Has anyone had any contact with Michael Copeland in the last few months? Please PM me if so, thanks.

His last posted activity on FaceBook was this August 12.

Thanks for responding. I've been trying to get a hold of him but get no response from his copelandwoodwinds AT yahoo email.

From Feb. 2011:



If you have an eBay account, you can use Contact Member from his page: http://myworld.ebay.com/thewindweavers/

Where I live, The Copelands are a small group of islands off the coast from Donaghadee - in the Irish Sea. The best music you get there is from the foghorn.

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" If you happen to play a wrong note, next time around play it again to show you meant it."
Jazz Teacher

Michael has put a brand new nickel D on eBay, happy bidding!

Just had a call from Michael, I sent him a silver high D whistle to tweak. Great fun talking with him, he sounds good. He repairs the whistle's he's made in the past and makes new ones in his small shop to sell on E-bay. What a great guy, J.

I have 2 Copelands high D: on one, 'Copeland' is written, on the other, 'Copeland' and Philadelphia' below.

Which one is the older, what's the difference ? ?

PS : has he really started again making whistles ???

As I understand it, those whistles marked "Philadelphia" are rather old indeed. The difference, as with anything made by a craftsman, is that the older instruments were made during a time in his career when his craft was less mature -- times change, designs change & evolve, craftsmanship improves. This is not to say older Copelands are bad whistles -- far from it! My low D Copeland was made in Philly as well, and it is a lovely whistle indeed.

As for making whistles again, that largely depends on what you mean by "making". If you mean "taking orders & produce large quantities, as before", that doesn't seem to be the case. Everything I've heard so far leads me to the conclusion that Mr Copeland is making a few whistles here and there for sale on Ebay. So far, all the new whistles I've seen on Ebay, sold by Mr Copeland himself, seem to be C and D in nickel and brass.

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-- A tin whistle a day keeps the racketts at bay.

-- WhOAD Survivor No. 11373

I have a Copeland brass high D with the old Copeland Philadelphia logo that I bought new in April of 1993, and the brass low D I bought from him in May 1993 has the newer current logo. I also have a sterling silver high D with the newer Copeland logo that he made for me in May, 1994. Those whistles were made when his shop was located behind his home in Conshohocken, PA (pre-"Rementer" period). Right around that time period I spent a couple days at his home and tried all the whistles in a batch that he had just finished. They were all outstanding instruments.

I don't know when Michael first started making whistles, but I wouldn't consider his craft to be "less mature" in regards, at least, to his instruments of the early to mid 90s. I'd like to know his thoughts on that. I once bought a nice pre-owned Copleland nickel D that I was told was several years older (late 80s possibly?) than the Copelands I owned (but I had a bad physical reaction to the nickel and sold it) --that whistle sounded nice, played easily, and had good intonation. I also have a four keyed flute that Michael Copeland made in the mid '80s which has the old Copeland Philadelphia logo. Personally I like the looks of the old logo.
There were a lot of wonderful whistles from any period he was making them.

I intend to put my brass Copeland Philadelphia quatrefoil high D on eBay next week. It is unusual in that G, A, and D are all spot on and it is in excellent original condition save for the usual few dings. It is the loudest Copeland I have ever owned and shifts to the second octave effortlessly and without the slightest squeaking.
Dick Abrams.

Always a pleasure to deal with Michael. My first high end whistles were from the dear departed Glenn Schultz and from Michael. I am sated now with a collection of Copelands lacking only a low E. I'm happy he's found his peace.

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"This is this; this ain't something else. This is this." - Robert DeNiro, "The Deer Hunter," 1978.

I just had a dent in a Copeland whistle beak repaired by Michael. The repair was quick, competent, and reasonable in price. Our email exchanges were friendly. He seems like a really capable & good guy. Thanks to the Chiffers who provided his contact method via windweavers on ebay.

Just letting you guys know that Mike is still at the mdcopeland@gmail.com email address and doing repairs if anyone needs. I have one of his low F whistles, it took a tumble and wound up with a dent on the front edge of the mouthpiece. Mike did the repair for less money then it would cost to take a friend to lunch.

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Jim

I wish I were a Lord Mayor, a Marquis or an Earl
And blow me if I wouldn't marry old Brown's girl
Blow me if I wouldn't marry old Brown's girl

http://www.jimcaputo.com

Though he does sell them on Ebay when he sells them rather than having a list these days, the listings are few and far between. So they are still a rarity. The cheapest Ebay price I've noticed when I checked sold used Copelands was around 390 for a brass one, but they have gone as high as $1100+ in brass. Auctions are weird like that due to who happens to be looking for something when you list. And if you choose the auction option you have 7 days to hope the right person is noticing. The Irish Flute Store recently sold a nickle one for $799. And I seem to remember nickle and brass prices running around the same.

Sunday I was at a session with an expert Copeland player who did not bring an instrument. I usually play the flute and only occasionally the whistle at sessions so I pulled mine out of my bag and handed it over. He played it long and hard for hours. It was a joy to listen to. They have become so rare that many people have never heard them.