Opinions on the O'Briain and the Freeman Blackbird?

[ytliek]

Is this what shark fin soup is made from?

It's cruel, is what it is. Look it up. I've had it once, but I wouldn't ever have it again.

It's a brutal business. Millions killed. Another species on the road to extinction at the hands of the human race.

Yes, I am aware of the cruelty and the issue ought to remain in the immediate mindset of everyone.

And no I do not eat the soup... ever!

[ytliek]

I do think Potter relocated to Utah from Calif. Nice whistles.
http://tjpottermusic.com/index.htm

From an ebay listing, looks like he is shipping from Council, Idaho. Too bad for OP, thought he could run over to Mr. Potter's and try out some whistles to compare.

I like the Potter for learning tunes—it's soft and relatively quiet and less offensive to those within hearing range during the stumbles and bumbles.

Best wishes.

Steve

Oops my bad, yes, relocated to Idaho. I just remember the move.

[MichaelRS]

I thank everybody for their thoughts so far.

I took a look at the Potter and price is right for sure. It LOOKS awfully similar to a Dixon Trad. Any similarity or differences, relating to playability, beyond to the Trad?

PS I had shark fin soup way back in '79 up in San Francisco. It was an upscale Chinese restaurant, so I imagine they made it "right", but I really found it nothing to write home about.
Later on, by comparison, I much preferred the snake from one of my military survival courses.

[Steve Bliven]

I took a look at the Potter and price is right for sure. It LOOKS awfully similar to a Dixon Trad. Any similarity or differences, relating to playability, beyond to the Trad?

Very different animals. I have what seems to be the "longer blade" Trad. It has a somewhat larger tube than the Potter (the Potter slides snugly into the tube of the Trad making storage that much easier). My Potter dates to the Ventana, CA days if that makes any difference. Gumby's description works as well as any words I could come up with for the Potter. As mentioned above, I find it "soft sounding" and relatively quiet and good for learning tunes and practicing when others are in earshot. The Trad has more "character" and "grit" and seems, while playing, to be a bit louder. They are both worth trying and, in my case, keeping.

While I don't want to judge your pocketbook, they're both inexpensive and worth buying and testing. Then sell on one—or both—depending on what you like.

Several folks here have hinted that it's really difficult to advise as we know how, what, where, and why we play, but can't put our experiences into your context. Asking someone else to describe differences and preferences is a bit of a hollow task. It's only you who can judge what you like and don't like. And given this gathered crew, you'll get ten different answers on five different whistles, all based on our personal preferences.

Best wishes.

Steve

[MichaelRS]

Oh yes, I know so much "depends" when asking for advice or opinions in these type of matters. But one can certainly gather trends. I mean if >80% have people where saying something along the lines of

"The O'Brian's are pot metal junk and they sound like you're in a typhoon for all the breathiness when you play it and you can forget about trying anything in the second octave. I have no idea how he sells half of what he does."

That is obviously one trend. Versus 80% people saying,
"I have a score of high D whistles and the O'Briain is in my top 3 go to whistles because of its great even sound"

So yeah, I don't take any one word as gospel. Just looking for the trends in the opinions from people who had practical experience with it.

With that in mind, anybody have anything in particular negative to say about some aspect of the playability with the O'Briain?
something didn't work out as well as you thought it would?

[Steve Bliven]

With that in mind, anybody have anything in particular negative to say about some aspect of the playability with the O'Briain?

They don't play well under water....

Best wishes.

Steve

[MichaelRS]

With that in mind, anybody have anything in particular negative to say about some aspect of the playability with the O'Briain?

They don't play well under water....

Best wishes.

Steve

Damn! Well, there goes that idea.

[PlanxtyPipes]

With that in mind, anybody have anything in particular negative to say about some aspect of the playability with the O'Briain?
something didn't work out as well as you thought it would?

I've mentioned this before but I'll say it again just in case you haven't come across it in your searching the forums....I was not expecting how sensitive to breath control the O'Briain is when I bought it. This is absolutely NOT a negative in my opinion but it is something to be aware of so your expectations are right. I had heard it required breath control, but being that I had never played a whistle that was so easy-blowing I had nothing to really compare it to. So it was a bit of a shock when I bought it and it was really hard for me to keep the low D stable and not to over blow the 2nd octave into the 3rd. It takes less push than the other whistles I had played previously. It just took a little adjusting and getting used to it. Now it is by far my favorite whistle.

