Wood Whistle Makers

[Kedster]

There was another thread in old ages about wood whistles which quickly derailed into "material matters" "material doesn't matter" etc. Let's try to avoid that discussion here and instead talk about the wood whistles.

MacManus, Abell, Swayne, Morneaux, Whorfin, Heikes, iVolga whistles. If you have one, would you care to elaborate - what you like, what you don't like, are there any other prominent wood whistle makers of note?

[Cyberknight]

I guess I'll start!

My Morneaux is quite nice, and not just because it has the extra holes and can play chromatically. It also is extremely in-tune and has a lovely sound (though some might find it slightly recorder-esque due to its curved windway). The main problem with it is inconsistent volume (probably due to the tapered bore). It's very quiet in the lower part of the first octave and a bit too loud at the top end of the second. It also takes barely any air and squeaks easily (which some people might like, but I see it as a downside).

I also have a hybrid session-bore MacManus (the kind with a delrin head and wooden body). It is extremely loud, so it's nice to have for large sessions. Unfortunately, I'm a bit disappointed by the tuning. MacManus makes thick-walled, large-bore, cylindrical whistles, but he apparently doesn't do any undercutting to fix the natural pitch issues that result from making whistles this way. As a result, second-octave D, E, and F# are very flat, and first-octave G is a bit sharp. Overall, the intonation is worse than a Susato. Not what I would expect from such a well-respected whistle-maker. All the same, it has an absolutely beautiful, clean tone and is very loud, so if that's what you're looking for, it might be a good option.

I've tried Abells and, while I like their sound, they seem to have very quiet first octaves as well as minor intonation problems. But I'd have to try one for an extended period of time to decide for sure.

[kkrell]

Abell - don't like the short beak.

[JackL]

I have the following wood whistles in high D. All are tunable. All are very well crafted, so no complaints for any of them in that regard.

- iVolga: the cheapest of them, and surprisingly good - not just for the price. This is a version purchased in May 2023, mentioned only because it has brass fittings and a brass tuning tube, whereas the current one I see now on Amazon does not have brass fittings. The tuning is very even throughout the two octaves and the bell note is stable. The pressure requirements are pretty even throughout also.

- MacMaghnus: the tuning is very good throughout and the pressure requirements are even throughout. Good bell note.

- Morneaux: Tuning is good throughout, but the high A and B require a lot more pressure to reach than the pitches leading up to them. Even after hitting the high B, it is easy to lose it and drop an octave. The bell note is OK, but not as strong as the iVolga or MacMaghnus.

- O'Brien 3 piece: I find this whistle to be really problematic. The bell note is really weak, wispy even. My big complaint though is that its tuning is very uneven from note to note and is pretty unpleasant. I cannot recommend this whistle. Unless you need its really compact format, any of the other 3 would be a better choice.

[Cyberknight]

I have the following wood whistles in high D. All are tunable. All are very well crafted, so no complaints for any of them in that regard.

- iVolga: the cheapest of them, and surprisingly good - not just for the price. This is a version purchased in May 2023, mentioned only because it has brass fittings and a brass tuning tube, whereas the current one I see now on Amazon does not have brass fittings. The tuning is very even throughout the two octaves and the bell note is stable. The pressure requirements are pretty even throughout also.

- MacMaghnus: the tuning is very good throughout and the pressure requirements are even throughout. Good bell note.

- Morneaux: Tuning is good throughout, but the high A and B require a lot more pressure to reach than the pitches leading up to them. Even after hitting the high B, it is easy to lose it and drop an octave. The bell note is OK, but not as strong as the iVolga or MacMaghnus.

- O'Brien 3 piece: I find this whistle to be really problematic. The bell note is really weak, wispy even. My big complaint though is that its tuning is very uneven from note to note and is pretty unpleasant. I cannot recommend this whistle. Unless you need its really compact format, any of the other 3 would be a better choice.

May I ask what MacMaghnus whistle model you have? I'm wondering why it is that the tuning is so poor on mine.

[Moof]

- O'Brien 3 piece: I find this whistle to be really problematic. The bell note is really weak, wispy even. My big complaint though is that its tuning is very uneven from note to note and is pretty unpleasant. I cannot recommend this whistle. Unless you need its really compact format, any of the other 3 would be a better choice.

I don't have any wooden ones, but thought I'd add that I have an O'Brien Delrin three-piece high D. It's the most in-tune whistle I've currently got, with the upper octave neither sharp nor flat compared to the lower at normal air input. It's also the only D whistle I've so far come across with a C nat that's in tune at oxx ooo and that you can push a bit without making it silly sharp. I guess it's partly the luck of the draw – someone else might have the same model and find it not so in tune.

[Loren]

My Morneaux is quite nice, and not just because it has the extra holes and can play chromatically. It also is extremely in-tune and has a lovely sound (though some might find it slightly recorder-esque due to its curved windway).

This is incorrect: A curved windway does not impart a “recorder-esque” sound to a whistle, other factors are at play.

The main problem with it is inconsistent volume (probably due to the tapered bore). It's very quiet in the lower part of the first octave and a bit too loud at the top end of the second.

This characteristic is not really a function of bore taper.

