Hello! Long time poster, long time in absentia too. A second hello to anyone here who remembers me from Long Ago.

Most of my whistles are in D and I don't seem to have any Cs that I can locate. I have been away from Irish music for 10+ years and am finding that the makers I knew who made non-chiffy, 'pure' sounding whistles are mostly no longer making, and there are a plethora of new names on the market. So I thought I'd ask here for recommendations.

I tend to like metal whistles, lighter in weight if possible, with either metal or plastic heads. I really don't like the chiff sound much and prefer a nonbreathy, 'pure' tone. Think Laughing Whistle, most Hoovers, a few tweaked ones of various brands. I need the key of C. Are there any brands on the market you would recommend that I check out?

Thanks!

Howdy from another C&F oldie who’s been away. PM sent.

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Giles: "We few, we happy few."
Spike: "We band of buggered."

Wow. Haven't seen either of you in, like, forever. What are the odds of this? Hi, guys.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

Howdy Nano!

Strange coincidence that I happened to browse through on the same day avanutria posted a question (and I actually had something to contribute, even if via pm).

I really should check in more often, but you know what they say about good intentions...

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Giles: "We few, we happy few."
Spike: "We band of buggered."

Yeah, life happens. But it's nice to see some of the old guard again.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

Astonishing... Welcome back to the both of you. The return of you both makes me smile.

To answer your ' pure-sounding C' question, avanutria, my suggestions for your consideration, would be Burke brass narrow bore, and John Sindt's fine offering. There will be those who might suggest the Sindt knock-off, but personally, I feel they truly do not play nor sound the same...

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'Everything Matters...'
Lisa Diane Cope 1963-1979

Hi Nano and Byll! I was glad to see activity still on the old boards here, even if it seems a little quieter than the chaotic heyday of Way Back When.

Thanks for the recommendations, Byll! Jsluder is setting me up with a Freeman-tweaked, but I'm still interested in hearing about makers. I'll look into Burke and Sindt - I've actually never played either of those, though I recognize the name. I was surprised to see a LOT of whistles from China and Russia being hawked on ebay, and amused that one of them is branded the Naomi.

I dug through my whistle box last night and uncovered a gloriously pure D that I didn't even remember, with no maker mark but I think it must be a brass Hoover Whitecap - but it's also a telescoping one! I am guessing it's a prototype he gave me during a 2010 visit, as I don't remember telescoping Hoovers being standard. I really need to reach out to him and see how he is doing.

I always recommend Killarney whistles. I like 'em. They look like a Sindt, but for me, I actually prefer them, and that's handy, because they're a lot cheaper. YMMV, obvs.

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"Only connect!"

https://youtu.be/ezbWVysJAOY
https://tapm.bandcamp.com/

Oh, those look nice! Thanks for the recommendation!

Edit - Oh, man...those sound niiiice.

Hi Beth, good to see you back! Still several of us old-timers lurking around the forums even though we're not all very active posters anymore. I hope you enjoy rediscovering the whistle!

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Regards,
Gary Humphrey

♪♣♫Humphrey Whistles♫♣♪

[Raindogs] The ones you see wanderin' around after a rain. Ones that can't find their way back home. See the rain washes off the scent off all the mail boxes and the lamposts, fire hydrants. – Tom Waits

If I get some Killarneys it will be an expensive rediscovery, but I just have to look at a concertina and then it seems cheap. In fact I need to get my Rochelle listed for sale, that will fund a few whistles.

Of the several C whistles I have, the one with the least breathiness, medium pressure, and very direct tone (clean and without squeaks/squawks), a metal body (similar in feel to a Gen C, but a little heavier because of the copper tube and metal collar), is the new Chieftain/Optima Cobre.

https://www.kerrywhistles.com/product-page/optima-cobre-soprano-c-whistle

Listen to the vid on the site, which is a pretty good representation of how the whistle sounds.

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http://www.toppish.com
https://www.facebook.com/toppish

I know different people will have different definitions of "pure tone" so here is one people can listen to and decide for themselves.

It's at 1:40 in the video, a Generation C.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-fQhvleWq8&t=235s

It's the best C I've tried over the years.

Sindts have a very clean/pure tone that's also "dark" to me, very nice. I had a Sindt C but for me this Generation was just as pure and dark but also added a touch of complexity.

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Richard Cook
1978 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

Are Generations still very variable in tone/tuning/sound?

My 2 high 'C' that I bought a couple of years back are pretty good, as were most of the others.
(I bought all of the brass & nickel keys.)

I also have Tony Dixon aluminium Duo in 'C' that has a really good sound.

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Keith.
Trying to do justice to my various musical instruments.