Kerry Optima review

Whistle
1

Hi all,

I just wanted to share my experience with the new Kerry Optima.

I ordered it two weeks ago and it arrived last week. Thats 1 week packing and shipping from the UK to Asia. I was so happy with that aspect of the purchase. (I also ordered from another maker and that piece of junk arrived in 3 months) So anyway, i open the package and it was like pulling Excalibur from the stone. Not that it was difficult, but that it shone with such a majestic beauty! Surely it was sent from the gods! The metallic silver body glimmered as I turned it over in my hands. I stood in awe for a moment taking in the craftsmanship, the finely polished aluminum, the weight; light, but substantial. Then naturally, I brought it to my lips and began to play. The low notes hummed and reverberated through my apartment. The highs sang out easily and without a shrillness common to other whistles. It was easy on the lungs, a breath of air lasting nearly as long as it would on my high Ds. Tune after tune erupted from this work of art and I began to suspect it was enchanted in some way. Never has my playing sounded so lovely. The neighbors have already disagreed twice, but what do they know? They listen to pop music. I found myself playing for sometime, not registering the time as the minutes passed. When I finally put it down, I knew that it was without a doubt the best 99 pounds Ive ever spent.

That other whistle? I wont slander the maker publicly, but suffice it to say it was returned for a refund (long story there. Too many swear words, too.)

In conclusion, the Kerry Optima is brilliant. And thats my two cents.

2

congrats!! Its great when you spend your cash, and get something you are happy with. I got 2 low whistles last week. One I will keep the other I will return. The more Mass produced is the one I will keep, “to me” it has a nicer clearer tone in F#E,D in the the 2nd.
the other has a great low octave, but even with , focusing it still is much more airier, hissier than the other, no a design flaw, just not what my ear wants.
again congrats, and hope you keep having fun.
Steve

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Hello Mixmo, and welcome to the forum! I liked your heartfelt review! Yes, congrats on finding a whistle that you love to play-it’s not always that easy. :thumbsup:

Until today, I would not have been able to comment further on your whistle choice, but since my Kerry Optima just arrived this morning, I can say without reservation, that it works great for me too!

I am delightfully surprised that such a lower priced whistle can sound very close to what is a pro level whistle, and had been one of my favorites-a Kerry Pro, until I had to sell it not long ago when I needed some cash. But this Optima, sounds very much like it-easy to tell it’s from the same pedigree, anyway, and it’s very pleasing to play and hear. It has a lot of character to the tone, and plays easily with really good response. Though, just looking at the fipple, or headpiece, you can see why it sounds like a Kerry Pro-same basic design, just in plastic instead of aluminum alloy. I do believe the Kerry Pro is still a better whistle overall (stands to reason-it’s hand made), but this one is close enough for me, for now, and a fantastic whistle for the money spent.

So, I’m sold! My hat is off to Phil Hardy once again, for making the Optima happen-way to go Phil, and thank you! I even feel very lucky to have gotten it on sale for 59 GBP, which in USA terms is about $100, shipped! If they are still on sale (and just checking, it looks as the blue tint still are), now might be a very good time to get one, if you were considering an Optima before.

http://www.kerrywhistles.com/store.php

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@ whistling archer: I have another low d too. A mass produced one if you will. I like it as well, but for different reasons. Its louder so good for the session, but theres something lacking in the tone. I dont know, not as “gentle”? But thats not meant to be negative. Still love that whistle!

@ green spider web: Thanks for the welcome. Yea, I saw the sale and Im little miffed that I didnt wait a couple weeks! Oh well, such is life. But can you believe 59£ for that?? Its totally worth it. If its great at 99£, then 59 is a steal!

Additionally, two side notes. I emailed Phil and he said he might consider a green tint clear head piece for all those who like green. :slight_smile:
And I just got the Chieftain Mezzo D as a birthday present and holy crap! He’s not joking when he says its loud!

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Yep, 59 pounds is a steal, for sure for the Optima on sale, and 99 is still a good price. If you’re enjoying it as much as you are (and I am), it’s probably worth more to us.

Heh, my Optima arrived on my birthday, so I’m considering it my birthday present too. Should get something for living this long, and Happy Birthday to you too! Enjoy your high D-that’s just not for me-loud and high!

A clear green tint would be cool for the Optima, yes (depending on the green)! But despite the reference to the color in my screen name, I actually prefer the blues! :wink:

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I concur with the comments above. I’ve been playing an Optima Low D for the past couple of months and it’s excellent.

The Optima was intended as a ‘stop gap’ until I upgraded to a (ostensibly) better whistle (if I made reasonable progress with my playing).

