Shearwater Whistles

[Ian Parfitt]

Good day all

Do any of the forum members own a Shearwater whistle, if so what model and key? What are they like to play, etc.

I apologise in advance if the topic has been raised before.

Ian

P.S. I am looking for a moderate cost instrument ( Eb or F).

[Feadoggie]

Do any of the forum members own a Shearwater whistle, if so what model and key? What are they like to play, etc.
I apologise in advance if the topic has been raised before.

There is a useful search facility at the top of the page. You can always use that before you ask a question.

But since you asked... ...If you search the whistle forum with the word "Shearwater" you will get only a couple of hits. So Shearwater whistles do not get mentioned here very often. I am not sure if that would be a valuable piece of editorial information for you.

Feadoggie

[hoopy mike]

But since you asked... ...If you search the whistle forum with the word "Shearwater" you will get only a couple of hits.

Yeah, I tried that too. Just wait 'til that whistle wiki / squidwhistle is up and running

[Ian Parfitt]

Hi Folks

Did use the search feature but it came up with ' No enty's'. Guess I will have to wait for more info.

Thanks.

Ian

[Feadoggie]

I get a few hits. Here are my results:

http://tinyurl.com/yjqdpup

Of course a few hits are from this thread. There hasn't been anything much said about Shearwater whistles. Sometimes silence from players on this board says a lot - maybe not. Pay your money and take your chances. You could be the first to review them.

Feadoggie

[PhilO]

Three points.

1. I never heard of Shearwater Whistles before
2. I would always recommend that new players look at 2 review sites that I like and in any event have some degree of validity - Wanderer and Tony Hinnegin.
3. I searched the name and found a site, which was very difficult to navigate (perhaps my browser?); also there is a stated policy about no returns of whistles due to "health concerns" unless basically flawed or unplayable; I won't opine about how people shouild feel about this, but it wouldn't suit me and certainly does not conform to the guarentees provided by a bevy of the wonderful makers well known to this community.

Philo

[hoopy mike]

Well, the sound samples online sound very nice and there are some great customer reviews. I may just have to order one in the interests of science.

I think it's reasonable to have a no returns policy for whistles with wooden fipples, unless there's something obviously wrong with the craftsmanship.

[johnb52]

Hi all whistlers out there

Shearwater Whistles [ www.shearwaterwhistles.com ] are a new brand and a small one man operation based in North East England. Our aim was to make low cost whistles as we felt a lot of 'name' ones were overpriced for what they deliver. Being a small operator we can accomodate requests for different keys more easily.
We have found that there are almost an infinite number of opinions on whistles as there are whistles and like with a lot of musical instruments a lot of, excuse the pun, 'hot air'. There a lot of claims about whistles being perfectly in tune etc which is in our opinion is being economical with the truth. Whistles are notoriously difficult to play in tune. Each player has a different technique, breath pressure etc. not to mention something I have recently discovered, AIR TEMPERATURE!

I have owned a few 'doozies' from name brands in my 25 years plus playing.

You probably won't find our whistles at the moment on review sites as we haven't sent them any. Why, for the reasons above. Now I'm no expert but I am always very wary of experts on things. As someone once said," Beware of experts as they are 25 miles away!" What one person likes another won't. I think the comments on our site speak for themselves. In the short time we have been in business we have sold a heap of whistles in many diferent keys and have only had 3 returns for refunds. All of which we cannot quite fathom but hey, the customer's always right. We feel the price of our whistles is worth the punt especially for those new to the low whistle experience generally.

As far as the return policy stated on the website, I based that on my expereinces working in retail in Australia and I assume the same hold true in the UK and elsewhere. If a woodwind instrument has been blown ( metal flutes aren't as bad as they are more easily disinfected being metal and germs don't live as long on metal) then they cannot be returned to be resold as new, once blown they become secondhand. Maybe it's not the same here in the UK. can somebody enlighten me please? This doesn't apply if they are faulty or damaged in transit though.

Thanks for the comment, I will clarify it a bit more on the website.

[PhilO]

Thanks for the response and clarifications; I see that you are a new member and maker and wish you well on both counts.

As to "experts," I referenced the 2 review sites as they are long standing and well done with clips and for me personally are usually pretty much in line with my own tastes and observarions over time. Otherwise, your point is well taken.

As to the return policy, perhaps I misinterpreted, but it's really impossible to ascertain whether a whistle is suitable until played, and there are a host of playability reasons for returns - takes too much air, gets filled quickly with moisture when playing, weak bell note, shrill or squawky upper octave, not well balanced, overall too loud or soft, not responsive, etc.

Granted, the above may be amenable to a fix by the maker. Also, I don't usually get whistles for myself with wood fipples (except for old loveable cheapies like Clarke or those that are coated like some Elfsongs) as I generally prefer delrin, so that is not something I'm generally concerned with.

In any event, good to know there's a person behind the whistles. Take care.

Philo

[GordonH]

Temperature is a serious problem when making a whistle and tuning it. I have not been able to make any over the winter because my garage/workshop is so cold and they need to be heated up for the tuning of each hole.

[KatHurdley]

Hi all,

I'm new to the board, but I saw this one and thought I'd give my 2 cents!

I've just bought a Shearwater whistle - I'm dying to learn the low whistle and I was seduced by the price tag at £30 off ebay (I'm a broke student), and the sound clips online. To give you a bit of a background on me (so you can judge what my opinion is worth!) I have been playing classical flute for about 12 years, so I know about breath control and have good stamina for playing, etc, and have been playing a susato high D whistle for about 2 years, and more recently a borrowed Dixon low F. I also recently bought a Dave Williams wooden flute which I adore.

So the Shearwater. To start with I really struggled with it. I found that I just couldn't cover the bottom holes properly far more so than when I played the low F (I have relatively standard sized hands for a 21yr old girl) so if you have small hands it might be a bit difficult. It is improving though so it's likely just to be something you can just get used to. I would say the sound is consistent with the clip on the website, so in that sense what you see is what you get. I really like the breathy, wooden sound that this whistle has. I do find though that it takes a quite lot of air, especially if you go into the upper register where it very easily drops flat and the C sharp is naturally a bit flat. It is slightly tunable - I'd estimate about a quarter of a tone - but I have had to pull it out as far as it will go to get it to play an A440. With a little persuasion it plays in tune with itself so I guess it depends who you intend to play with as to how much of an issue that is.

All in all, I'd say you get far more than you pay for. It's a little idiosyncratic and I do wish it was more tunable, but for the £30 I paid for it I'm really not complaining. It has a very pleasing sound and I find despite the initial problems covering holes I'm getting used to it pretty quickly and I'm enjoying playing it. If you've got £30 lying around I'd say it's definitely worth a go. I think even when I get a new one I'll keep this one in the collection because I really do like the tone.

Kat

[truemendus]

Hi all,

i recieved the all alloy G from john bushby at shearwater whistles.com. An absolutley great piece of kit and i recommend them to any type of whistle player.

The all alloy sounds fantastic and i rate this better than the chieftain V3 .

very happy customer and will be buying in other keys no dought

[crookedtune]

No dought a truemendus first post there. Hmmmm.....

[Denny]

I get a few hits. Here are my results:

http://tinyurl.com/yjqdpup

Of course a few hits are from this thread. There hasn't been anything much said about Shearwater whistles. Sometimes silence from players on this board says a lot - maybe not. Pay your money and take your chances. You could be the first to review them.

Feadoggie

there's also this technique.... google shearwater whistles site:forums.chiffandfipple.com

[Pipe Bender]

If you are concerned about keeping you orders down to manageable numbers, the no return policy on metal whistles certainly helps with that.