looking for a mellow sound

Whistle
1

Good evening, all. I’m a piper, but making the transition to whistle. I hope some of you experienced musicians can help me find a whistle that is right for me.
I am looking for a mellow sound. The mass produced inexpensive whistles I have are a bit too shrill (which is upsetting for my wife and our daschund.) Also, I think the quality control is not an exact science.
Most Highland Pipes are made of blackwood which gives a rich, full sound. Some are now being made of delrin, and, although the jury is still out, many pipers believe that the sound is not as rich, and may be a bit harsher. Is this true of whistles? Will a wood whistle have a more mellow sound than either metal or delrin/pvc/polymer? What whistle will give me a good mellow sound, and likely be in tune with itself? I would prefer not to have to spend all the grocery money on a whistle, so price will be a bit of a factor. That said, better to buy once and buy well. (I can live on peanut butter.)
I am also looking for a book or a book-and-CD that will help me to learn. I can read music, and am able to play a few slow airs on whistle now, but I have nobody to teach me about embellishments or to make sure I am not developing some bad habits. Is there a good self-tutor programme you might recommend?

I have read through a lot of the forum topics. This is a great site, and the contributors are to be commended for your willingness to take the time to post thoughtful comments. Many thanks to all of you.

2

Are you willing to try lower-pitched whistles, or do you definitely want to work with the D whistles? Even a B-flat whistle is more tolerable (it is the highest-pitched whistle my cat will stand for, so I know of what I speak!).

You could also try muting your whistle, which makes it much easier to deal with (though I know that’s a challenge for a new player who is also working on tone). I personally use a piece of tape across about the lower half of the tone hole, others like to use a piece of poster putty on the ramp of the windway, and then some even insert a toothpick.

3

My suggestion: look at the whistles by Carey Parks. I especially like his Bb - it’s pitched a little lower and has a built-in muffler.

Pat

4

Clarke Original whistles are quite soft and mellow. Pretty inexpensive, and they can be customized (search for tweaking a Clarke whistle).
As for the instruction materials, this is among the best: http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/index.html

5

Hi David,

Welcome to the forum.

I wonder if you’re looking for a whistle that doesn’t sound like a whistle. I think you may have a long and fruitless search ahead.

Mike

6

The mass produced inexpensive whistles I have are a bit too shrill

Which are…? There are considerable differences even among those cheapies. I’d consider Walton’s whistles quite mellow, for example. But I concur with Mike; and they’ll all be louder in the upper range, and, depending on the key, potentially likely to be perceived as “shrill”… so maybe you want a whistle that is more quiet in general, but probably has a rather weak bottom end then. Trying a Bb is another good suggestion here.

FWIW, IMHO the whistle with the most mellow upper range is the Dixon Trad line.

Some are now being made of delrin, and, although the jury is still out, many pipers believe that the sound is not as rich, and may be a bit harsher. Is this true of whistles? Will a wood whistle have a more mellow sound than either metal or delrin/pvc/polymer?

No, not per se I’d say. The discussion of wood vs. polymer rages on here as well; however, in a whistle the voicing is far more important than the material anyway.

7

Welcome to the whistle forum.

For a tutorial you might consider Mary Bergin’s book(s) with CDs.
http://maryberginwhistle.com/

There are several tutorials printed/CD, DVD or on-line instruction, even Skype live lessons available. I always say to look in your local area for any support from whistle/flute players who may be able to help.

Have fun and enjoy! :slight_smile:

8

Hi davidbruce

As a piper that likes slow airs on whistle, how about this one.

Passing Places - Fred Morrison


David

9

Another thing to consider is experience. Not sure how long you have been playing whistle, but I’m sure we all recognize that starting point where second octave made everyone within a 10-mile radius-- us included-- shriek “OMG CALL THE PRIEST AND KILL IT WITH FIRE!” It gets better, I promise. It will always be high-pitched, and even somewhat shrill, because that’s just par for the course with a high whistle. But eventually you’ll stop having to cringe when you get into second-octave territory.

