Heya I just started learning the tin whistle this past week. A long long time ago I bought a guitar off eBay because I thought I could learn to play it and potentially sell it for more money than I paid for it, seemed like a good deal. After getting it, it didnāt seem as enjoyable as I envisioned. It felt awkward to me because Iām left handed, the strings broke, floating tremolo, tuning, dealing with the amp. Overall it seemed like more of a hassle than an instrument to make music.
After a while I decided to play another instrument and I found this amazing group of instruments called woodwind instruments. After searching online a bit I decided on getting an inline ocarina. It felt very natural in my hands, required no maintenance or hassle, and I could play music whenever I want. So I learned to play and boy I played. Here I am a year later with about 10 different ocarinas and looking into something a little different. Iād never played a tin whistle before but I knew I wanted one They looked fun, fast pace, and easy to carry around with me. So I went on Amazon and grabbed an āOriginal Clarke Dā whistle. Got it home and started practicing it using Ryan Duns video tutorials. The fingering is very similar to my inline ocarina and it sounds great for the most part. The only problem I seem to be having is getting a clear tone on the āDā and āEā notes. E is a little more forgiving than D, D gets angry very easily and squeaks at me whenever I blow louder than a whisper. It seems like thereās a big gap between the breath pressure necessary for F->E and even larger gap from E->D. Iād say I can produce a clear note starting from D maybe 50% of the time while playing D messes up less than that. Seems to occur rather often when playing the scales though. Hopefully thereās a trick to mastering this mystical clear D and I can figure it out
Iāve noticed the majority of the posts about Clarke on the forum are about the Sweetone/tweaked Sweetone so I just ordered the Celtic Sweetone today Does anyone know how they compare to the original? Iām strongly resisting the urge to pick up a tweaked Sweetone or one of those Mellow Dogs everyone seems to be talking about. I had to pull myself away from the cart button Lol. I want to conquer this Clarke Original and its defiant squeaks before my Sweetone gets here next week or buying anything else, wish me luck!
Hello MBalance, welcome to the forum.
I started on ocarinas too, and quickly went to whistles, that was almost a year ago.
Ocarinas are lovely, but I needed the whole of the second octave to play Irish Trad.
Otherwise I would have stayed with the Mountain Ocarinas.
Anywaysā¦
The cure you seek for the low d is simply practice.
Though its true that the Clarkes vary to some degree.
I think that you will find the Mellowdog or Bluebird quite a bit nicer to play than
either Clarke, IMO.
Welcome again.
I love my mountain ocarinas Just got a Warmstone G a while ago. Hind tenor/MO C are probably my favorites right now though.
I agree about the tone- it probably is just a lack of practice. Iām not used to blowing so softly, the air requirements seem really low. My sleep schedule is all messed up. Itās almost 6am and Iām not even tired, Iām thinking of staying up till tomorrow night and setting things straight. Guess Iāll have plenty of time to practice.
Iāll buy the Mellowdog and maybe Bluebird in a week or two after I learn a bit more. I like how soft the Clarke original is compared to my alto ocarinas though, itās a lot quieter and I donāt disturb people as much lol. Itās also cool how inexpensive most of these whistles are. $30 for 10++ of hours of fun playing? Sign me up. Thatās 2 tickets to a new movie with some popcorn and drinks. Good stuff.
hi mbalance i am about 3 weeks in learning the tin whistle and i use a clarke original, i am finding the clarke really good for practice because of its softness and quieter tone and i have got to grips with my breath control enough to keep it from squeeking all the time, although it still does occur, you will probably get to grips with the whistle a bit quicker than i did because its my first woodwind instrument, so good luck with it
First and foremost, welcome to the forum. Itās full of good people.
My Clarke Original is by far the quietest of the whistles I own, though Iām sure there are others out there that are quieter still. It does take a very gentle breath on the low notes, and indeed for even the high ones. It might not be the best beginning whistle because of that, but it makes a great practice whistle when you donāt want to disturb others and it makes it very easy to get used to songs that hit the higher parts of the second octave.
Welcome ā Iām fairly new around here too. I just bought a Sweetone and a Freeman Bluebird. So far, I have to say I really like the Bluebirdās sound. The Sweetone is a quiet whistle while the Bluebird sounds very bright and lively to me and has a nice clear sound.
