Chiff and Fipple Forums

Tommy wrote:

MichaelRS wrote: No great burning desire. Just something to talk about and see what's what.

Whats what you need to buy some whistles like the rest of us try them to find what you like.
Enjoy your quest.

No no. Been there done that. Starting from a little before I joined this forum back in 2005. Over just under a two two-year period I acquired 18 whistles in the key of D and some in C. But I honestly don't remember all the makes and models.

Yes they were Generations and Walton's and Susato and Feadog and Clarke and so forth. But I divested myself from all but three of them. My Orignal Clarke and my Sweetone and the one I liked most from that time; my old Susato Dublin High D

And then I got distracted by an on the job injury and just kind of lost interest for a few years. But every now and then I would pick up my Dublin and go through a few tunes.
But now my interest has returned and I just want to do things in a more measured way and have a small collection of high D whistles, maybe a C or two, but EACH being one I would like playing. Of course you never know till you actually do it, but that's all what all the research and questions are about. To help me decide which ones might actually be a good fit for ME. Plus, there's been a lot of changes in the last 8 + years to drop back in on.

But i've already pretty much made up my mind to go with a
Freeman Mellow Dog
a Chris Wall.
and a Killarney.

Then there are the strong maybes;
Maybe a Dixon TRAD (though I'm still unclear if a Trad I would like a brass or nickel one better),
and maybe another Susato or their 4 body 1 head set.
And maybe one more, but no more than one more, if something interesting pops up through all these suggestions.

Plus, I KNOW I'm helping other people out who are either just starting out or feel too shy about showing their ignorance by asking some basic questions.

jiminos wrote:I suggest the C because of the reasons I gave earlier for having a C.

Easier to control in second octave, cleaner transitions between octaves, not as piercing in second octave, not quite as loud but still loud enough.

I think the C is a great whistle for improving ones skills. Particularly if one is not playing in sessions.

So you did. And after finding it and reviewing it and this info it looks like I might need a C or two. But I might be a little less detail oriented in obtaining of those. I actually have been looking at some. I knew there must have been a reason I had about 4 or 5 of them before.

As I recall you have the Killdeers.
Do you have all separate whistles or do you have the sets with the interchangeable heads?

Why do you think they offer the Kildare S series in B but not Bb like the Orielo? I thought Bb in the high whistles was one of the "go to" keys.
But they don't offer Bb in the Kildares until you jump up to the M series

And for the Kildare they offer a 5 whistle set as opposed to the 4 whistle set for the Orioles.
Ugh!
I think I should just stick with the Orioles.

jiminos wrote:
The length to bore ratio of a C is higher than that of a D, for the same make/model.

Sorry but I don't believe that generalisations can be made about the bore ratios between D and C whistles.

Each maker has different approaches and uses different tubing. I've seen C whistles with the same bore as the same maker's D, some with slightly wider bores, some with much wider bores, than the same maker's D.

Some makers use a number of different bores for their D's and/or their C's so you have to compare specific whistles.

(I've seen Susato C's with three different bore sizes, Susato D's with two different bore sizes, for example.)

jiminos wrote:
The upper octave is not as piercing.

True it's a full step lower on a C than on a D, which I suppose makes it less piercing.

jiminos wrote:
It takes less breath / air to get to the second octave.

Ds and Cs vary from whistle to whistle even within the same maker. It's easy to line up a number of D's that have sweeter, easier 2nd octaves than a like number of C's.

Had I bought them all, I could have laid out on a table, from whistles I've tried over the years, twenty Generation C's that have stiffer 2nd ocatves than twenty Generation D's.

I have Kildares.
In the S bore, I have a Bb, C, D set. One head three bodies. I also have a D with a VS bore and a low D.

I recently asked George Kelischek (Susato) why he no longer offered the Bb in S bore. He said it wasn't loud enough.

Richard: true it did seem a generalization. Let me try it this way...

I own a Susato Bb/C/D set. The bore is the same on each. Only the tube length differs.
I own a Parks C/D/Eb set. The bore is the same on each. Only the tube length differs.
I own an O'Brien Bb/C/D set. The bore is the same on each. Only the tube length differs.
(Disclaimer : I did not actually break out the micrometer to confirm bore equality.)

For each set... The length to bore ratio increases when increasing the tube length. So, for the Susato set, the C has a greater length : bore ratio than the D. That of the Bb is greater than that of the C. This applies to each of the three sets I own. I do not claim that this applies to any other C/D whistle sets.

Within this narrow sample, it appears that the statements I made earlier with regard to comparing the C and D apply.

It was not my intent to speak for all whistles by all makers. I apologize for any confusion my lack of specificity may have caused.

Geez.

MichaelRS, in reading your preferences in your original post, I too would very much recommend the Susato Kildare.
I Have some polymer Dixons, including the DX 001 in high D. The polymer Dixons have a nice mellow soft tone, not too much chiff. But my Kildare whistles are much clearer and louder, while still maintaining the slightly round tone that is typical of polymer whistles.

Key of C: I had trouble finding a mid-priced whistle in the key of C that wasn't too breathy and hard to blow (for me). I finally got lucky with both the Susato Kildarte and the Freeman Blackbird in C. Both are very nimble and easy to play without requiring lots of breath. Both have a lovely tone imho, but the Kildare is noticeably more powerful and no chiff to speak of.

my go-to whistle for really big loud sessions (especially if there is a piper) is a Rose. Not Fred Rose, but a newly launched whistle company whose whistles are made by my friend Stefan Kelischek (grandson of George). They are basically susato heads on aluminum bodies. I like the tone better than a susato...it's a little more whistley. It's super responsive and balanced over the whole range and really loud. A really nice whistle. Though I think my chieftain, with its super wide bore is easily louder and the loudest whistle in my collection (i rarely play it). If the session is not that loud, I favor my Humphrey Journeyman III Session High D or my Oz Vambrace if its on the smaller side, both of which have more of my preferred back pressure than the more open Rose. Still the Rose is the nicest really loud whistle I've played and an excellent value at $80. Definitely fits with all your qualifications.

https://www.rosewhistles.com

cailencampbell wrote:my go-to whistle for really big loud sessions (especially if there is a piper) is a Rose. Not Fred Rose, but a newly launched whistle company whose whistles are made by my friend Stefan Kelischek (grandson of George). They are basically susato heads on aluminum bodies. I like the tone better than a susato...it's a little more whistley. It's super responsive and balanced over the whole range and really loud. A really nice whistle. Though I think my chieftain, with its super wide bore is easily louder and the loudest whistle in my collection (i rarely play it). If the session is not that loud, I favor my Humphrey Journeyman III Session High D or my Oz Vambrace if its on the smaller side, both of which have more of my preferred back pressure than the more open Rose. Still the Rose is the nicest really loud whistle I've played and an excellent value at $80. Definitely fits with all your qualifications.

https://www.rosewhistles.com

Thanks very much for that. I'm definitely going to look into it. Both because you described it as loud and quality whistle.

Do you have experience with Killarney's and if so how does that Rose compared to them?

Do you have experience with Killarney's and if so how does that Rose compared to them?[/quote]e]

I don't, but my sense is that they are a similar design to a Sindt, and therefore wouldn't be as loud

cailencampbell wrote:Do you have experience with Killarney's and if so how does that Rose compared to them?

e]

I don't, but my sense is that they are a similar design to a Sindt, and therefore wouldn't be as loud[/quote]

The rose website is apparently still under construction and won't be up until July. Maybe you could get your friend to post some pictures of his whistles here on chiffandfipple and say a little something about them