Chiff and Fipple Forums

I've been having fun with my whistles I bought a couple of weeks back, & my piccolo - still trying to come to terms with my low D flute though.

So, I thought I'd see if there was a lower whistle than my Bb Generation that I could try out, without spending a fortune, so I've ordered up a brass Alto G from Tony Dixon.

(Update)

The TD brass alto G whistle came this morning........first impressions are that it is a nice product, reasonably priced, & sounds good.

The one piece plastic high D whistle also seems to be a good product at it's price - as is my plastic one piece piccolo.
(If I play outside in winter, they'll come in handy. )

Hi Fatmac, You are now on a very slippery slope. Over on YouTube in the comments section we quite often refer to a common condition among whistle players called W.A.S (Whistle Acquisition Syndrome)
Okay it's a tongue in cheek subject, but I believe there's truth in it having contracted this condition myself. In my first year of whistle playing I must have bought more than 20 whistles. It's not that I really needed them I just wanted them. Sadly there's no cure for this condition. How often do we look at posts here on C&F that begin, "I didn't need another D whistle BUT!!!!" Having said that I think your recent acquisition was a very good choice indeed. The Dixon one piece polymer D is a great little whistle in my opinion. I've never tried a Dixon Brass alto G but I do have the polymer one and that is one of my favorites. Tony Dixon whistles are always a safe bet because in my experience the quality is consistent so you know what you get will always be what you are expecting.
Looking towards the future, sooner or later you'll be looking at the more "High End" whistles (It's all part of W.A.S.) When that time comes, as it surely will, check out a "Killarney" there's a review here on C&F. I have a Killarney Nickel D and that is by far the best D whistle I've played. There is also a brass one that many people choose but I've never tried one so I can't really comment on that. Killarney whistles are made by two brothers called Padraig & Tadgh Buckley both of whom are players themselves and wanted to produce a quality whistle at a reasonable price (Around £70) They are built to order so the wait when I got mine was about 3 weeks. There are many more "High End" whistles of course, but I believe to beat a Killarney you would be looking at something considerably more expensive. There's a bit of "Food for Thought" for you.

Regards,
Reeldin 58

Hah! The warning comes too late I'm afraid - WAS has already got me.

A full set of 6 Generation nickels, a brass high D, a Faedog high D, & now these 2 Dixons - & I only came to these forums looking for information from like minded people to help me find my embouchure for my Boehm flute & piccolo!

FAS also seems to be catching, because I've got the TD starter simple system flute & piccolo, & just put in an order for a new Damian Thompson entry level flute that he has just developed.

I may never be a great player, but I'm certainly having some fun.

Yes WAS gets all of us. I got the full set of Generation whistles within my first month. Mine were brass. I now have two Dixon D whistles Nickel and Polymer. Generation Boho paisley D. two Waltons D whistles. Recorder Workshop and Ferris D whistles. Clarke Celtic D, James Galway D and of course my favorite the Killarney D. Almost forgot a Susato D as well. That's not including all the other keys I'll list another time. Oh yes I also have a Chris Wall D whistle. I must have got WAS quite badly.

I'm guessing they're all high D - they are so collectable - must resist.

Yes they are all high D whistles, there are a couple more I forgot, a Clarke Original D and a very nice handmade D whistle that a friend made for me. I do have a Low D, that one is a Shearwater. I went for that because the third and sixth holes are off-set a little bit to make it less of a stretch to play. I have read reviews that say Shearwater whistles can have tuning issues but I've never found it to be a problem with the one I have. In defense of so many high D whistles some were given to me as "Stocking fillers" over the last three Christmas's and some came from ebay in job lots with music books ect.
As you say they are collectable and a bit hard to resist sometimes.

I seem to be having a little bit of a problem adjusting to the short beaks of these whistles.

I'm getting some unpleasant noises when I go into the higher notes on my alto G, I seem to make it squeal much more than my Generations or my Feadog.

I presume there is something wrong with my technique, but not sure what - any clues to where I'm going wrong with these shorter beaks?

I don't think there is anything wrong with your technique. The Dixon trad brass alto G squeaks and squeals like no other whistle I have. I wouldn't recommend it. I bought the alloy alto G but it is not much better. In the end I got a Shearwater alto G which is much better, doesn't squeak and plays very easily. On the other hand it doesn't have that "trad" sound that requires a certain chiffiness to the sound.
The high D plastic Tony Dixon is great however. After buying quite a few Tony Dixon whistles I am under the impression it's a bit of a mixed bag. Some are really awesome, some not so much - I still wanna buy their heavy brass high D model which is supposed to be great. I guess one single maker simply can't produce awesome whistles in every key. Some have great high whistles others have great low whistles. That's what makes collecting so much fun .

Edit: just took out my trad G and tried it again. One way to reduce the squeaking is to blow really softly and very controlled. This way I can reduce the squeaking to almost zero. This is no whistle to blast into. It's actually nicer than I remembered it, since I haven't played it for so long. Might also be due to the fact my technique improved (maybe ).

Thanks for your reply, it is comforting to hear that it may not just be down to my technique, & could be partly due to the whistle itself.

I shall persevere with it & see if I can get to play it better - it is nice to have a lower whistle than my Bb Generation.

I also noticed that this whistle doesn't like sloppy fingering. The holes need to be sealed accurately when playing because leaking air from the finger holes will also lead to squeaking. And that can be tricky on that model because it's almost too big for regular gripping where you play with the pads of the fingers, yet it's slightly too small for a proper piper's grip. But with good breath control and accurate fingering the squeaking can be reduced to a minimum. And then it does sound quite nice.

I think I'm covering the holes OK, as it seems to be when I go up high, but I'll keep that in mind too, thanks.

Update.

Not regularly playing this one at the moment, but I do seem to have got the jist of it better now.

I re-aligned the head, & seem to be getting a better high octave from it now.