How does your Mellowdog compare to the Bluebird? I canāt seem to find bluebird samples anywhere on the web.
Thanks for the welcome. Itās doing quite better. At first I thought something was wrong with it but that was just my ego talking to me. Iām on week 4 of Ryan Duns tutorials and Iām learning quite smoothly. I also tried breaking out some of my song books and playing those songs. This Clarke is slowly winning me over. I still canāt wait to try the Sweetone when it gets here tomorrow though. I like the idea of starting on a āhardā instrument, develops character.
Welcome too My Sweetone will be here soon. I love how it is when I know a package is coming in the mail. I get all anxious and get crazy amounts of stuff done to pass the time Which do you find easier to play, the Sweetone or the Bluebird?
Iād say that the Mellowdog is slightly chiffier, slightly louder, easier to half hole.
The Bluebird is just a bit sweeter and more āpureā, a little easier on the top of the second octave.
It wouldnāt be a mistake to have both, but either are wonderful by themselves. There donāt seem to be any bad choices in Jerry Freemans product line. I full intend to own everything he makes and even to have multiples of my favorites. My favs? Mellowdog and Bluebird!
It may sound ridiculous to have more than one until you read about someone who had āThe Whistleā only to have it wear out and not have another. BLUEZETTE, R.I.P.
If you can afford it, save postage and get more than one whistles in each order.
BTW, I own multiple stock Sweetones(3), and a Freeman Tweaked Sweetone.
For the first couple of months I thought they were the cats meow, now I never touch them.
Your likes and dislikes may change over time too.
Well all you newbies are making me jealous, Iām still waiting for Freeman Bluebird. I really like reading how each of you are getting started. I want to play, but, donāt have a whistle yet. Hopefully, by next week.
I learned how to play the piano and the guitar as a kid and only later in life found this amazing group of instruments called woodwin instruments. I think I know exactly what you mean. Welcome and enjoy.
Wood winds have always been my thing. Iāve tried strings and brass, just didnāt get it. But hand me a woodwindā¦ Never had an ocarina though, got to get myself one.
Thanks Sounds very sweet sounding/clean. I just got my Sweetone today, I canāt believe how much easier to play it is than my Clarke Original. The original takes much more breath/seems trickier on low notes/more breathy sound while Sweetone is more clear/low breath.
Looking forward to your bluebird.
I love my ocarinas I 2nd the mountain ocarinas. I also like the muse by Songbird/Tenor inline by Charlie Hind.
Hereās the Muse ā http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QbT_CWDGQU
Probably my favorite sounding ocarina.[/quote]
Iām newbie too and just received mine. I just listened to your Muse = sweeeet! Very nice, bravo
Iāve also been practicing scales/holding notes for about 5-10 seconds. I can manage to get those low notes working better without making a horrid sound now.
My goal right now is completing this āOut on the oceanā track. Itās insanely hard for me to remember >_> IT MUST BE DEFEATED!!!
I just started learning the tin whistle this past week. A long long time ago I bought a guitar off eBay because I thought I could learn to play it and potentially sell it for more money than I paid for it, seemed like a good deal. After getting it, it didnāt seem as enjoyable as I envisioned. It felt awkward to me because Iām left handed, the strings broke, floating tremolo, tuning, dealing with the amp. Overall it seemed like more of a hassle than an instrument to make music.
They looked fun, fast pace, and easy to carry around with me. So I went on Amazon and grabbed an āOriginal Clarke Dā whistle. Got it home and started practicing it using Ryan Duns video tutorials. The fingering is very similar to my inline ocarina and it sounds great for the most part. The only problem I seem to be having is getting a clear tone on the āDā and āEā notes. E is a little more forgiving than D, D gets angry very easily and squeaks at me whenever I blow louder than a whisper. It seems like thereās a big gap between the breath pressure necessary for F->E and even larger gap from E->D. Iād say I can produce a clear note starting from D maybe 50% of the time while playing D messes up less than that. Seems to occur rather often when playing the scales though. Hopefully thereās a trick to mastering this mystical clear D and I can figure it out 
Which do you find easier to play, the Sweetone or the Bluebird?