Hello,
I am planning on buying my first Low D and would appreciate any suggestions on what one to purchase.
I would prefer something in the lower to medium price range and something not requiring to much of a finger stretch.
Cheers
I find my susato to check those boxes. I also like how it sounds and plays.
You can’t beat the tapered bore Dixon Low D for price and short finger stretch. It’s easy to play, doesn’t take much breath, the holes and nicely rounded and reasonably small, it plays comfortably up into the third octave should you wish to go there and has a reasonable tone. It’s a great first Low D and may be the only one you ever want.
I second this with the caveat that I find the bell note to be rather weak.
I don’t have a problem with the bell note though it is a little weak. However, it allows for the easy second and third octaves. But the fipple is such that it can easily be tweaked to create a stronger bell note and harder to reach upper second octave by the insertion of a thin piece of card into the windway. The way to do it is mentioned elsewhere in C&F forums . . . but it does give the Dixon the unusual advantage of some flexibility in how exactly it is set up.
You know the old saying “you get what you pay for”? In Low D whistles it might be re-worded “you get what you stretch for”.
Take a look at a number of Low Ds from various makers
Note that they all have pretty much the same finger spacing. This isn’t an international conspiracy. It’s due to the fact that no maker can defy the compromises forced by the laws of acoustics and the size of the human hand.
Using a tapered bore allows the lower-hand holes to be brought closer together, seen in the Dixon above. The others, with straight bores, have similar spacing. Note the uber-huge F# hole on the Susato, it’s a Susato thing, and some people have trouble with it.
The Dixon combination of closer holes, smaller holes, narrower tube, and lighter weight makes it by far the most ergonomic and comfortable Low D to play. But magic comes with a price! And it has the least volume of any Low D I’ve tried. My biggest complaint about the Dixon is the flat 2nd octave.
I wish I had had my Goldie at the time of this photo, because the Goldie has slightly closer spacing than the straight-bore whistles above but has good volume. It probably comes in as the second-most ergonomic Low D I’ve tried.
I wish I had had my Goldie at the time of this photo, because the Goldie has slightly closer spacing than the straight-bore whistles above but has good volume. It probably comes in as the second-most ergonomic Low D I’ve tried.
I would have to agree. The Goldie Low D is my main whistle, but I also use the wonderful tapered bore Dixon for transcribing tunes at my home desk. Both are very easy to play. But Goldies/Overtons weren’t always so easy to finger. The old Overtons had a much longer stretch and I wonder what has been compromised by the shorter reach. Is it volume, tone, intonation. What exactly did the old long-stretch Overtons do better?