would have been spent playing on a superb instrument!
The other point is whether to accept an instrument that doesn't measure up, or keep searching for the Holy Grail. I'm always open to trying new whistles, because I never know what I'll come across. With Low D's that has meant me switching every couple years to a new favourite. But I've been playing the same (high) D and the same (high) C since around 1980 because I've not come across better.
I've been playing the same uilleann chanter since 1978, because the chanter has always played better than my ability to play it! The issue is me getting good enough to reach the limits of the chanter, and I will never do.
Hooleh wrote:
I suppose it's all about making compromises, but to find a whistle regarding which I would need to make as few compromises as possible.
Yes with Low Whistles particularly, the Perfect Whistle cannot be made. The one I'm currently playing isn't perfect, but has the fewest flaws.
Hooleh wrote:
...own a ton of whistles for different purposes...
In as much as the ability to play in a different key is a different purpose, yes. But I don't want to keep multiple whistles of each key. I find the best whistle I can for each key, and sell off the rest.
Like keeping several D whistles around because they have different timbres- that doesn't interest me.
The one exception is that I have two (high) D's, my c1980 Feadog and a new Killarney. That's because the Killarney can withstand the heat of staying in my car, and the Feadog can't (it has the head packed with wax). The two play very much alike, and exactly the way I want a high whistle to play.
Hooleh wrote:
To me, owning more whistles than I regularly use feels like a waste somehow.
Yes exactly. To me un-used instruments represent value that can be used for something useful. So I sell them off and use the money for other things.
When I was going through a load of Low D's I had as many as a half-dozen at a given time. Now I have one.
It's the great thing about instruments: you can rent them, try them, for as long as you wish, for free. Because there's no difference in value between a 5 year old whistle, and a 5 and a half year old whistle.