(Depending on your whistle, the poster-putty tweak-- where you fill the void in the head-- can also be helpful on the 2nd-octave front. I was amazed how much easier it made my Walton.)

10

The Jerry Freeman Mellow Dog is quite mellow. So are older Feadogs.

And Shearwater make a Session (!) whistle which is fairly loud but with a very mellow tone. A lot more fipple than chiff though…


BTW I am referring to high D whistles.

11

I know what you’re after. I had much the same problem in looking for a whistle that wasn’t overly piercing and had a “rounder” quality to it. After many trials, tribulations, and a significant amount of my college food budget spent on whistles, I learned something rather important. People on the forum had tried to tell me this, but I had to experience it myself: the whistle really is only half the equation. I can change the sound of my whistle by how I breathe with it, and whistles I previously hated became very, very dear to me.

However, you do want to choose a whistle that suits your playing style. I find that I like a whistle that doesn’t take a lot of air, and only needs a gentle breath. So many whistles these days have much greater resistance, (I think to accomodate folks that don’t want to learn breath control, but that’s just my opinion). To me a whistle should be bright and clean in tone, easy to blow, and be capable of playing light and crisp.

I breathe (not blow) my whistles from a very open throat and relaxed face. This has helped a LOT in terms of tone. Don’t be afraid of your high notes, as this will increase the tension in your body and make the notes shrill. To me, playing a whistle is best done by relaxing as hard as you can.

Here are some whistles I feel support a player seeking these qualities that I have personal experience with:
Copeland
Sindt
Burke Narrow Bore, Brass
Freeman Bluebird, tweaked Generation
Classic Generation
Clarke SweetTone

And my new favorite: Noah Talmadge. He’s a very new maker, but his headjoint design is the best I’ve ever seen, and the tone incredibly pleasing. However, he’s still working on getting the bodies to tune to a natural playing pressure, so one has to be patient when ordering a whistle from him. His lower keys, however, are uniformly excellent from the get-go. Get the aluminum bodies though.

Hope this was helpful, and as always, it’s only my personal experience and opinion.

12

Here’s a second vote for the mellow dog – just an outstanding whistle that I’ve always felt sounds warm. I don’t get the same vibe from my freeman bluebird (I like it but it’s very sweet and occasionally shrill to my ears) nor my Freeman-tweaked Gen D (not shrill, but I wouldn’t call it warm), but I do get it from Jerry’s tweaked Gen G, A, and Bb (especially the Bb). Re price points, even used wood whistles are going to run you 3x+ the cost of a mellow dog with a C and D body, and I don’t think you could do better for the price than the mellow dog. And the aesthetics are nice – Jerry is now adding a thin brass ring at the base of the green head (to prevent splitting) and the sticker is now gold on a brass body (looks aren’t everything, but it’s an attractive whistle). Anywy, my two bits – good luck.

13

Many thanks to everyone who offered these insightful and thoughtful posts. There is a great deal to consider. It appears from these posts and from all that I have read elsewhere that there are several good options.
It seems that whistles are like good bottles of wine…a $50 bottle may be very good, but not necessarily 5x as good as a $10 bottle. (I know there are some problems with that analogy, but, you get the picture.)
As to mellow, I wonder if a better adjective might be “round” or “warm.” I may well pick up a Bflat, such as a Walton or Feadog. I have a bit of a problem with the seam on the Clarkes, although I do like the sound of the Clarke Original.
In addition, I think I might try either a Mellow D (Walton) or one of Jerry Freeman’s tweaked whistles in D. A Mellow Dog may be the answer there. After all, you can never have too many whistles.
Regards to all.

14

Now you’ve got the idea… :smiley:

(By the way, I vote for the Freeman Mellow Dog as a great starter whistle.)

Best wishes.