If you are a player with good breath control, you'll appreciate it. If you have poor breath control it will make you better if you treat it as a challenge, practice with it, and work on your control. If you want a whistle that is very forgiving to over blowing or you are a hard blower in general and don't want a whistle you're going to have to adjust to, you may not like it right off the bat. For instance, if someone said that their favorite whistle was a Chieftain and they absolutely love everything about how it plays and were asking about the O'Briain, I'd probably suggest it's going to be a whistle they are going to have some struggles with and they may not like it's playing characteristics at first.

[Mr.Gumby]

I was not expecting how sensitive to breath control the O'Briain is when I bought it. This is absolutely NOT a negative in my opinion but it is something to be aware of so your expectations are right. I had heard it required breath control, but being that I had never played a whistle that was so easy-blowing I had nothing to really compare it to.

Interesting you say that. This morning I did a clip of the O'Briain, the Blackbird and the Potter (and then decided against posting it to this thread because it was a rush job too early in the morning done without warming up). Of the three the O'Briain was the one I could play freely without having to pay attention or hold back. The Blackbird I have is more sensitive and the Potter barely taking any air at all and coming from either of the other two you really have to pay attention, at least for the first few minutes until you adjust to it.

[PlanxtyPipes]

I was not expecting how sensitive to breath control the O'Briain is when I bought it. This is absolutely NOT a negative in my opinion but it is something to be aware of so your expectations are right. I had heard it required breath control, but being that I had never played a whistle that was so easy-blowing I had nothing to really compare it to.

Interesting you say that. This morning I did a clip of the O'Briain, the Blackbird and the Potter (and then initially decided against posting it to this thread because it was a rush job too early in the morning done without warming up but as we're here talking about it: Potter, O'Briain, Blackbird With the caveat the Blackbird is a pre-production prototype, possibly not representing current output). Of the three the O'Briain was the one I could play freely without having to pay attention or hold back. The Blackbird I have is more sensitive and the Potter barely taking any air at all and coming from either of the other two you really have to pay attention, at least for the first few minutes until you adjust to it.

Ahh! I think that's interesting as well! I've never played a Blackbird D, so I can't really compare the breath requirements to the O'Briain. Honestly, I've been so happy with the O'Briain since I got it I've not even considered buying another D. To this point I've only played a Clarke original D, a Freeman Generation D, a Killarney D and a friends Abell D. The O'Briain had the least air requirement of the bunch and was the most sensitive. As I said, I don't consider it a negative...

I do sometimes wonder how much variation there is between tweaked whistles. If I bought a box of O'Briains would I find some a little more sensitive than others? I dunno but I'm guessing there may be some slight differences since he's starting with a mass produced whistle that is probably going to have a bit of variance. I may eventually buy a second O'Briain so have a spare and compare the two to see.

[Mr.Gumby]

If I bought a box of O'Briains would I find some a little more sensitive than others?

A couple of years ago I went through a box of them and picked the one I have. At that point there was some variation but not hugely so. A year later I went through another box and found one that was very delicate and to be honest extremely lovely, I couldn't really justify spending another €25 at the time so I left it. So, on the next opportunity regrets got the better of me and I went through another box, intend on finding one as lovely as the one that got away. The whistles in that box were extremely consistent and all very similar to the one I already have. I gave up after a dozen or two.

These things are always a bit the luck of the draw but that last lot was surprisingly consistent. Earlier batches had more variation although they were all good, some were very nice. That's as much as I can say about it.

[MichaelRS]

Once again thanks to all of you are your thoughts and opinions and more detailed analysis.
Greatly appreciated

[Mr.Gumby]

~link removed~

[MichaelRS]

I wasn't happy doing this this morning but there you go, we'll dip it in the sharktank : one tune given the once over on Potter, O'Briain and Blackbird. With the caveat outlined on the previous thread: the Blackbird is a pre-production model that has been modified and given a body transplant, if you get one now, it will be different altogether. 3 whistles

I'll leave it there overnight.

VERY cool. Thank you very much. Gives a lot better insight. Were they played in order that you have them listed?

[Polara Pat]

I wasn't happy doing this this morning but there you go, we'll dip it in the sharktank : one tune given the once over on Potter, O'Briain and Blackbird. With the caveat outlined on the previous thread: the Blackbird is a pre-production model that has been modified and given a body transplant, if you get one now, it will be different altogether. 3 whistles

I'll leave it there overnight.

You do understand that you might be the lead shark, right? Thanks for sharing this compare-o. I need to hear it through a few more times to try and pick up the subtle differences but I think I'm still on team Cillian.