Ok, so I am finally certain of the fact that I am ready to buy my first low whistle. I would really like for some input from everyone on a decent (yet inexpensive!!!) whistle that I can get just to play around with until I am certain that I want to invest more. I am going to buy a low D. I am fighting the urge to order one now while I wait on your feedback!
Thanks!
Susato. I hear their low D is acceptable.
But, i’m test driving a prototype low D by Dr Syn which is a great whistle. You may want to contact him to find out how soon till you could get one, because his prices have traditionally been very good.
Dr. Erle Syn: synwhistles at yahoo.com.au
g
I recommend a Dixon. I’ve had mine for over a year and think it’s a great one to start with. The reach is fairly easy (for my average sized hands), air requirements are low for a low whistle and it’s cheap. You can get one for about $70.
A.J.
I would recommend against Susato unless you are already an experienced player. Although I haven’t tried their low D, I did have a low Eb and I still own about four or five in various keys. Although they are priced as intermediate whistles, I think they require experience to play well. This is more a factor with their higher whistles than lower whistles, I think, but the lows sound less interesting tonally than, say, their high C or Eb. So, what you gain in playability, you lose in tone.
I own one of Erle Bartlett’s old line of low Ds from before he was Mr. Syn. You’d have to check with Erle if his new low Ds are like the old ones but this would be the easiest low D to play that I have ever handled. It is a bit weak in the low end, but the ease of transition, mild breath requirements and responsiveness make it a very good whistle to learn on. After I bought it, I got much better on my Overton low D.
I don’t really have experience with any cheap low Ds but others will chime in who have. Oh, one well worth considering is a Howard. I have a low C Howard, not a low D, but it is relatively cheap and has something of that wonderful Overton sound. Unless people tell you that Howard Ds aren’t nearly as good as their Cs, I’d be inclined to go with that, or with Erle if he’s gone into production.
Well I have a fair amount of whistle experience but only with high whistles. I have played other woodwinds as well and so breath is not a problem for me. I just want to be sure that if I buy a whistle that I get one that is worth the money without spending more than I should on something I am not sure I am going to enjoy. (Was that a run-on sentence?)
(Hmm, like Bruce Wayne before he became Batman! 
)
The one i’m trying is copper, non tunable, fairly heavy, looks like an enlarged version of a high-d Syn except for the voicing window (smaller) and color (copper instead of aluminum). Very easy to play, loud and responsive in the first octave, louder and beautifully rich second octave. Finger holes large enough to put your hand through (almost!). No idea of how much they’ll cost.
g
I’ll have to agree regarding the Low-D Howard’s. They respond quite nicely for beginner/intermediate players.
Brian has just sent me 3-Low Whistles as a gift. Soon, I’ll be posting some sound samples of the whistles on his web-pg! He’s a great guy and I would “highly” recommend his Low-D. I mostly play the Chieftains and these are for the most part designed For professional players. The back-pressure can be difficult for some.
The Low-C is very nice as well! - Talbert
Hi Wombat, are you going anywhere near the National this year? I’ll have a stall as usual in the Instrument Makers Exhibition, and will have a couple of the new numbers with me for trying. In many ways, the new low whistles are very similar to the old, brass tube/ wooden plug/delrin mouthpiece, but the dimensions are quite different. I’ve gone to a wider bore in the tube and changed the window dimensions slightly. The effect has been a bigger sound, especially in the upper octave. The finger holes are changed too, much larger than previous, and closer together. The experience with mass production techniques on the syn sop d’s will be transferred into production of these, and as a consequence, eventual price will be considerably cheaper! There are a couple of whistles doing a ‘world tour’ in another place. Mr glauber and Mr zubivka are the current hosts, and I will be looking forward to comments from them and the other hosts before I go into full production. I wonder if there would be any response to a tour of Oz for anyone who can’t make it to the National?
Cheers, syn.
Who’s Brian?
Hi Glauber,
The Howard whistles are made by Brian Howard in England. He’s also a wonderful pipe maker(brilliant)!
Hi Glauber,
The Howard whistles are made by Brian Howard in England. He’s also a wonderful uilleann pipe maker(brilliant)!
Oh, i had no idea. I have a Howard (it’s the only low D i own). I like it, but i always found it hard to play (i keep it because i like the way it sounds). Maybe i have a bad one.
g
Glauber,
The Howard’s are fairly easy to play but they do take some control because of the way that the windway is designed! For me it’s a great practice whistle. At times I find myself not wanting to learn tunes on my normal Low Whistle’s because they take alot of expression to play well. So I use the Howard’s to learn the tunes on then i’ll switch to my Chieftains!
I do plan on featuring the Howard’s on my next cd (Harvest Moon) as a Bonus for Brians goodness! He’s a wonderful man.-Talbert
Howard, Dixon, not necesarily in that order.
I forgot, also the Kerry–is that it? it’s got a plastic
head and a metal body and it’s a great whistle.
And it’s inexpensive. The Whistle Shop has em.
My suggestion would be to stay away from the Susato low D (a beast to finger). Also, the Howards that I’ve played have been difficult to control.
If inexpensive if important, I’d go with the Kerry from the whistle shop, over Susato, Howard, or Dixon.
If you are serious about playing the low D, get an Overton from Colin Goldie now. Will save you money in the long run.
Decent + Inexpensive = Dixon
Kerry’s wiegh in around 75 bucks. Lot of people buy them. I like mine ok.
You can get a cheap intro to the low d with an 18 dollar practice low whistle from Jubilee. (that’s what I started with) Thier copper and brass models are affordable as well, and have a very nice focused sound. It’s actually teh best sounding low d I own.
But my fave has got to be a Jerry tweaked Shaw low d. They arn’t loud or deep. You can’t get a really good C nat out of em. But the thing fits your hand like you’r holding a wine glass. If there was a whistle to learn piper grip on, that would be it. I can play it till the cows come home, and just about as fast and flexible as a high whistle.
That’s about all I know. I’ve yet to spend 100 bucks on a low d. And my low D kick is over for the moment, so it’s not likely that I will in the near future.
Oh, and I have a low Hoover, but that’s in FF, not D.
The important this is to buy more whistles. More. And more. Then some more. You can’t have too many. Low, high, alto, doesn’t matter. Remember, when you die, you’ll be judged on how many whistles you owned during your lifetime. No use going to Hades for lack of a few cheap gens and feadogs. I think the higher end whistles and low d’s probably get you, like, box seats in heaven, or something like that. You don’t want to spend eternity sitting on bleachers do you?!? Even if it is heaven!
Glauber,
How old is your Howard? Brian keeps coming up with mouthpiece improvements and would probably be happy to send you a newer one. In fact, I might write to him soon myself since I’m pretty sure my low C mouthpiece is out of date.
Hi Erle. It looks like I’ll have to miss again this year, although I’ll be in Canberra a couple of weeks later. This year it’s author’s guilt, I simply have to finish the book I’m writing. I’ve been meaning to write for ages to comment on the Syns and order this and that. Well, soon, I promise.
That sounds really interesting. It looks as though you might have kept the highly distinctive features that make the old low Ds really good to learn on, whilst achieving improvements in other areas. If so, brace yourself for orders.
Now that’s an interesting idea. 