I’ve been playing this whistle now for three days, almost exclusively, and it definitely has the potential to supplant my Burke as my primary whistle! I wrote Ralph asking if I could share my experiences with the board and he agreed.
At session last Wednesday I was offered the opportunity to play one of Ralph’s newest whistles, and I have to say it is truly a pleasure.
Physically it bears only the vaguest resemblance to the old Sweetheart whistles. The headjoint is longer and sleeker, the mouthpiece doesn’t have the recorder look or feel; it is pared down, mostly straight and the area that rests on the lower lip is longer and narrower. There is no mistaking this for a recorder, though he kept the sexy bulge where the headjoint meets the shaft of the whistle.
The windway and blade were redesigned too. The windway is curved, and I’m told it slopes up toward the blade, which is also curved. The plug in this is not wood, but some sort of plastic. I believe it will be made in delrin in the future.
While redesigning a whistle, why not change the bore too? Right? Its a conical bore, and the hole size is a bit, but not radically different from the Sweetheart. The heart and S, and identifying number are in their familiar places on the shaft.
The sound is fantastic! Absolutely marvelous! Round, honeyed, clear with a small amount of (what I call) chiff. The lower end, especially the bottom three notes, are stronger than before, and the upper end is MUCH mellower. I’m getting a clear Cnat with oxxooo and oxxxox, and half-holed, and I can pop from one register to the next easily.
The high G and A are very pleasant and not piercing, but I still need to gird my loins and push for the B. There is more back-pressure throughout than a Burke, for instance, but less than an Overton. The volume is comparable to my Burke, but I haven’t checked it out with equipment nor have I checked it against my tuner yet. (I’ll get around to that this evening, I think, but Ralph is fanatical about tuning and I have no doubt that my findings will support his craftsmanship)
I know someone is going to ask about the wood, but I’m not sure if I got cocobolo or another type of rosewood. I tried out about 7 of these whistles in three materials, and am working with one that I pretty much selected randomly. Tomorrow I think I’ll take it to session and see how it fares in a smaller group.
Anyway, thanks to Ralph and his son Walter for letting me try out this phenomenal new instrument. It is so different from the old Sweetheart that I’m hoping they come up with a new name with which to dub it!
There IS another prototype out there. I wonder if whoever has it cares to weigh in with his opinion? (ROFL to think of him withholding an opinion!)
\
Tyghress
…And I go on, pursuing through the hours,
Another tiger, the one not found in verse.
Jorge Luis Borges
[ This Message was edited by: tyghress on 2002-10-26 09:55 ]
