Chiff and Fipple Forums

I wanted to take a minute to praise my Reviol Low F whistle. It's taken me a few weeks to settle in with this whistle, but, wow, what a great player. On the standard points of review I'd say: the volume is loud but not overly so, breath requirement is quite manageable, it does have a fair amount of back pressure, the intonation is very good with a standard 0XX 000 for the "c nat" that is spot on. Finger spacing is similar to my other whistles from top makers--nothing out of the norm. The craftsmanship is top notch. As someone pointed out on this board, you can see the small hammer marks from when Maurice formed the beak by hand! Really nice detail from hand crafted work.

The more I've played this whistle and now that I've mastered the octave jump, breath pressure and such, I've really come to enjoy the wonderful tone. I find it very appealing there is breathiness,"chiff" , and wonderful character. It has unique tone quality and expressiveness that is hard to describe--very much whistle like and not so much flute like in tone. It can be pushed to loudness and a firm presence or played softly with a more warm and round tone. I find that I'm not playing any other low whistles and I've ordered a Low D to add to my collection. Maurice produces a fantastic whistle.

Agreed! I put his whistles up there with Goldie, MK, and Burke for several keys. I have a full set of Reviols (partly due to a missed order and Maurice's generosity), so that's an alto head and a tenor head with A, G, F, E (alto) bodies and Eb, D, Db, C (tenor) bodies. In my opinion, the Eb is phenomenal (it's the whistle I tried in a shop in Ireland that convinced me to place an order), and I was just rediscovering the low D yesterday. The C is a bit too narrow for my taste, but I know a guy who really enjoys his. The A and G are powerful, wide bore whistles, with a wonderfully rich tone. I'm hoping to get him to send me a second alto head and maybe Ab and F# bodies, though he said he'd have to figure out the calculations for them.

The only possible drawback is in his use of only two tubing diameters for the whole range, meaning that each key plays differently, and some are pushing the limits of the bore size (like the A, E, and C). However, that can also be a positive, since the lack of uniformity makes for a more interesting lineup. For me, it yielded an awesome A that's unlike any other I've played, since the bore size for that key is typically much, much narrower. The bore size on the G is also large, relative to the average. It's about the same as the Chieftain Thunderbird G, which is another nice low G with a really full sound.

Angelicbeaver, I really enjoyed your youtube reviews. Thank you for posting those.

I have a Reviol Low D coming my way and I'll likely try some of the other keys, likely a G at some point. I'm blown away by the wonderful character of the Low F.

i was pondering a Carbony low F, they seems nice indeed

Did you buy the Carbony F, and what did you think?

never did just pondered, but it is still a ponder

Well, since this thread came up again...

I'm STILL loving my Reviol Low F!!!

Some whistles have playability and tone characteristic that draw you in, as a player. When I'm reaching for a whistle, it tends to be my Reviol Low F.