Bill Whedon sent me a brass prototype d whistle and has asked me to do a public review. I told him that I have positive and negative reactions to it, and he told me to go ahead with it. Let me say a little about my qualifications as a reviewer. I am not a professional musician, but I have been an amateur for a long time. I have been paid for singing and for playing whistle and flute. When it comes to sound, I know what I’m talking about. Of course, different people prefer different sounds (Steve Jones likes an airy sound, I like a pure sound). So some of my opinion is biased, as is every opinion. That said, I have played a couple hundred handmade whistles, and there are varying degrees of craftsmanship. Bill wants me to take this review seriously, and so I will. First will be my initial impressions of the design, then my impressions of the finish, and finally, my impressions of the playability.

When I first took the whistle out of the package, I noticed that it is substantial. The brass is thick-walled which makes it a little heavy, but not a problem in and of itself. I rather like the feel of the tubing. I don’t like the smell of brass, but that will not enter into the review, because most people do not have an aversion to brass. Upon initial examination, I noticed the blade and window. These are very well constructed! The angle of the blade is not clear in the following picture, but it looks just about perfect, and the shape of the blade seems to work perfectly with its surrounding walls. I am impressed with this aspect of the whistle. The sides of the window are filed nicely, and the top of the window (fipple side) was not bent or misshapen by the formation of the blade. Again, this impresses me.



The hole spacing is different from other whistles I have seen, but not a problem. The holes are almost round.



The plug is made of solid brass, and I urge Bill to reconsider this, because it makes the whistle a little too heavy. I think a nice plastic plug would be better. While a noble effort, the brass plug doesn’t quite fit perfectly and isn’t flush with its surrounding tube.



Now, the finish. I am a jeweler, and the polishing wheel is one of my best friends. This whistle fails miserably in the finishing department. Here is a picture of the plug.



The holes have clearly been sanded with a dremel tool bit, but not a fine polishing one, and not the surrounding areas of the sanding sites, so there are streaks along the tube, around the holes. I would suggest more dremel work on the parts of the whistle that have been attacked by a file (such as the plug), and a polishing wheel with two grades of polish (tripoli and rouge) for the final finish.

I think the playability of a whistle is its most important characteristic. I will say that this whistle is perfectly in tune, and the cross-fingered (OXXOOO) C natural works fine. But the whistle has a tragic flaw. The plug is too small, making the windway too big. Here’s a picture:



Fortunately, this problem is easy to remedy! In other whistles that have a big windway at the top, there is usually a tapered ramp that leaves the window side of the windway smaller (to match the window width and blade angle). So, it is my suggestion that Bill find a nice plastic material and taper the plug.

As is, the whistle is WAY TOO breathy. I think Steve Jones would even agree. It is extremely quiet in both octaves, and the air requirement is unreasonable. This is not a whistle that I would want to own or play.

So, to sum it up, I think Bill is onto something (I like the blade and window, the tuning is accurate, and the thickness of the tube works), and if he significantly improves the plug and finishing, he has a chance of producing a decent whistle.

~Jessie

Thanks for the review. The pictures were especially informative. Any info about what Bill is charging or thinking of charging for his finished products?

I don't know about any of that. Check out his website for information.

http://www.serpentmusic.com/

~Jessie

Excellent review, Jessie. I like the way you presented the pros and cons.

Thanks,

Cara

A fine review from a lady who isn't afraid to say what she thinks!!! Thanks, Jessie!!

~Larry

WooooHoooo! Thanks, Jessie! A frank bit of critique - I couldn't have asked for a better reviewer!

Just addressing the two items that struck a chord with me -
The finish on the whistle was indeed flawed. The protos only got a quick buff with 6000 SiC - no tripoli or rouge at all. Production whistles get the full treatment, including surface scratch removal and filling of any voids around the fipple plug.

The openness of the windway and breath requirement was mentioned by both Jessie and my other reviewer, who has not chosen to "go public" at this time. Neither reviewer liked it. I have addressed that issue by both lengthening and narrowing the windway, to provide more back-pressure. This has the serendipitous effect of "sweetening" the tone (more sine wave, less chiff) and significantly lowers the breath requirement. Although it does nothing to increase the sound output (these are relatively quiet whistles), it gives the perception of doing so, as there is less that is not music, coming out.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the review, and am using it to steer me in the direction of needed improvements, which is exactly why I requested it!

Jessie, thank you _so_ much for the time and obviously painstaking effort you gave to this! You exemplify what this community is all about!
Bless you,
Bill Whedon, Serpent Music

Actually this would be a selling point to me, as the brass would last forever, versus plastic that might crack over twenty years. When I buy quality, I like to think that my grandkids would be playing it sixty years from now. And as to adding to the weight, I'd like that, too. Naturally, what you said about the fit would be a good improvment, but this is just a prototype and I'm sure it will take time to work the bugs out of the system. But I think the concept it excellent.

Okay. . .I'll chime in, Bill.

I'm the other player. Casual player with only a handful of high end instruments, and a double handful of low end instruments. No special qualifications.

I didn't pay attention to the finish, or detailing, but comparing my prototype against Jessie's pictures, there are some significant differences cosmetically. A ring near the windway, a better fit on the fipple block, less scratching all around.

As I said to Bill, I really wish that the high A and B were patentable, as they were VERY easy to achieve, and had really lovely tone. No fear of not hitting the mark on them, and no wincing of husband or ruffle of feathers from the birds. Sweetness is not an issue.

Breathiness is an issue. Nice to hear that you're changing the windway. I was getting nearly as much air 'noise' as instrument as I was playing faster pieces. The whistle is quiet, which is fine, but the air requirements are too great.

It is a substantial piece of brass. My prototype had an extra ring around the mouthpiece than Jessie's, but even without it, I think it would be heavy. Maybe without it the whistle would be a bit better balanced too.

I think that cuts and taps sounded good, but bending notes didn't work. I'm not sure if it was that the subtle sounds are lost under the air flow, or that the shape of the finger holes affected it. I thought the non-circular holes were part of it being a prototype, and didn't give them much consideration.

Soundwise, the airiness has to be moderated. But ooooh, that high A and B are nice! Playability: something in the way of backpressure, and lower air requirements.

And where, may I ask, was the cool Serpent stamp? Hmmmm?

You're welcome, Bill.

Blackhawk, Delrin (manufactured by Dupont, used in hip replacements and such) does not crack. Long after the brass is green and rotted, the delrin would be as perfect as the day it was machined.

Tyghress, it appears that consistency is also an issue to be addressed, but I think Bill is quite aware of that, as he warned us ahead of time that the whistles we received would be different.

~Jessie

How do they make this Delrin stuff? It sounds like adamantium!

It's interesting to sit back and watch this discussion.

If we could just get an auto manufacturer to pay attention...

Jef

I didn't know that, Jessie, so thank you. That would, of course, alleviate that problem.

Well-written review, Jessie. Thank you...This delrin material is truly amazing. It is also used as bridge caps for hammer dulcimers, to keep the strings from cutting into the bridges, themselves. There is a tremendous amount of pressure from the strings, and the material lasts for years, through hundreds of tunings. Its 'slippery' quality sheds water quite well, also...
Best to all.
Byll

Petro chemicals no doubt. I'm sure all the marine wildlife in and around that recently sunk oil barge can appreciate our love of the Delrin......Not that I'm being a hypocrit or anything, what with me needing a knee replacement and all.

Loren

Bill --

If you want to address the breathiness issue (I'm not saying you must, there are those who like that), you might consider curving the upper surface of the fipple plug. Since the blade is curved, this would probably result in a less-breathy sound.