The Kerry low D clearance sale finally got the best of me. I couldn’t resist the price. I almost feel bad about buying another whistle but I’ve wanted a low D for so long. I hope it’s not too hard to learn pipers grip; or I suppose it’s called easy grip now.
The first step is to admit that you have a problem.
Hello, my name is Maki, and I’m a whistle addict…
Yep…I’m on my way to snagging an Elf Song whistle myself. 
But Jerry Freeman assured me that it wasn’t really a problem! 
Best wishes.
Steve
Aside from the Oz C I’m going to order, I’m thinking about a Kerry Optima in F# or G when they come out …'cause 21 whistles ain’t enough!
If you’re not looking for a whistle in the mail, what’s the point in getting up in the morning. I say the “sickness” is in the keeping of them. Don’t be a hoarder, buy’m play’m and sell’m. Money goes out, money comes in and music get played. It don’t get no better than that.
I want my Oz. It’s been on order 63 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes and 17 seconds.
Jude
can someone tell me about this Kerry Low D that’s on clearance? I found it on the website and 35 pounds doesn’t sound like a bad price. Is this similar in quality to a Chieftain or is it a lower end model? I’m not familiar with it at all. I’m thinking that for this price I should get one for later. I really like my Alto G and would like some day to be able to play Low D.
Seek immediate medical attention.
It’s a mixed bag… the tone of the whistle is very nice and the hole spacing is comfortable but it’s a beast to blow. It takes a huge amount of air and, imo, there’s just about zero noticeable back pressure. I bought one when it first came out as it seemed like a bargain even then. In another thread on this board, some folks timed how long they could hold a note with the Kerry Low D compared to other low D whistles they owned and the difference was significant …something around 25-30% if I’m recalling correctly.
Have you tried Hammy Hamilton’s low D? I find it considerably more air-hungry than the Cillian O´Briain i had years ago.. I haven’t tried a Kerry low D myself, only Chieftain and Overton (recently)
EDIT: The Hammy is much more resonant and powerful too.
I’ve never played a Hamilton. I now have an Overton low Eb and an MK low D to compare it to (didn’t have either when I bought the Kerry) and the Kerry has a much greater air requirement than either of those.
anyone want a Chieftain low set (D, Eb, E)? I really don’t play them. Happy to have them but if anyone has a burning desire and a fair price I’ll happily sell them where they’ll get played. Pretty much ‘as new’ condition. I forget the price. Preferably in UK/Ireland.
It came today! I finally have my first low D and after less than five minutes of play I’m already in love. It’s going to take a few days to get my fingers used to the pipers grip but I have a feeling I’ll be playing this whistle so often that it should happen pretty fast. I always loved the sound of low whistles but when that sound is coming from my playing I almost want to stop playing so I can just listen.
I’ll give a bit of a review of this whistle since I have it and they are going out of production. Since this is my first low D, and my first time even seeing one, I was surprised by how large it is, both in length and diameter. It does have almost no back pressure, but since I have a background with NAF’s I’m used to sighing into my large instruments rather than blowing into them. I run out of breath FAST with it too. It takes a lot of air. I’ve already gotten familiar enough with the pipers grip to produce a song and I love the sound of this whistle. It has lovely response to slight variations in breathing which makes it quite easy to get a very nice bit of vibrato with the breath. This is great for me since I have always preferred that method to using a finger vibrato. The tone is wonderful, though I admit I have no other low D’s to compare it to. It has considerably more chiff than any of my high whistles and I’ve found that I can get any range of chiffiness by varying my tonguing methods. The head is rather large and I can see why the new head design for the optima is replacing it. It feels good in my lips though despite it’s rather unwieldy size. The whistle came in a plastic box sort of thing that was so tight that the head came off in the box as I was pulling the whistle out. A bit of twisting got it to stay on the body and come out of the box. It’s a very simple design but I don’t much care how it looks. It sounds great and is tons of fun to play. I am so glad these whistles went on sale so I could get a good first low D for a great price. Fifty dollars very well spent!
Congratulations on your new acquisition. I am glad to read that you’re happy with it. I decided to pass on the deal based on a previous post but now you have me reconsidering. I’m still not sure what this backpressure is and what to compare it to. My main instrument is a saxophone, I don’t know if that has a lot of backpressure or a little? I also have a Gminor NAF. How does the Low D compare to the NAF?