No need the Optima gives me all I need so I will be sticking with it.

(I am tempted by the new V4 Chieftain though, I’m awaiting feedback from the current ‘tour’ before I commit to purchase)

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I’ve had an email from Kerry Whistles today (Fri 15th in UK) stating that it’s the last day of the £59.00 Blue Tint Optima sale.

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Just in case someone was considering an Optima on sale (blue tint)-apparently it’s the last day at the sale price. I’m still well pleased with mine!

Oh, and also, another Optima player PM’d me and said he had found a good cross fingering for 2nd octave C#:

000xx0 gives a very stable second octave C# (try it you’ll be amazed)

I haven’t been playing much up in the nether reaches as yet, so haven’t tried it, but I’m sure it’s as he says it is.

Anyway, carry on! Just wanted to pass on the FYI.

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I bought a blue tint Optima yesterday. At that price, I could hardly refuse. By all accounts, the Optima is a very quiet whistle, but I don’t mind.

I did own a Chieftain Mezzo D for a while, but it took crazy amounts of wind to push those loud notes out, so I sold it.

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Good for you, Ubizmo! Yes, it’s hard to pass up a nice low D for that price.

I would not say the Optima is a quiet whistle, but more of a medium volume. Even the low notes surprised me how nice and substantial they are in person. It takes less air than many others, so you certainly won’t need Zeppelin sized lungs to play it! It can be played quieter, but it sounds and responds best when giving it a push (but it’s not hard to play either).

Edit: Just spent some time with the Optima tonight away from home, and got to explore the upper reaches of the 2nd octave-the high A and B are very loud, and not that easy to sound. But like anything else, with practice it gets easier. I won’t be playing up there much in my apartment though, this I now know!

Good luck with the wait now-it took 2 weeks for mine to arrive, and I’m just a bit North of you here!

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I find second octave A ok but loud, to get the B above it without a real shriek XOXXXX works.

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Still annoyed that I missed the sale!! Arrgh! :moreevil:

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Thanks! That’s quite helpful, since I have a habit of leaving my pinky on the bottom hole, and XOO OOX makes a noisy honk.

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Yes, thanks Tom. I’ll check it out when there’s no one around, next time! But, that cross fingering works great on my Reviol for Bb in the lower octave, and seems to work on the Optima for low Bb too. By ear, that is-not using a tuner.

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I’m going to add my impressions of the Optima, now that I’ve had it for a week or so.

First and most important: I really like this whistle!

I have a few other low Ds: A Chieftain V3, a Dixon polymer (slightyly tapered bore), and a Guido Gonzato Low-Tech. I used to own a Kerry Pro, but sold it.

The tone of the Optima is just about ideal, for my purposes. It’s breathy enough to sound unmistakably like a whistle. The V3 is similar in tone but needs a lot more air. The Dixon is the most breath-frugal of the lot, but the Optima is a close second. The reason why I sold the Kerry Pro was that it just emptied my lungs too fast. The Optima strikes a nice balance between the husky sound of the V3 and the low breath requirement of the Dixon.

The Dixon, as you’d expect from a low-breath whistle, can’t be pushed at all. The Optima can be, and I agree that the results are more pleasing when it is pushed a bit.

The intonation of the Optima is very good, and it’s tuneable anyway. The V3 tends to be noticeably flat, even when warmed up.

I have no trouble in the second octave, up to A, but the B takes a little work, as others have pointed out. It has a slight tendency to “bark”. On the other hand, the more I play it, the less of an issue it is. If I needed a long, sustained high B (For what? Danny Boy?), I’d use the alternate fingering suggested above, just to take the edge off. Otherwise, the standard fingering is fine. It’s just a matter of learning the right amount of breath to put into it.

The tone holes are very slightly smaller than those on the V3, but not so much smaller to make half-holing problematic. In contrast, getting that Eb for “Crested Hens” or “Bachelor’s Walk” on the Dixon is a challenge. No problem on the Optima.

The bell note is okay, but certainly not bold. It’s definitely stronger on the V3.

Like all whistles, the Optima makes compromises, but it has quickly become my favorite low D. Before it arrived, I was mostly playing the Dixon, but I found it a bit lacking in tone and has an overall “weak” sound and feel. The Guido Gonzato whistle has excellent intonation and is very responsive, but it has what I’ll call a “reedy” tone that sounds a bit like an Irish flute. It’s not bad, but not what I’m looking for in a low whistle. The Optima hits what is, for me, the sweet spot. The intonation is excellent; the tone is what I want. The bell note and high B are less than ideal but I can put up with them in exchange for everything else that I like about the whistle.

