Hi my friends,
just logged in to forum to ask questions about whistles from more experienced whistlers..

Have been playing 2 months now. I recieved an Oak d classic last week, and have a problem with it. I know its a cheapo (12 e) but many have been reviewed it quite well. When I hit the second octave, especially high d and e are "distorted". Its like sort of distortion in sound that is not present in c sharp or even high f sharp. It doesnt matter how I blow. When the whistle is warm this fades quite a bit, but seems to take time.

Is this something to be expected (normal) from an oak, or should I buy another one to get better one. I like the playing characteristics and want to have one with me.

Oak used to be (can't speak for the present edition) very very light blowers. You really just had to 'breath into' them. Make sure you are not overblowing and causing the notes to vibrate/pulsate (or just generally go funny on you).

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My brain hurts

I like Oaks. They are light blowers, however, so you have to go easy. I like to fill the back cavity of the head with putty. Some people don’t, others swear by the putty tweak. Another cheap whistle that I like is the Acorn. It seems to share the same head as the Oak and is easy to putty tweak.

Forgive me in advance if this sounds insulting, but I have been working with a whistler who's been taking classes and trying to learn on her own for a couple of years. She was having a very hard time with the high notes. I asked if she'd been breathing from her diaphragm. She had not. She'd been breathing from the top of her lungs. You can't get the high notes unless you bring air up from your belly. That being said, if you are breathing from your belly and you can sound the high notes easily on another whistle it might be the whistle. I know I have a Feadog I've never been fond of though some love them. I am assuming I got a poor one since I play fine on other whistles. Also, some whistles want you to hold back while pushing, if that makes sense. I know my tweaked Bluebird likes that, while my Kilarney is happy being pushed and my Copeland demands it. Every whistle has it's own requirements.

Well... I bought an Oak in 2008 on a whim. 10 bucks, nothing to worry about. Cut a long story short, it was cr*p. Unplayable. Fast forward to 2018, and I decided to let a tweaker loose with it, on the basis that they could either make something decent out of it or screw it up completely. Mack Hoover offered to have a fiddle with it, and he sent it back to me just a couple of weeks ago. in fact, I posted briefly about it on C&F.

Anyway, this Oak is now capable of being blown really darn hard and has a really strong tone, especially on the lower octave. The 2nd octave isn't exactly "Burke sweet", but if you blow it hard it's lovely and strong. If you wuss out it'll crack on ya. You can really push it and it'll let you.

In the first instance, try the putty/plasticine fix. Of all the whistles I've done that on, it's never made them worse - always at least a little better. It's just possible that since you've not been playing very long you're still working on your breathing. Keep it up!

m.d.