I feel like I’m posting an awful lot of inquiries, but there’s nobody else to turn to! (Plus, I gotta try to catch up to you centi-posters. 
)
I’m looking for a whistle that has first and foremost, low volume; good sound and easy control over the second octave; some chiff; perhaps even available in Bb or C… and that won’t cost me my entire paycheck! It looks like a Hoover would be perfect, but unfortunately, I can’t spend that kind of dough right now. And I’m not very familiar with all the attributes of the cheapie brands. I’d really appreciate some suggestions!
What about a Meg? They don’t come much cheaper (in fact, I don’t think they come at all cheaper), and they’re very soft-voiced. A bit chiffy for my day to day tastes, but if you don’t mind that…
I find the second octave quite easy on the Meg as well.
Or (here goes the broken record again), if you can afford about $35, there’s always the O Briain “improved” Feadog…
Redwolf
[ This Message was edited by: Redwolf on 2002-10-03 15:15 ]
I have a Celtic Clarke right now; do you know how a Meg would compare volume-wise? (I find it hard to judge sound as its so close to my ears.)
I’ve not seen a Celtic Clarke…is that like a Sweetone, with a plastic head and rolled tin tube? If so, the Meg will probably be similar, volume-wise.
Redwolf
I think its almost exactly like a Sweetone.. darn, then, because mine sounds pretty loud to my ears, at least!
Oak.
It’s a lot quieter than my sweetones, gens, and meg and clare.
Well, you might want to check out the O Briain then. It’s not exactly cheap, but it’s not terribly expensive either…last time I checked, the Euro was about comparable with the U.S. dollar. Also, it looks like they’re still offering that free Doolin with purchase (at least the offer is still up on the site, though it was supposed to end September 30), and two whistles for the price of one ain’t too shabby!
If your Clarke sounds loud in the upper octave, you may find the O Briain “improved” to be more what you’re looking for. The upper octave doesn’t have that “shrill” sound you get with some whistles…in fact, it’s lovely and sweet.
Check it out here</A](http://www.shannaquay.com/item.jhtml;$sessionid$VPGNILYAAABVQP5MFMKJPQR53QVSNPX0?UCIDs=962997|1030746&PRID=882359">here</A)>
Redwolf
I would suggest the tweaked Clarke Orginal. Mine is quiet, nice tone, good second octave and has chiff. You can get one for about $25 at the Whistle Shop. I also have sweetones and megs. The tweaked Clarke is a softer sound. There is also a C Clarke, but I am not sure if there is a tweaked version.
The O’Briain is your best bet, it’s what you’re looking for. It’s quieter than the Celtic, and it doesn’t take much air to play (making it easy, I mean).
I positively adore mine (my O Briain, that is)…it’s about spoiled me! I’m tempted to buy a couple more, just so I can have them on hand in case anything happens to mine.
Redwolf
It’s cheaper to get a moderately priced handmade whistle than to get 20 cheap whistles in the hope of finding a good one. Every Meg I have played has been awful. Same goes for Oak. I love Sweetones, though.
Jessie
Another option is to mute your whistle (see “mute” threads) or to learn to blow over the blade – which is almost inaudible.
Scott
Dixon sounds like a good match, although I’d call it medium volume personally.
Jef
Yet another option would be to buy a Feadog (about $7, I think) and try tweaking it yourself. I believe there are instructions linked from the main C&F webpage. I’m not at all good with my hands, so I’ve never tried it, but if you’re handier than I am, it may be a way to get something like the “improved” without having to pay $30+.
Redwolf
The Ó Briain Improved will probably meet your needs: comparatively low volume, beautiful tone, and a second octave which practically plays itself. I have one of each type: a brass D, a nickel D, and an Eb. They’re all wonderful!
“Practically plays itself” is a great description of the O Briain’s upper octave. It’s so easy to play (and so sweet to the ear) that I find myself playing songs I avoided before because it was so hard to make that upper octave sound as sweet as the lower octave.
Of course, one could say that a downside is you have to be very careful not to overblow the lower octave, but I found I adapted to the lower breath requirements pretty quickly, and the lovely tone overall fully compensated for the occasional squeaks while I was getting used to it.
I wonder if Cillian O Briain could be talked into making a C?
Redwolf
The O’Briain is indeed one of the best whistles out there both for volume, and tone. It compares very favoribly to many of Mack’s whistles as well, though the Hoovers offer a much wider range of tone, volume and nuance I think.
I only wish Cillian would branch out and make some more keys available. How about a tweaked F or C bud?!
B~
Get a tiny ball of blue-tack (I put up my son’s posters with it instead of tacks, since he is only 2 and I don’t quite trust him with sharp stuff, yet). You want a ball of the stuff about 3/16" across. Stick it onto your Celtic Whistle’s blade on one side. You are blocking a little more than half the air that normally goes over the blade.
I did this with my recorder (Hey, be nice! I only play it in private and I wash my hands afterward…), and can now play it quieter than any of the other mute methods I have yet tried. It worked even better than scotch-taping half of the window.
Talk about cheap, you’ll end up getting blue tack if you want to start tweaking, anyway. You already have the whistle. Unmuting it is a matter of just pulling off the ball of blue stuff and playing as usual.
I sometimes wonder if really quiet whistles might be a little more work to make. Most seem to play around the same range of volume, unless muted. Mack Hoover could tell us if the quiet ones are any harder to make, I suspect.
-Patrick
Update!
Well, I looked up some past threads and found one about making mufflers out of the plastic of some kind of yogurt container. It was before school, and I didn’t have time to try it out. During Photography class that day, I was thinking about it, and spied some leftover film from the last batch of negatives I’d printed. The cogs and wheels started a turnin’… during lunch hour I took the film, scissors, and my whistle to the empty dance room and started fiddling. A minute later, I had a piece of film the width of the airhole which covered the ramp opening about a third of the way. I slipped it in and played a D.. and it actually WORKED! The sound was about half as loud, without losing much quality of its tone. Weehaw!!
Although, you all have made the O’Briain sound so good I may order one anyway…
Thanks for all the help and advice!