Help ID'ing Mystery Tin Whistle

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grajohnt
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Tell us something.: I am a beginner tin whistle player, and came here seeking help to identify my 20+ year old tin whistle.

Help ID'ing Mystery Tin Whistle

Post by grajohnt »

When I visit a new country, the souvenir I like to seek out and buy is a musical instrument that's native to that country.

Circa 2000, I was on a trip to Ireland as a student, and spent what felt like a lot of money at the time on a tin whistle (it was probably 50-100 Euros) in a local music shop (in Galway, IIRC).

Finally, after >20 years of it sitting on the shelf, I have started to learn to play, and was hoping that someone might be able to help me identify the tin whistle I'm learning to play on!

It's all aluminum, untunable, and the only marking is the engraved "D" showing the key. I have very vague memories of it being in a case with tin whistles in other keys. It doesn't seem to match the design of any of the other common whistles I've seen in the market, despite some fairly deep Google searching. I also inquired on /r/tinwhistle with no definitive result, and they referred me here.

I've put together an album with pictures of the whistle, and I'm happy to take more as needed. Some folks on reddit also requested to hear the sound, so there's also a video of me playing a scale in the album (please excuse my poor playing - I'm a rank beginner)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
dunnp
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Re: Help ID'ing Mystery Tin Whistle

Post by dunnp »

At a guess I think it maybe a Kerry Songbird?

They are no longer made I don’t think.

I couldn’t find a clear photo of one but there is a few old videos on YouTube.
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Flexismart
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Tell us something.: Some of my original tunes are displayed at https://thesession.org/members/49476
I play several flutes, many whistles, many guitars, bouzouki, banjo, and own way too many pedals.
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Re: Help ID'ing Mystery Tin Whistle

Post by Flexismart »

That seems to be a non-tunable Kerry Songbird.
Typically, the later ones were stamped with the date of manufacture (in my case 070307), then KWL, then the name SONGBIRD.
They're great whistles, and coveted by some.
I have the tunable version, and the fipple design is identical to yours, as is the D stamp.
grajohnt
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Joined: Mon May 08, 2023 9:43 am
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Tell us something.: I am a beginner tin whistle player, and came here seeking help to identify my 20+ year old tin whistle.

Re: Help ID'ing Mystery Tin Whistle

Post by grajohnt »

Thank you for the pointers towards Kerry Whistles!

The fipple does look closer to some of the ones made by Kerry Whistles than anything else I've seen. The windway is curved downwards (like a frown), rather than straight across as in their newer whistles, but that's not a part that's often pictured. I added a picture to the album to show this.

I've reached out to them to see if they can confirm if it's one of theirs.

UPDATE: Confirmed as an early Kerry Songbird by Phil at Kerry Whistles - thank you so much for your help!
Last edited by grajohnt on Mon May 15, 2023 8:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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