Greetings, Introduction, and Sindt Whistle Question.

[Mr.Gumby]

people usually say to go to your local store and try them all and pick the best one. Which is not a good sign for consistency.

Ah yes, parrotting what you read on the internet. Trumps experience every time.

But, as the other Peter already said, what would these people be looking for? One thing I know is that the body of a Generation made a century ago has the exact same hole size and placement as the ones made today. They're extremely consistent in that regard.

A fair few makersm including 'professional' ones use bodies indentical to the Feadóg. Now why would they do that?

[pancelticpiper]

the cheap factory whistles, which people usually say to go to your local store and try them all and pick the best one.

Yes faced with these options

1) go to a shop, try them all, pick the best one

2) go to a shop, try them all, pick a less-than-best one

3) go to a shop, don't try any of them, and grab one at random

4) buy one blind online

I will take my chances with #1.

Though I had a student who did #3 and got a great whistle (in contrast to a hundred other people I know who did that and got a mediocre whistle).

When I started playing everyone played a Generation D, the professionals and the beginners alike.

You tried every one you could get your hands on and sooner or later ended up with a very good one, a convergence of you learning more about what distinguishes a good whistle and you having played an ever-larger sampling of them.

Or your teacher picked out a good one for you from the get-go.

Which reminds me of the American visiting a big festival in Ireland who got interesting in learning Irish flute, he was at a booth trying (as best he could) all the flutes on the table. Matt Molloy walked up, asked "looking to buy a flute?"

"Yes my first one."

Molloy tried them all, handed one to the American, and said "buy this one" which the American did do.

Which I think is the ideal way for a beginner to get a good instrument.

Now about the whistle makes mentioned above, here are my experiences with their tuning:

Tilbury: I haven't played one.

Killarney: I have two Ds.

The 2014 has perfect octaves but odd tuning issues with the tube, which I switched out for a Generation tube, giving me a perfectly in-tune whistle.

The 2018 has good tuning regarding the tube but a flatter 2nd octave than I would like.

Burke: I've had Burkes in several sizes from High D to Low D and as best I recall they all had a certain tuning quirk, most pronounced in the Low D.

Goldie: I have Goldies in three sizes and the tuning is just how I like it.

MK: I owned a half-dozen different MK Low Ds and all had a certain tuning quirk.

Chieftain: This covers a lot of ground! A long history and numerous different iterations. All I will say is that I've tried a large number over the years and the only ones I bought were a couple of the early ones made under license of Bernard Overton.

Shearwater: I haven't tried one.

Susato: I used to own Susatos in a large number of sizes from Low C up to high D. The three or four Low Ds, a Mezzo A, and a high D had great tuning. But the tuning of the other sizes was all over the map, each whistle having a uniquely out-of-tune scale. Happily the Susato plastic is easy to carve, and with a combination of chopping, carving, and taping I was able to get all of them in tune.

[Dan A.]

people usually say to go to your local store and try them all and pick the best one. Which is not a good sign for consistency.

Ah yes, parrotting what you read on the internet. Trumps experience every time.

One could make an argument, not without some legitimacy, that I am doing the italicized...but with all that's going on in the world today, one would be very lucky to try any wind instrument before buying. I can say that Musician's Friend assesses a $10 sanitizing fee when one returns a wind instrument. Makes your $6 whistle not worth returning!

Of the options Richard presented, I've only done number four. There aren't many brick-and-mortars near me that carry whistles. Someday I intend to have a more experienced player evaluate a few of them.

[Mr.Gumby]

One could make an argument, not without some legitimacy, that I am doing the italicized...but with all that's going on in the world today, one would be very lucky to try any wind instrument before buying

We'll chave to steer clear of conflating two diffrent issues here though. One is the parrotting, and misinterpreting, of something read on the internet and the current situation where it is indeed impossible to wander into a shop and try a few whisltes before buying.

[Animist]

Why I Teach and Where, Master on Nine.

