Is anyone here familiar with this maker or his whistles?
www.mid-east.com has cane whistles for really cheap.
Most of the time they’re decent. Sometimes they’re spectacular, and sometimes they’re less than playable.
Hi Daryl! I think his whistles (or was it his flutes?) have been talked about a few times on the boards… have you done a forum search? I know that function can be somewhat difficult to use, but you may have some success. I haven’t had any personal experience with his instruments, otherwise I would comment. Good luck to you!
~Ad
He is known by several on the list, I think. Seems like the comments I’ve heard, regarding the whistles in particular, was that the mouthpiece was Susato, and one just as well get a plain Susato, as far as playability and sound go, though surely the bamboo is visually attractive.
Thanks, everyone!
I’ve had a bit of trouble with the search function sometimes, but I’ll try it again on this one.
Okay, I think I’m finally getting the hang of the search feature here – getting a lot more relevant hits now.
Erik’s flutes and whistles have been mentioned quite a bit in the past, most reviews I’ve seen so far look favorable.
Thanks!
I had a sort of negative experience with him. He tried to raise his prices on me while we were discussing my needs and order. It took a couple of months because of his traveling, but that left a bad feeling.
Not that it is critical, but his musical knowledge was such that he could not tell me where on a piano keyboard his whistle ranges were located.
I am glad I found this site before purchasing any whistles.
Thanks for the extra info. This may swing my decision. I wasn’t really in the market anyway – I just picked up a bamboo D somewhere else that I’m totally in love with. But I still look. His Arabic flutes intrigued me. 
I’m learning, finally, to check here before I buy.
. – Daryl
Yup..in the olden days, he used to use a Susato head and make a bamboo body. I don’t know if the head is still susato, but if so, it wouldn’t surprise me. At faires he sells his own stuff and susatos and no other brands. I haven’t looked at his wares in a year or two.
I’ve bought a number of flutes from him over the years, and even once had one of his bamboo whistles. I found all of the flutes uniformly difficult to play in the 2nd octave. The whistle was like a susato, but hissy..I don’t think there was a good seal between the bamboo and the body or something.
I had one of his bamboo D whistles. It did have a Susato mouthpiece and bamboo body. The sound was similar to a Susato but a bit less plastic sounding. It had large holes (larger than a Susato) and was pretty loud. It also smelled nice. It was great for half-holing notes.
-Brett
I’ve got one of his Vivaldi Minor Flutes that’s pretty cool. I’d be willing to trade for an extra whistle you might have lying around! PM me if you’re interested.
I had a high D for awhile & liked it, but ended up selling it - that was like 2 years ago though. I’d be interested to see what he has these days…
It’s wise to check before you buy. For whistles using Arabic scales I’d wholeheartedly recommend our own Daniel Bingamon of Jubilee whistles who makes very nice sounding whistles in modal scales. His Ahava Raba whistles are great as are his various modal minor whistles.
Here’s his site:
Sorry not to have responded sooner. I got sent off on a business trip, then plunged into the holiday weekend and vacation when I got back.
Thanks very much for all your comments and suggestions! I’m feeling another case of WhOA developing…
– Daryl
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Looks like this guy’s making bamboo pennywhistles and doesn’t even know it: http://www.webspirit.com/fluteman/book/simple_bamboo_recorder.htm
“Easy to play…just blow”??? Somehow I thought there was a little more to it than that! 
Redwolf