[Cyberknight]

My Morneaux is quite nice, and not just because it has the extra holes and can play chromatically. It also is extremely in-tune and has a lovely sound (though some might find it slightly recorder-esque due to its curved windway).

This is incorrect: A curved windway does not impart a “recorder-esque” sound to a whistle, other factors are at play.

The main problem with it is inconsistent volume (probably due to the tapered bore). It's very quiet in the lower part of the first octave and a bit too loud at the top end of the second.

This characteristic is not really a function of bore taper.

Well, I suppose what I really meant is that it has a very different tone from my straight windway whistles, which I always assumed was because the windway was curved. I guess the tone isn't really that much like a recorder...I was just describing it that way because my friends tell me it sounds a bit more recorder-y to them. But I suppose that's purely coincidental, because (come to think of it) many recorders don't have curved windways to begin with.

As for tapered bores, I was getting the idea that they made the lower end quiet from Terry Mcghee, who suggested that might be the case on a different thread. I also could've sworn I read a physics paper to that effect once (though I can't seem to find it at the moment). If this isn't the case, then I wonder why it is that all of my tapered whistles seem to have this problem of switching octaves so easily that you can't push any volume out of the lower octave. That's certainly how my Morneaux feels.

[Loren]

A tapered bore will cause the octave jump sooner than a “similar” bore size cylindrical instrument, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the low notes on a tapered bore will be low volume. Anyone who’s played a few Copeland whistles can attest to this, you simply have less leeway after reaching max volume on the low note before additional pressure causes the octave jump on a tapered bore instrument.

I don’t have a DB meter, but I think my Goldie and Copeland Low D’s are very close in volume on the bell note, though you can press into the bottom notes on the Goldie, but you have to finesse the Copeland more to prevent the break. Both fine examples of different approaches, and VERY different feels from a player’s perspective.

[Cyberknight]

A tapered bore will cause the octave jump sooner than a “similar” bore size cylindrical instrument, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the low notes on a tapered bore will be low volume. Anyone who’s played a few Copeland whistles can attest to this, you simply have less leeway after reaching max volume on the low note before additional pressure causes the octave jump on a tapered bore instrument.

I don’t have a DB meter, but I think my Goldie and Copeland Low D’s are very close in volume on the bell note, though you can press into the bottom notes on the Goldie, but you have to finesse the Copeland more to prevent the break. Both fine examples of different approaches, and VERY different feels from a player’s perspective.

Fascinating! I love to hear that people make tapered whistles with loud bell notes. I'd love to try one some time.

[Terry McGee]

And we have to keep in mind that there are tapered bores and TAPERED BORES. When I was trying to get my head around this, I came up with some categorisation of the amount of tapering by dividing them into:

Cylinder (ie no taper)
Mild Taper, and Stepped Taper (eg three sections of telescoping thin-walled tubing)
Bold Taper & Flare
-----
Bold Taper, No Flare
Full length Bold Taper

My feeling was the ones below the dotted line above tended to suffer from weak bottom notes.

Still my favourite among my clutch of tweaked 1970s whistles and the handful I have concocted myself is my pic-whistle, an unholy combination of a Pink Generation Bb head (big bore!), a wooden body from my 12.5mm piccolo design, tapered with flare, and a delrin barrel and brass slide to join it all together. So it falls into the middle category, Bold Taper & Flare. The bottom D is pretty sturdy, and can be pushed into quite a hard sound if desired. The flare tunes the xxx xxx partials better (as it does in the flute), improving stability and tone.

The bottom category above, Full length Bold Taper, includes whistles like the Clarkes. I find them too weak to enjoy. But then I find small bore cylindricals the same. So you have to allow for a pretty wide variation in personal taste here.

[JackL]

[
May I ask what MacMaghnus whistle model you have? I'm wondering why it is that the tuning is so poor on mine.

I have an African Blackwood D, purchased in May 2022. Is yours of similar vintage?

[Cyberknight]

[
May I ask what MacMaghnus whistle model you have? I'm wondering why it is that the tuning is so poor on mine.

I have an African Blackwood D, purchased in May 2022. Is yours of similar vintage?

Mine is a 2023 in Mopane. But specifically, it's the hybrid model with the delrin head.

I'm thinking about contacting flute-makers in the MA area to see if maybe they can correct the pitch issues by undercutting the holes. A long shot, but it'd make the thing more playable.

[JackL]

- O'Brien 3 piece: I find this whistle to be really problematic. The bell note is really weak, wispy even. My big complaint though is that its tuning is very uneven from note to note and is pretty unpleasant. I cannot recommend this whistle. Unless you need its really compact format, any of the other 3 would be a better choice.

I don't have any wooden ones, but thought I'd add that I have an O'Brien Delrin three-piece high D. It's the most in-tune whistle I've currently got, with the upper octave neither sharp nor flat compared to the lower at normal air input. It's also the only D whistle I've so far come across with a C nat that's in tune at oxx ooo and that you can push a bit without making it silly sharp. I guess it's partly the luck of the draw – someone else might have the same model and find it not so in tune.

My O'Brien is a granadillo Rover, from September 2022.

[OBrien]

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