I really enjoyed your article on why you teach, and for the brief times I have taught, and looking at the possibility of teaching again, I heartily agree. I also love the "Jack of all Trades, Master of Nine" journey through a typo. I am on a similar path.

Cheers,

Peter Hutter.

[Narzog]

Yes faced with these options

1) go to a shop, try them all, pick the best one

2) go to a shop, try them all, pick a less-than-best one

3) go to a shop, don't try any of them, and grab one at random

4) buy one blind online

I will take my chances with #1.

You make a very good point. In my case I can only use option 4, so I've definitely had more success with the more expensive ones haha. But in a world where I got to go to the store and try all the feadogs before buying I would probobly have much better things to say about mine.

people usually say to go to your local store and try them all and pick the best one. Which is not a good sign for consistency.

Ah yes, parrotting what you read on the internet. Trumps experience every time.

If its on the internet it must be true!

I'm kidding, you make a fair point. Experience is better, but reading a relatively accurate scource is the next best thing. To me as long as I word it in a way that the reader knows its not fully my own experience, its up to them if they want to discard it as illegitimate input or not. And if I was basing what I said on what one random person said, that would probobly be bad. But if its based on what I've read continually, it might at least have a little merit. Like I've never read a bad review of a Burke, MK, or Goldie, and if I did it got long lost in all the amazing things I've read about them. I feel like I could recommend them to anyone who was interested in them, and not feel like I'm misguiding them. Even though I haven't tried them myself. And as long as I told them that "I havent actually tried one, but" while recommending them, I don't think I'm doing anything too bad.

[pancelticpiper]

The point is well taken, here in California one can't wander into a shop at all!

So it's buying blind on the internet, or having guidance from an experienced player you trust.

When I bought a new Goldie recently I felt in good hands, as Colin played various whistles over the phone and we discussed our preferences.

Which, happily, we seem to be in complete agreement on, resulting in my getting a whistle exactly to my liking.

For sure there are some makers who are very consistent, Burke for example. His whistles are amazingly consistent not only from whistle to whistle in the same model, but also across the range of sizes he makes. So in truth if you've played one Burke you know how Burkes as a species play, and can buy a Burke blind and be confident that there won't be any surprises.

The only thing being the difference between his wide-bore and narrow-bore models, you need to play both styles to feel the subtle differences.

[Dan A.]

I've never read a bad review of a Burke, MK, or Goldie, and if I did it got long lost in all the amazing things I've read about them. I feel like I could recommend them to anyone who was interested in them, and not feel like I'm misguiding them. Even though I haven't tried them myself.

I will admit to having done the same thing with vehicles. For instance, I once tried to convince a young mother that a Honda Pilot would be a better bet than a GMC Acadia. Making such a recommendation to an open-minded non-enthusiast (the aforementioned young mother was dead-set against my recommendation) is easy, as you can be objective: reliability, cost of ownership, and whatnot. There is also a larger pool from which data can be gathered. But whistles are a little different in that regard; much of what makes a good whistle is based on subjectivity. That's why my recommendation for whistles is: buy a few and see what you like. Wash, rinse, repeat until you find The One, and enjoy the journey.

And, in truth, none of my whistles have been truly bad. Some just sound better to me than others.

The point is well taken, here in California one can't wander into a shop at all!

Here in Michigan, anything pertaining to entertainment was considered a non-essential business earlier this year. Is it still that bad in California?

On a somewhat related note, there is a shop in Lansing (about an hour and 15 minutes away from me) that has Clarkes, Generations, and Shaws on offer. If I ever find myself in that area, I'll stop in.

[Peter Duggan]

But, as the other Peter already said

Not sure anyone else has noticed what I said, Peter!

I really enjoyed your article on why you teach, and for the brief times I have taught, and looking at the possibility of teaching again, I heartily agree. I also love the "Jack of all Trades, Master of Nine" journey through a typo. I am on a similar path.

Thanks, Peter (at least three Peters on this topic!).