I got my first whistle a few weeks ago and am still learning to play. The one I got was a very cheap starter (Waltons) D and recently I got an Oak C. I’ve noticed that the Oak is much better, no surprise. I am getting ready to get a better D and I am wondering which I should get. I’ve seen a few threads here mentioning Clarke. Is there a big difference in quality or is it mostly personal preference? I can get an Oak at a local store but I’m not sure that they have Clarke. I’ll order online if it’s better.
Later on I’ll get into higher quality whistles, but I want to improve my ability to play first. I’m sure I’ll be here a lot. I play daily as long as I can get the time.
Hi Barry. I own a Clarke as well as some high end Alba whistles. I love my Albas but I still enjoy playing my Clarke. I like the sound of the Clarke, and in my opinion it is an excellent whistle for the dollar. I had a Waltons which I didn’t like at all, and a Generation that wasn’t much better. I say go for the Clarke. I have heard it said that the Clarke are very consistent in quality too.
Buying whistles is fun. As you spend more time working on your skills, you will be amazed at how much your whistles will improve in character too. When I was new to whistling, one of my cheap whistles was horribly out of tune on a few notes and had poor control between the octaves. A year later, when I picked up the whistle again, the whistle seemed to have worked out all those kinks.
Each whistle has it’s own character. Experience with whistling and experience with a particular whistle are both necessary to make a particular whistle sing.
What songs are you working on? What do you plan on doing with whistling? Do you keep a whistle in your car and other handy places?
I highly recommend the Dixon Trad ($26 or so). it is my go-to whistle now.
The Walton is a nice little whistle too, but it got infinitely better sounding when I did the poster putty tweak found here: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/tweak.html
Another option: Jerry Freeman tweaked whistles. These are extraordinarily
good whistles at a low price, you could happily play one of these
if you were a professional.
You can find them online at The Irish Flute Store.
I can’t speak from too much experience, but in my short time playing, I’ve gathered a few whistles.
The only Walton I have is a tweaked Freeman whistle, and it’s hands down my favorite right now. I have a basic Oak Classic in C, which has a really nice tone, too. I’ve got a couple of Clark Sweetones, one in D, and a Freeman tweaked in C. Interestingly, I prefer the sound of the untweaked D over the C in the Sweetone. It could be my lack of experience, not giving the tweaked whistle the proper love, or it could just be the difference between the C and D in the Sweetone, I don’t know. My Susato D has a nice, warm tone, and I love playing that one for slower tunes. Gives them a nice thoughtfulness, methinks.
Basically, I’m trying to guide you into a WhOA lifestyle. Buy everything! They’re cheap enough (so long as you aren’t going high-end) that you really can afford to pick up just about one of everything. They all sound so different from one another that it’s really a joy to discover where one whistle shines over another. You may well find yourself picking up a different whistle for every song.
Oak is my favorite cheapie. Since you have them nearby pick one up, they’re around $12, take it home and play it for five minute before judging. I find that when they’re cold they sound scratchy and then they warm up to be a sweet little whistle. If you like you can do the tweaking stuff per the section on the main website. I always do, but it may have more to do with the perceived need to mess with it than the fact that it really makes a huge difference.
Recently I’ve been working on some holiday songs; I Saw Three Ships, Here We Come A Wassalling, Child In The Manger, Joy To The World, etc. I’ve also been working on Danny Boy, The Minstrel Boy, Whiskey In The Jar, Planxty Irwin, and I’ve tried Drowsy Maggie a couple of times. I am trying to work out more of the basics and get some more experience before I move on to the stuff that you have to just “know how to play”. By that I mean the ones that are so fast that you can’t take time to think about fingerings and such, you just do it.
I’m having a lot of fun, I just get frustrated with the whistle. I’m sure some of it is still inexperience. But I can play the same song on the Walton D and the Oak C and I’ll have MUCH better results on the Oak every time. I like the tone on it better too, but it’s not a fair comparison IMO since one’s a C and one’s a D.
I plan to have a bunch of whistles and I’ll experiment like others have said. They’re cheap enough to keep adding the collection. I just want to get something in the beginning that will produce a good sound and not make me want to pull out my hair. I am getting a new D in the new day or two and maybe even a new C. I found a set of C and D Clarke’s on ebay for $25, along with another book of music. I may do that this week and then try some of the other suggestions here.
I might try the tweak after I have a new D. I don’t want to screw it up and then not have one to play. I’ve been playing almost every day for about a month now. I’m seeing an improvement already but I still have a long way to go and a better instrument will help.
I loved my Waltons C, till it flel outta my pocket on the bike…
My D is okay, not great, it sounds nice in some songs. Crushing the end with your hand a little will fix the tuning some.
I started on a Feadog, right now my D is a Feadog head on a Gen body (dog’s body bent, gen’s head cracked, so I figured why not), and I love it.
Glad you’ve started whistling. You’re gonna get frustrated, not able to get the sound you want at first (tho you’re right that some whistles are more forgiving than others), but I’m glad you realize that already. Keep going at it, and show us how you progress
