I know… whistlesmiths critiquing others work is ethically left of center. However, before being a smithy I was a rabid C&F’er/consumer. Besides, if I really had issues with a whistle, I’d contact the smithy first.
I finally got a Rose pennywhistle! After a weekend of waiting (man, I should have hung around the house) I picked it up after work on Monday (and they had the temerity to ask if I wanted to stay late, for time and a half… man, this is a WHISTLE we’re talking about!!!). The first thing I was struck by was the case…what a neat device. It’s some sort of molded plastic/fabric, lined with felt, and has a flap cover with a clip closure. Sort of looks like a gun case in a bizarre way…I guess that’s appropriate if I’m playing it. Rose has done a wondrous job of finishing on his whistles. The headpiece as well as the body have gentle narrowing in the midsections which adds a very fluid, sexy appearance. The silver ferrols and mouthpiece (which is hallmarked) accent the blackwood body in a way that only silver can. The slide is the standard brass tubing type, and works well. The whistle is moderate in thickness… less than an O’Riordan, more than a Busman or Abell. The mouthpiece has a wood (dymondwood?) fipple plug which is quite attractive. The holes are well finished, with the A opening being a little smaller than other whistles, which suits whistlers who tend to blow more strongly as they climb the octave (ie: me). The tuning is excellent… absolutely no issues there. Tonally: (now keep in mind that the term ‘good tone’ is completely subjective, and differs from whistle to whistle, even by the same maker) The bell D tends to be a bit too laden with overtones for my taste. The rest of the first octave is ideal…no problems or comments here. In the second octave, at first I noticed a bit of chiffyness that I’d hoped to avoid by getting this whistle. It was only after playing for a while that I noticed I was curling my lower lip inward, which created some turbulence by getting in the way of a direct blowing path. As long as I don’t do this, the second octave tone is nicely pure. E"’ is easily reached, although one needs to be cautious in coming down from E"’ to D"‘, or D"’ to C"'…it’s easy to overblow and squawk it. High B and C cannot be babied or you get unwanted overtones, requiring a little more volume that I would desire this high on the scale. Volume: Higher than a Busman or Water Weasel… this whistle would easily cut through a session, especially off of the bell note. Only time will tell, but it seems resistant to condensation problems when warming up… it didn’t gurgle once when warming up. It responds nice to taps and cuts, especially when flashing up to D", which produces a real nice pop.
OVerall impression: gorgeous, playable
High points: superb tuning, appearance, highly cool case, fairly pure tone
Drawbacks: Overtones on D, B", C" unless correctly blown. Not a late-night whistle if the missus is sleeping.
Fred, ya done a wonderful job…
Dave
First of all, here is a picture to detail some of the sexy curves Dave discusses in his comments:
The wood in this one is Pink Ivory and is my recently aquired “one off” from Fred!
Secondly, the case Dave mentions is not available any longer. The current case is a zippered afair made with a heavy nylon material. The whistle retainers are of a heavy elastic. I like the new case better. It is not as clunky (a contradiction to the sleekness of the whistle) and the clip closure was clumsey in my estimation.
I am not an ITRAD experienced player. With my whistles (a blackwood recently sold and this PI one) I did not experience any of the issues Dave mentions at least not to a degree that they were noticable or troublesome. Heck, I sold an O’RIORDAN Traveler set because of those two whistles. I think that should say volumes (maybe?) in and of itself. The O’Riordans were too pure (piercing in the upper octave especially) for Renee’s and my tastes and much too breath sensitive. The Rose has a nice, well rounded tone that is nicely pure, but not piercing in the upper octave and not requiring a tight rope act in the breath department to achieve.
I have noticed that with a LOT of whistles the E" is a bit touchy to hit cleanly and require a bit of conscience breath control. Although the Rose is similar, I have found it to be more well behaved in this regard than most.
I would agree with you on O’Riordans… they are the penultimate in tonal purity, but there’s a bit of a trade-off in playing characteristics. However, there are those that would rather go to fisticuffs than think of selling their O’Riordan, and the bidding prices for them speaks volumes. Kron made a bagpipe set in pink ivory, which he states is one of the finest sounding sets he’s made…if you don’t mind playing pink bagpipes… . Remember that when I criticise tone, I’m really splitting hairs, and the perspective is strictly my own. It might change from Rose whistle to Rose whistle, as it did with two Busmans I owned…the newer one was very, very nice, but the old plumwood one grabbed me by the throat and said “I am IT, you are going to keep me for the rest of your life, capiche?”.
Dave
Interesting…I wonder if Fred has modified his voicing in the past couple of years. I bought a blackwood Rose whistle new from Fred quite a while ago (2 or maybe even 3 years…it still had the gold plated hardware). It had a wonderful pure birdsong like tone, but wasn’t loud at all and had a weak low E and D. The high notes were VERY easy to hit and sounded really pleasant. I eventually sold it for the lack of volume and weak low end, but it was a beautiful whistle (I loved the contours) and sounded great from F up to the highest notes of the 2nd ocatve.
I may have to try one of the more recent ones at some point…
He must have done some work on the voicing, because I don’t think my Rose is weak on the bottom at all, and it’s louder than a Sindt or Busman… go figger. It’s soo hard to make a whistle that’s very pure and also has a thunderous bottom end… the two just don’t seem to occur easily in a whistle. While not as loud as the Rose, my Busman has a really nice, warm bell note…that’s the plumwood one, which I’m gonna die with… heh heh heh. Still can’t believe Tony let it go.
Dave
Glad that you got your Rose , Dave. I’m convinced that you’ll really enjoy it ! I’m the new owner of Steven’s blackwood model ( Thanks Steve ! ) and I tend to agree with all of the statements that he made. It’s a beautiful whistle with a great tone and no major quirkiness to deal with. Shortly after I got it , I had to play a worship service for my church. I wouldn’t think of leading off with an unseasoned instrument. The Rose , however , was so balanced and smooth that I decided to use it. All went well and I had quite a few compliments on the whistle. Our hammer dulcimer player has even taken to calling it “Rosie” !! Enjoy !!
. Remember that when I criticise tone, I’m really splitting hairs, and the perspective is strictly my own. It might change from Rose whistle to Rose whistle, as it did with two Busmans I owned…the newer one was very, very nice, but the old plumwood one grabbed me by the throat and said “I am IT, you are going to keep me for the rest of your life, capiche?”.
Enjoy !!