My best description of what backpressure is would be how hard you have to push the air through the instrument. I’ve never played saxophone so I can’t give any comparison to it. If you take a drinking straw and blow through it you’ll feel a lot of resistance to you blowing. That’s backpressure. Another way of thinking of it is if it would make your cheeks puff up if you relaxed the muscles in them. Something with more backpressure would make your cheeks puff up more whereas something with very low backpressure wouldn’t make them puff up at all. All of my high whistles have more backpressure than my NAF’s and the NAF’s have more than the low whistle. It takes a lot of slow gentle breath to get the low notes on it.
That’s part of it. Intuitively (i.e., not scientifically), I think the part that you’re missing is the dynamic element. That is, backpressure is not just static resistance, but it changes dynamically as the breath input changes with the volume and frequency of the note. And the relationship is not necessarily linear. In effect, backpressure is more like impedance than resistance.
For example, take a Copeland whistle, which has low backpressure. There’s a certain light resistance toward the bottom end. But as you move upwards and increase breath pressure, the perceived resistance doesn’t increase greatly. Which can make hitting the right pressure tricky, with a tendency to overblow. Whereas on a Burke, say, the increase in backpressure seems more proportional to the ideal forward pressure for a given note, giving the impression of less breath control effort on the part of the player.
Thanks for the explanation. Would this explain why I can play one song on a one whistle very well and I pick up a different whistle in another key and I have trouble? For example the cut on a 2nd octave D will sound great on one whistle but sounds bad on another?
I played my first whistle for several months and now I purchased a few other ones and I have trouble playing them. Should I pick one and just stick with it in order to overcome this??
There are quite a few more experienced players on this board who will hopefully share their views on this. I’m about two and a half years into my whistle experience and practice daily for at least an hour so I can offer my experience at least.
After lurking on this site for several months and interviewing whistle/flute playing friends I acquired four whistles to start with. All high D’s but of completely different types. A Mellow Dog, a basic nickel Generation, a Sweet delrin Pro and a Shaw. I discovered that the Mellow Dog was the best all around whistle but that all the others had their place as well depending on the tune I was playing or the skill I was trying to develop. I spent most of my time with the Mellow Dog and less with the others but I began to acquire many more whistles of all types and in all keys.
I own more than 50 whistles now. I play them all at least once a month but some I play every day. My Sindt D, my Parks walkabout D, a Harper C and a Jerry tweaked Nickel Generation Bb get played every day. The Mellow Dog gets played every weekend and lives in my jacket pocket. The Copelands and Goldie/Overtons and Busmans get a weekend workout as well.
When I want to learn a new tune, ornament or skill I play either the Sindt or the Mellow Dog exclusively until I have it down because I am completely comfortable with everything they do and they are easy for me to play. However, I find that the different whistles suit different tunes so having more than one gives me options that make me a better player.
Some folks will say that sticking to one whistle for everything will help you learn faster. I believe that is true. But for me, I want everything to sound as good as it can so I need the variety and I don’t want the instrument to be what holds me back. If I’m not good at playing I want it to be me that takes the blame, not the whistle. I’m also fortunate that I can afford many different instruments.
*A good whistle is not just about price. There are far more good expensive whistles than there are good low priced whistles, mainly due to design, construction and customizing options. But don’t get stuck on price in the beginning. When you can spend the money, get one of the crafters around here to make your dream instrument. For now, just make sure what you play has the sound type you want and is in tune both by key and with itself.
That’s not why I have so many whistles though. I don’t keep them because they’re pretty or unusual. They better be good players as well or I let them go. You have to decide what motivates you to be a better player. Then play as much as you can, every day.
ecohawk
Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly is WHOAD? 
I always thought that WHOA meant stop, but recently it seems to mean giddyup go! A polished green low D MK from Eric, a brass Bb from Michael Burke which I really like and then yesterday my wife told me I should order a brass Burke narrow D for my birthday this Sunday. That should do it…but no. I decided I really needed a low G. The Irish Flute Store is a little richer and Doc no longer has a African Blackwood low G Bleazey to sell. That’s it, no more…ever! Or until I get an email from Stick saying “it’s ready to ship, Send Money”! I gotta go practice, take care.
Jude