Chiff and Fipple Forums

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.

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

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...

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

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...

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.

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!

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-p ... -c-whistle

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

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.

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.