Seeking advice for quieter and easy 2nd octave mezzo and low whistle

Whistle
1

Hello folks,

I’m looking for low and mezzo whistles where the volume of the end of the 2nd octave is not too loud, and is easy playing.

I have a Generation Bb and a Dixon polymer conical low D and I find that the volume of those 2 is really ok for playing in the house, and the highest notes of the 2nd octave does not require too much push, I find them easy playing.

I recently tried a Dixon Bb (plastic head, alu body) but the bore was as wide as the outer diameter of the Generation Bb and the end of the 2nd octave needed too much push for my taste, and was just too loud for the house…

Could anyone recommend whistles to me, like starting from Bb all the way to Low D or Low C, that are in the same ballpark volume-wise as that Dixon low D and Generation Bb, with an easy playing, sweet, end of the 2nd octave ??

2

We seem to have opposite tastes in whistles. I generally dislike soft blowing whistles usually because the low end feels to weak, giving a big in balance in volume. Although softer blowing has grown on me a little, there is something to appreciate about the easy high notes. From my not overly scientific testing with a phone sound meter, harder blowing usually gives a louder low end but doesnt technically make the high notes any louder. Shrinking the volume gap from low to high. That being said some whistles do seem to have a less hard high end. My solution to high ends usually being too loud for me is to just play with my headphones on listening to whatever song I’m playing with. If your issue with volume is being too loud around other people though this wont help very much haha.

Just a little whistle science to possibly help you find whistles you may like- Whistles that have the same headpiece for multiple bodies, the lower ones will be softer blowing (aka easier to hit high end, blow softer for low end) than the higher ones. Example, Dixon low G will be softer blowing than the Bb. Think of this the same way as having to blow harder for the higher notes on your whistle. But if it could keep going up and keep going down. Going down more on your Bb is going to be softer blowing, and if it was a G it couldn’t go as high and wont need to blow as hard to hit the G’s top end.

This feels weird but I’m going to recommend you the whistles I don’t like that are still good whistles, because you may like them. Tilbury Bb-G are too soft for me. The G will be really soft blowing, I only have the Bb. Nightingale A is VERY soft blowing, and I remember noticing that it had very un harsh high end. I believe nightingale G is still soft ish but less so than the A, I havent played any besides the A. Nightingale low D and C may be soft blowing but I cant say for sure. But they are the bigger ones on the same head as the low F, so they should be on the softer side.

Because google wont find Russian sites (use google translate or scroll down to the bottom and chose english), heres the best place to get Nightingale if you want to look at them, its much cheaper than ebay and hobgoblin.
https://shamanic.ru/muzykalnye-instrumenty/vistl-low-whistle-nightingale-karavaev-non/
https://shamanic.ru/muzykalnye-instrumenty/vistl-low-whistle-silver-nightingale-karavaev/

3

I too love whistles (of any size) that have sweet high notes.

The size I have the most experience with is Low D. I must have tried and owned around 30 of those over a period of a few years when I was buying, trying, and selling Low D’s in search of the Holy Grail.

It appears that the hardest note to get sweet is High B.

Unlike flute, with Low Whistle the voicing is built-in and can’t be changed as you play, so makers have to find a compromise between making the high notes (especially High B) not too loud and harsh, and not having the low notes (especially Low E) too easy and quiet.

The lower notes of the low octave and the higher notes of the 2nd octave are never going to be as balanced as they are on flute. There’s always going to be a volume differential.

Thus the Low D’s with the nicest sweetest high notes, like the conical-bore all-plastic Tony Dixon Low D, have low notes which IMHO are too soft to be useable in a group setting. The Low D’s with a huge fat low range are going to have loud, and sometimes harsh, high notes.

This really hit home when I was playing a Low D along with three flute players. On High B I was louder than all three flutes together, on the low end of the low octave I couldn’t be heard at all.

One of the most balanced Low D’s I tried was the MK. It’s partially due, I think, to the voicing: to play the octaves in tune you have to blow the low octave strongly and blow the 2nd octave more softly than with most Low Whistles. In other words the difference in blowing pressure between the octaves is quite small, which makes the 2nd octave feel easy and effortless.

But for overall performance I’ve settled on Colin Goldie whistles. I have great-playing Goldies in Low C, Low D, and mezzo/alto F.

Colin makes his whistles with a variety of windway heights, and my Low D head with the wider windway gives fatter low notes and sweeter high notes, though at the expense of some air-efficiency.

For mezzo/alto A I use an A body on a Jerry Freeman Generation Bb head.

4

For my tastes the Bleazey low D worked well. I am not an expert, but I found the octave volumes more balanced than any other low D that I tried (to be fair, not that many Goldie, Shaw, Copeland, Dixon TB, Dixon three-piece, Chieftain). The bell note is reasonable, and the second a, b do not shriek as much as other whistles. The octaves are better in tune than the Dixon TB. I initially found the Bleazey to be a fussy whistle - getting the exact wind requirements seemed to take a lot of practice, but maybe that was my inexperience at the time. It seems easy enough now, though I tend to play the flute more (another Bleazey).

5

Thank you folks for your answers. I’ve added your recommendations to my list.

6

One of my easiest players besides the MK “Kelpie” is the Chieftain V5. Both are rather similar but the V5 is a bit quieter.