Chiff and Fipple Forums

bruce.b wrote:Both the O’Briain and the Blackbird that I have, both of which are very recent versions, are modified Feadog D whistles. The modifications are interesting to compare. Both have unaltered finger tubes, so the tubes are exactly the same.

From speaking with Jerry in person, he makes his own tubes for the blackbird, which is one reason that he does not refer to it as a tweaked Feadog. The whistles head is, however, sourced from a Feadog. I could also be wrong, as I am not infallible, but I do recall having a sit-down conversation with Jerry about his whistles and discussing the tubes at length, sorry for the pun.

Hmm, the tubes on both are exactly the same as far as a close visual examination can reveal. The fingerholes line up exactly and appear to be exactly the same size. It doesn’t make sense he’d make a new tube for it without altering it. I know he makes the tubes for the mellow dog.

bruce.b wrote: Now that I’m used to both of them I don’t find any real difference in playability. They are both effortless for me to play. The Blackbird has a purer tone, the O’Briain more complexity.

What did you find the differences to be before you got used to them?
And I'm not sure I understand the difference between pure and complex tones.

MichaelRS wrote:

bruce.b wrote: Now that I’m used to both of them I don’t find any real difference in playability. They are both effortless for me to play. The Blackbird has a purer tone, the O’Briain more complexity.

What did you find the differences to be before you got used to them?
And I'm not sure I understand the difference between pure and complex tones.

I’ve only played the two I have, so a sample of one for each maker. My Blackbird has a more solid low D note than the O’Briain. It’s a little louder and it doesn’t require quite as accurate breath control, so it’s slightly easier to play. This also allows me to push a little harder on the note, make it a bit louder, which I like. I felt this way about the whistles in general when I first played them, but now I only notice it on the low d note. This is a slight difference, and I’d choose between the two solely based on which you like the sound of. They are both great, and a joy to play.

Pure vs complex? The Blackbird is more flute like and the O’Briain has slightly more overtones and just a tiny bit more air noise. I’d say the Blackbird is a bit louder in the low octave, certainly the low D note on mine is louder, but I couldn’t say if it would cut through better or not when played in a noisy environment.

BTW, I’ve never played a Mellow D. I generally dislike anything with more than a tiny bit of air noise in whistles, and preferred the tone of the Blackbird in the videos I watched.

The Blackbird does start as a Feadog. Both the mouthpiece and tonebody. I don't call it a tweaked Feadog, however, because the voicing and playing characteristics are completely different from a stock Feadog. I think it would cause more confusion than clarity if I called them "tweaked Feadogs," so I just call them Blackbirds.

Cillian O'Briain's Improved Feadogs can be very similar to Blackbirds, though he uses a somewhat different method to adjust the soundblade position. I've played Blackbirds and O'Briain improved Feadogs side by side. I've encountered quite a few of them over the years, even owned two or three. They're variable, as are my Blackbirds. I've had periods where the Blackbirds were coming out consistently really excellent and I've had periods where I've struggled to make them as good as I would like. I never release a whistle I don't feel is up to a standard of quality, but some do turn out better than others.

Having said that, let me make two offerings:

1. If anyone has a Blackbird (or Mellow Dog or any whistle of mine for that matter) they think might not be as good is it could be, send it to me. I'll be happy to check it and see if I can improve it. After 14 years tweaking over 25,000 whistles, I'm still learning and discovering things. All I ask is you reimburse me for postage to return the whistle to you.

2. Peter, the whistles of mine you have are very early. You were kind to help me in the beginning by critiquing some of my experiments and helping me understand what you and others are looking for. But I wonder if the whistles I'm doing now might not be better, or at least different, from the ones you have. I'd be happy to send some whistles along to you. No charge for them, as your help was invaluable to me and I'll always be grateful for that.

Jerry Freeman wrote:
1. If anyone has a Blackbird (or Mellow Dog or any whistle of mine for that matter) they think might not be as good is it could be, send it to me. I'll be happy to check it and see if I can improve it. After 14 years tweaking over 25,000 whistles, I'm still learning and discovering things. All I ask is you reimburse me for postage to return the whistle to you.

2. Peter, the whistles of mine you have are very early. You were kind to help me in the beginning by critiquing some of my experiments and helping me understand what you and others are looking for. But I wonder if the whistles I'm doing now might not be better, or at least different, from the ones you have. I'd be happy to send some whistles along to you. No charge for them, as your help was invaluable to me and I'll always be grateful for that.

That's what I call customer service!!

I play all of my Freeman whistles and enjoy them all for different playing needs. Jerry, let me know when I'm allowed to talk about the custom whistle you made for me. It's a little gem.

Are we talking about the whistle I made in response to your asking about the Freeman tweaked Generation Spider Stacy played on Treme?

If so, I'd like to make some experiments before we talk about it. If I can't reproduce it I don't want to raise false expectations, but if it turns out I can make them consistently we may have something to discuss.

Jerry Freeman wrote:Are we talking about the whistle I made in response to your asking about the Freeman tweaked Generation Spider Stacy played on Treme?

If so, I'd like to make some experiments before we talk about it. If I can't reproduce it I don't want to raise false expectations, but if it turns out I can make them consistently we may have something to discuss.

That's the one Jerry. It's a great whistle in my opinion but I'll let the masses wait in suspense until you are ready.

I'd be interested to see what some of the pros thought.

Looks like I've got some work cut out for me.

Jerry Freeman wrote:Looks like I've got some work cut out for me.

Haha, You've got this Jerry!! I still think you should name it after Spider. Give me his contact info, I can talk him into it.

I know you have another name in mind but mine is always the "Spider whistle".