Incidentally, the way the high B plays on the Optima is nearly identical to what I experienced when I tried out the MK Kelpie. I only had a short time of playing the Kelpie, so my recollection could be off, but that’s what struck me about it.

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Glad to hear you like your Optima a lot too, and nice review, Ubizmo! And yes, I agree-it’s very “whistley” sounding, and has a good hoot to it-and I have come to appreciate that difference as well, compared to a lot of other whistles, and flute. It does have alot of things going on in the tone-some would say overtones.

I’d also like to point out that in your reference to the Kerry Pro-that isn’t the whistle you had before and sold-I remember you commenting on your Kerry (plastic head) Low D before, about how much air it took, and selling it. Kerry Pros do not require that much air, and are an entirely different whistle-being handmade by Phil Hardy. The plastic head Kerry Low whistles were the cheapest version and factory made-more like a big Generation type whistle.

I too have since come to the conclusion that it just takes more time in getting used to playing the uppper end more effectively (like most low whistles), and think as you do that I can live with it as is, since I like it’s other attributes so well. I won’t be playing the upper end much in my apartment, but when I’m away from here, I will use it too. Guess I have come to use octave folding more than some, living in such close quarters with my neighbors here! :swear:

About the low end-it may not be able to be pushed hard, but it still has a very good presence, if you use proper breath control to keep it from breaking too soon. Anyway, it’s a very nice whistle, on sale or off! :wink:

Enjoy! :party:

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You’re right! I got my wires crossed on that one.

I too have since come to the conclusion that it just takes more time in getting used to playing the uppper end more effectively (like most low whistles), and think as you do that I can live with it as is, since I like it’s other attributes so well. I won’t be playing the upper end much in my apartment, but when I’m away from here, I will use it too. Guess I have come to use octave folding more than some, living in such close quarters with my neighbors here! > :swear:

I live in what we call in Philly a “row house”, so I don’t want or need a whistle that shrieks. I haven’t taken the Optima to a session yet, but will do so on Friday. It’s fine with me if it doesn’t stand out too much; I’m not exactly a headliner. I’ve used the Dixon at the session, and it’s not a loud whistle either, but it works fine. I always bring a low whistle, since if there are more than two high whistles it starts to sound like mashing cats.

About the low end-it may not be able to be pushed hard, but it still has a very good presence, if you use proper breath control to keep it from breaking too soon. Anyway, it’s a very nice whistle, on sale or off! > :wink: >

Enjoy! > :party:

Yes, that’s exactly right. That low D isn’t bold but it has a nice character, especially when pushed just south of the breakpoint.

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I played the tour Optima and bought one for myself - I concur with all that’s said above - what I find interesting is that the tour whistle and the one I bought are very similar - and after hearing other’s opinions it seems they are consistant and that, to me, is a big deal. Damn good whistle.

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I was playing the Optima last night and experimenting with fingerings. I found that for a sustained high B, XOOXXX works even better than XOXXXX, which is just slightly flat, on my Optima anyway. In addition, the XOOXXX fingering lets you do vibrato on T3, if you so desire.

Si Bheag Si Mhor is, I realized, a commonly played tune where you need to hold that high B a bit with confidence.

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I had the Optima for a brief day before leaving town for a couple weeks. I didn’t get to play it much before sending it on–no session playing or extended practice. So really all I can offer is a first impression:

-The whistle felt fine to hold, hole placement was comfortable.

-It played okay. It seemed a little quiet to me and the upper register notes tended to begin with a “chirpy” sound which bothered me. I just looked back at some of the other reviews. I noticed someone referred to a “bark”. This might be the same quality I am describing. It might possibly be an idiosyncrasy that I could overcome with more familiarity, however those chirpy attacks may be a deal breaker for me.

-I didn’t find the Optima easy to play, but low d whistles are generally a bit of a chore for me to play well (I gave a band mate my first low d, a Howard on which I could only play slow airs, and in his hands it sounds gorgeous). Most of my practicing I do on a mezzo g Burke --the range is lovely and I can still play speedy quick. I would love to find a low d I could play as well as that G Burke. Walt Sweet’s Onyx is by far the easiest low d I’ve tried. I am trying out an MK right now. Although I like the volume and tone quality, the anodized flat black finish is very slippery in my hands–I struggle with holding the darn thing! I really liked the Reyburn tone and playability. As these whistles are all more expensive they may be unfair comparisons. I think what the Optima really offers is a decent whistle at a great price.

Thank you, Phil, for the opportunity to try your whistle. I look forward to trying the V4.

Carol