Granite Falls New Proto Whistle (Review written October 2005)
Preface
This whistle is a new whistle design made by Chuck Tilbury and was part of a past discussion. The discussion can be found here. http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=33511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15
At a Glance
Whistle Reviewed: Granite Falls New Proto Whistle Soprano D
Models Available: Soprano D
Construction: Solid Aluminum.
Price at time of review: $65.00
Available From: www.ebay.com www.granitefallsmfg.com
How Acquired:ebay.com
Note: all pictures come from the past discussion and are not actually my whistle
Appearance/Construction
This whistle has the potential to be a extremely great looking whistle and from 2 feet away it does look like a great whistle. However, after closer examination, I found that the whistle had a few blemishes. There appeared to be a few marks on the side of the whistle. This was possible from a vise, or something that held the whistle. Also, the logo is really great looking on the whistle. Unfortunately, the logo was not lined up to the fipple. This really doesn’t take away from the whistle, but would like to see these changes in future models. I am sure that these blemishes were due to just being the first batch. However, the fipple, wind way blade, and all the holes are very, very well crafted.
The whistle is all aluminum and feels really great. In fact, this whistle was one of the best feeling whistles I have ever played.
Here’s a close-up of the mouthpiece. The fipple is nice and wide. The whistle just seemed to fit into my mouth. It was very comfortable and feels really great, a rarity with some aluminum whistles. The blade is not straight but is curved.
The tuning slide uses a o-ring to keep the whistle airtight. When I first got the whistle, the tuning slide was a bit tight. I don’t know why it stuck. However, as soon as I got it moving it hasn’t ever been a problem since. It works great and there have been absolutely no issue with it since.
Playing Characteristics
This whistle is very mellow with just a hint of breathiness. Some whistles I have found are shrilly, but not these whistles. I had people listen and describe the whistle. We all agreed that it was a really mellow whistle. Even in the upper octaves it stayed mellow. Speaking of the upper octave, it is very defined. You definitely have to push and get into the upper octave. I found this useful in making the whistle more expressive. One word of caution though. There is a point were you will get both the lower and the higher octave will play simultanesly. This is kinda cool. However, it took about 5 min. to learn how to get the correct pressure for the upper octave. Once you learn where it breaks into the upper octave it becomes a great whistle for tunes that require quick octave jump and still be really pure. I can easily get 2 and 1/2 octaves out of the whistle. Possibly more with practice and high breath control.
Volume: At first, I thought this whistle was pretty quiet. However, I now think that the reason I thought it was quiet was that the whistle was so much mellower than other whistles. It is still a bit on the quiet side but I would qualify it as a soft Medium. (for lack of a better description) I am not sure how this whistle will hold up in a session. I have not had a chance to play in one, and I’ll comment later on this week.
In tune: Every thing seems in tune. No problems in this area. It uses the OXXOOO fingering for the C# and my whistle was spot on.
Responsiveness: Very, very fast. I found my self time and again having to slow my self down because the tune was coming out of the whistle so fast. Lightening fast ornamentations are possible with this whistle.
Holes and Placement: In the discussion previously mentioned, someone said that the F# and the E holes looked too close together. I must admit that they are pretty close together. However, this was not a problem for me. As I said earlier the whistle was very comfortable. All the whistle’s hole were nice and wide. My fingers just seemed to just fall into them.
Air pressure requirements: I really like whistle with a lot of back pressure. This whistle doesn’t have a whole lot. It does have some, but probably would be classified as medium/light back pressure. I can still play for forever on the whistle though.
Clogging: This whistle does clog a bit. I will be treating this whistle to cut down the clogging. One good thing about this whistle is that the wind way opening is quite large and doesn’t take very much to clear at all.
Wind Resistance: A little breeze did hamper the sound a bit. However, it didn’t cut out. I assume if it was a really gusty day the whistle would cut out. Like most whistles.
Summary: I really, really like this whistle. It has to be the best feeling whistle that I own. This whistle will be one of my all time favorite whistle. If only it was slightly louder. That said, I beleive the maker could easily charge double what I paid for it. As long as the logo is straight 
Sound Clips: Coming soon
Any questions I’ll be more than glad to anwser
Matt