AngelicBeaver wrote:
I'm considering both of these in the key of D, but I'm wondering about a few particulars, for those of you who have experience with both.
Someone selling a medium/hard blowing Goldie said it had the best second octave of any whistle he'd played. Does the bottom end suffer for this? Is it comparable to the MK?
What are the drawbacks of a medium/hard blowing whistle? It takes less air, but needs more push to get to the second octave (though this just seems to be a practice thing, correct?). Is it also quieter?
What's the difference in volume between a Goldie and an MK?
And, if price were no object, which would you choose (and what color)?
Well here goes...gulp

!
I don't know what "best second octave" means. If he means that the notes can be easily reached then the bell note will suffer. If he means that the notes are simply very accurate, the bell note may not be affected at all. The MK is a very different whistle than any other. I'm not going to use words like "better" because it means that the person offering the opinion has found that it meets a personal need of theirs which may have no relevance at all to what you or I would desire. The MK and Goldie are much different sounding and playing instruments. The MK generally has the easiest to reach second octave of those you've mentioned in my experience with the unusual quality that the second octave really doesn't take much more breath than the first does. However, it also has quite a lot of "noise" in the overall tone, particularly the second octave, that may or may not be desirable to you. The MK generally does not have a particularly powerful bell note, usually not nearly as powerful as your basic Goldie, but it is full and plenty strong enough to meet most needs. Though I'm not fond of the term, the MK does not have that "cosmic drainpipe" which many, though not all, Goldie's do. The Goldie will generally have slightly more volume but that is subjective also since Goldie customizes his instruments so volume can vary. I doubt volume will be your deciding factor between these two.
Medium/hard blower refers to how much breath pressure it takes to play the whistle. More pressure generally means more volume but not necessarily. Practice does help but if you want a sweet and achievable high range, a hard blower is generally not your best choice. But then, there are so many variables to what constitutes a great high range or second octave, it's really difficult to make a recommendation and other whistles may be a better choice for this. I just sold a Lambe which has the most beautiful second (and more) octave that I've ever heard in a low whistle. My Reviol is really good for this too. But then you didn't ask about other whistles.
Color is possibly the most meaningless characteristic I can imagine in an instrument but if I have to answer I'd pick matte black for the MK. For the Goldie I'd choose silver aluminum

. If price were no object, I'd get a Goldie and an MK but I'd also pick a few others (and have) since neither of these is perfect. But then nothing is that versatile so I have several low D's for specific situations and it is impossible to say that either a Goldie or MK is "best".
If I could only have one, I'd pick a Goldie tunable medium blower and ask Colin to give me the strongest bell note he could while still making that second C achievable without too much strain. In fact, that's exactly what I did, along with another that has a bell note strong enough to churn butter and a high range that shakes the windows.
YMMV will definitely vary and I'm sure Pancelticpiper will be along soon to tell you how he loves his MK's. I don't blame him either since they are really excellent instruments.
Ok, that's enough for now. I need whisky.
ecohawk