First of all I'm an amateur, and a poor one at that, but I love my whistles, own a bunch, low D to Sorano D: Overton, Burke, Susato, Ralph Sweet, Clark, Walton, and now a Carbony. Each has it's own personality, as you all alread know. Anyway, my new Carbony A arrived yesterday (only took 4 days). It's the second tapered whistle I have, the other is a Clark Soprano D. The first thng I noticed is the nice "Tarten" bag it comes comes in. The next thing is it's simple appearance. All the tuning adjustments are done by moving the head piece which is made of Delrin and hard rubber with a bag pipe design on it. The head piece also has a number on it. What that's for, I don't know. If you've ever seen a bicycle frame of anything else made of carbon fiber, you'll know what the cross weave pattern on the tube looks like. Mine had a few slight marks on it that looked like they could be "machining" makes, but I'm not sending it back. Your fingers may get tired from playing it, but not from holding it. It's very light. It weigh's about a gram more that my Clark D on my kitchen scales. The head piece is a little heavier than the tube. The curved mouth piece and wind hole are a little narrower than most others, fits easily on the lips.
Playing this whistle seemed fairly easy. I think, but I'm only guessing, that the narrower wind and sound hole have something to do with that. Smaller holes allow less wind. I had to give a little tounge and push to get the third A, but that's not unusual. The sound volume varied with breath pressure, but wasn't loud enough to make my cat run away. It had a warm, mellow sound kind of like a wooden whistle or that of a wide bodied version. Sounded nice in my kitchen. I can't say if it would stand out amongst other instruments, you'd have to consult a real musician who plays with others for that information. My only concern is that it had a noticable windy sound the higher up the scale I played. The cost was about what you'd pay for a Michael Burke of the same Key, or three times that of a Susato of the same key. Over all I have a positive view of it.
