I'm guessing that the high air requirements for the "new Kerry low D" hasn't gone over too well. Got this in an email from Kerry Whistles today. It sounds promising...

Kerry Optima Low Whistle Press Release
In the last twenty years of making low whistles buy hand and in manufacture, I have seen many new ideas and designs emerge from the first low whistle concept. Yet the original concept had always been the best and still is for many.

Over this long period, there has been much mention of recurring topics and issues about low whistles.
Air requirement, hole spacing’s, clogging, weight, tuning and price.

It was then and is now my intention to get a low D whistle with the smallest air requirement, comfortable hole spacing’s, lightweight, non clogging, sweet toned, in tune at low cost, on to the market. I feel I have achieved this ambition with the new Kerry Optima Low D Whistle.

Having made whistles for the top whistler players around the world, I know what sounds good. I wanted to get the sweet point that they all love in a hand made whistle into a whistle that costs less than half the price with a much more comfortable hole spacing’s (with the female stretch in mind).

When I started playing whistle, it was a Feadog pennywhistle which weighed nothing at all, so the Kerry Optima had to feel very light and airy but with a kicking tone that needed no extra air, even right up the top end, just like a proper pennywhistle you can blow all day long.

The Kerry Optima has been in design for the last year and is soon to be in production. It is a plastic headed low whistle with an alloy body, just like the old Kerry but with the playability of a Kerry Pro and with much less air requirement, light as a feather and very, very sweet. I have the prototype and cannot put the thing down.

As moisture/clogging has always been a big issue with many players, the Kerry Optima, being a whistle with a plastic mouthpiece will not have these issues and will not need warming up to be in pitch.

The Kerry Optima is my dream whistle. The sound is easily changed from soft to loud without and perceived increase in breath giving a huge amount of control over any given piece. No more need of that great “ lungful of air and off we go “, just very comfortable playing. If you are already a low whistler, you will find you have more air than you need and may need to take a lot less to achieve the same thing.

Cost has always been an issue. Many people are put off “ high end “ whistles as they completely out of reach pricewise, our new whistle will be retailing at price all can afford and will be available in a variety of shades which makes it fun to.

Keep it simple, make it fun.

The Kerry Optima will be available in all keys this year starting with tenor D Eb & E.

This is the Low Whistle Revolution 2011.

See NEWS for Optima prototype pic.

All the other revolutions of 2011 are going so very well.

But, the good news is that I'm totally naming my new band "Low Whistle Revolution 2011."

"Low Whistle Revolution" ...isn't that what you get when you're an old man and you've worn boxers your whole life?

It's intriguing, and if it doesn't cost too much I reckon he'll sell a lot of them. But if it really is the dream whistle, the divine whistlecation, then I'm surprised he would make it a low cost model - how does it not undermine his Kerry Pro lineup?

Dale, just love the new band name, you should do well with it.
wiz

Might be he doesn't care. Phil drops and adds particular whistles/versions on a regular basis... mostly driven by demand, of course. So this is Phil trying to cater to a particular set of "wants" in a low whistle, that's all.

This is a new line of whistles and if they are everything he claims (in the opinions of other people), then this makes very good business sense.

Actually, to be fair, Phil let me know that he had something new on the horizon right when the New version of the Kerry came out. So the optima was already in the works before the New Kerry was released. I do admit that I find it odd that he even bothered with the new Kerry if he knew he had this one coming out? I have to say I am curious enough that I will likely buy one when they are released.

No doubt a lot of people will prefer a handcrafted Kerry Pro, all in aluminium, tunable, over a plastic head non-tunable whistle, whatever the price or reviews. Compared to most other instruments whistles are so cheap anyway that price isn't really the big issue.

Some might, but the Kerry Pro is out of production, isn't it?

Did Kerry Pro whistles come in an all-aluminum version? I know they were available with plastic mouthpieces but I've not come across one as you described.


I wish that were true but as one can spend upwards of $400 on a whistle, I'd say there's a pretty big market for lower priced whistles, especially given the current state of the world economy. If the whistle lives up to the description, I'd guess there are lots of folks who'd want one ...granted, that's a big "if" as far as I'm concerned as I was disappointed with the recently redesigned Kerry low D.

I think you may be confusing the Kerry Pro with the Kerry. The Kerry is the plastic head whistle Phil makes, which has gone through three different remakes of the head at this point (four if you want to count a color change from black to blue). The Kerry Pro are the whistles that Phil hand makes himself (ie they are not mass/factory produced like the chieftains and Kerry). He does not post the Kerry Pros for sale on his website, nor does he take orders for them. It is my understanding that he just makes a few here and there as the mood strikes him and then sends an email out to his emailing list to let people know he has some available. So if you want one, you have to sign up for his mailing list. The Kerry pro is usually all aluminum, but lately he has been offering them with an extra brass body that you can switch out with the aluminum one.

Thanks. I thought I might be missing something on that which is why I put the question out there. I get Phil's emails but I'm usually not in the market for one of his whistles. I've had two and neither has suited me very well, neither was a Kerry Pro though. So the Kerry Pro is available but in very limited quantities.

Two corrections are in order at this point in the thread:

The Chieftain V3 has been offered with an optional brass body for several months now. I am not sure that the Kerry Pro is offered with a brass body at all, although I have little doubt that a buyer could request one. Phil does put these Kerry Pros up for sale on his site, along with letting everyone on the mailing list know that they are available, when they are available. To lessen any confusion; the Kerry Pro is based on the original Overton design, but it plays differently than a Goldie. The Chieftain is much like the Alba Vibe in design, but it too, plays differently from the Alba it resembles.

The Optima is tunable - at least the prototype in the video is, so I'm not sure why anyone would state that it isn't.

Phil has showed them on his site in the past and offered them to his customers. It may be hard to see the brass body in his photo.


And maybe I am missing something. Where is the movie of the Optima prototype whistle? I just see the piccie of the Optima.

Feadoggie

Thanks.

Here's a conspiracy theory. I wonder if Phil took a Kerry Pro and then did a 3D scan of that Pro head and printed 3D prototype heads before making molds for the new production head? That's be cool.

Feadoggie