Steve

15

I’ll throw in a suggestion for the Parks Ghost Whistle. It’s hard to make generalizations about whistle materials, but I have the sense that metal whistles “ring” a bit more, particularly if the metal used is thin. The Parks Ghost is made of a clear food-grade material, similar to aquarium tubing, but stiffer. The sound is very clear, with no “ringing” or other noise at all. And at $30 it’s very affordable. It’s a bit louder than the Dixon Trad, or the Clarke whistles already mentioned, so it holds up pretty well in sessions, but not the least bit harsh.

For what it’s worth, I also have an aversion to a certain character in a whistle that I’m describing as “harshness.” It’s hard to put in words, but it’s a kind of sound, in the second octave, that has a hint or “echo” of the lower, fundamental pitch leaking through. It bothers me, and I just won’t play a whistle like that. I like a pure tone in the second octave. The Ghost has that. I agree with megapop that the Dixon Trad has a very pure second octave, too.

16

davidbruce,

I’d like to nominate whistles by Mac Hoover.

I purchased one of his “whitecap” mouthpieces a number of years ago. I call it my “peackeeper” because the volume is quiet. Also, it’s a pure, sweet sound.

If you already have a whistle, he can make a mouthpiece for it. Or, of course, he can provide a whole whistle.

Here’s a link to his site:
http://praisewhistlers.org/mackhooverwhistles/

Happy whistling !

trill

17

Good luck trying to find a Bb Walton or a Bb Feadog. If the seam is a problem, try placing a blob of poster putty / blu tack where your thumb hits it.

18

I guess some of it depends on what you mean by ‘mellow’.

A lower volume? A ‘dark’ timbre?

My old Feadog is the sweetest-sounding D I’ve ever played. Low in volume and as far away from being shrill as can be imagined. It cost $6 as I recall. I tried a Jerry Freeman ‘tweaked’ Feadog D which was remarkably similar to my old one. If you want low volume and a very sweet clean tone I’d get the Freeman Feadog.

Somebody brought up the topic of people searching for a whistle that doesn’t sound like a whistle and that’s long been a soapbox issue for me.

Back when I started playing the only D available was the Generation and the tone of a really good Generation defined what a whistle was supposed to sound like at that time.

So it was a bit dismaying to later see a load of people getting into whistlemaking, usually Americans, who seemed to have the goal of making a whistle that sounded like a recorder or a Native American Flute. They were coming from outside ITM and bringing in non-ITM tastes.

I still prefer the Generation/Feadog/etc oldfashioned sound (for high whistles). That sound shouldn’t be shrill! Not in a good one. The tone of a good Generation or Feadog should round and full in the low octave and sweet and clear in the 2nd octave.

Like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdJYbOkbetQ

Low Whistles are a relatively new beast and different makers are taking very different approaches. I recently got a Reyburn Low D with a brass tube body and maple head and the tone is fantastic, very clear and resonant and dark. Puts me in mind of a NAF a bit. Not a quiet whistle, but extremely ‘mellow’ in that it’s low and round and dark.

As far as Highland pipes go, African Blackwood is prized because it’s the very opposite of mellow, giving the brightest possible tone. Highland pipes made of Cocobolo give a darker mellower drone sound.

Many Highland pipers of today don’t realize that ABW is relatively recent in Highland piping. Looking through various maker’s price lists from throughout the 19th century show that only Ebony and Cocus was then used. ABW begins showing up around 1900 with a few makers as a 3rd option, often shown only in a footnote. As late as the 1930s many makers were only offering Ebony and Cocus. Not until the 1950s did ABW become the standard wood. Nearly all the 100 plus year old sets being played today are Cocus or Ebony, though the owners think they’re ABW.

I don’t own an ABW set. I have two sets, both over 100 years old, one Ebony (in my avatar there) and one Cocus.

19

Does he still tweak the Feadog whistles? I have not seen those on his list for some time.

20

It was a couple years ago that I tried that Freeman Feadog. I really liked the way it played, so similar to my 1980 Feadog.