Hey, I’m still a noob and I had a question. My first (and only) whistle is a Gen. D, and I noticed the quality control problems Dale has talked about on the web, and it skips to the higher octive too easly. I’ve been thinking about getting a Sweetone or Clark, what suggestions for inexpencive, beginner whistles do you have? Is a Sweetone my best bet?
Thanx,
Jeff
I liked my Clarke much better than my Sweetone. But that is just my opinon. The Sweetone has held up better because of the plastic mouthpiece.
I melted my Clarke Original with a torch. That’s what I thought of it. I love Sweetones…can’t go wrong with a Sweetone.
I really like my three Clarkes (the C is the most beautiful one I’ve heard), but I haven’t tried a Sweetone… so I can’t really give you an unbiased answer.
I think Sweetones sound dull and uninteresting (at least the ones I’ve tried), while Generations can sound bright and cheerful. My wife plays a Sweetone, but she agrees that the tone leaves something to be desired, and some of the notes are significantly out of tune. Maybe your Generation just needs to be tweaked.
Maybe your wife’s Sweetone just needs to be tweaked.
I can see it coming now…“Tweak your nose for ya, buster!!”
I agree that the Generation could sound better and behave better with tweaking. But as a neophyte you won’t know how to do that, will you? So get yourself a Walton’s Mellow D. If you happen to notice that the low D note is sharp (which you wouldn’t know except I told you) stick some hot glue or sticky tack in the end of the barrel to flatten it a bit. Presto! It’s a great whistle except some notes are a bit out of tune, but the tone is magnificent.
I have four Sweetones, all good ones. I also have Burkes, Sindts, etc. Sweetone is a very good place to start.
Of my assorted inexpensive whistles, I like the Clarke D best. Easy to play in all both registers, easy to tweek if necessary, and cheap enough to melt with a blowtorch or throw into a bath of nitric acid if it offendeth me!
Cheers,
Bill Whedon
Jeff,
Using a small piece of very fine sandpaper, very slightly dull the edge of the blade (that splits the airstream). This should tame the octave jumping.
Clarkes are good whistles. Susatos are good, too. Awfully loud, but you can easily make it quieter (see the Susato loud quiet thread). Sweetones are a solid starter instrument, as well. I agree that Waltons sound nice, but they’re quite out of tune, unfortunately (as are most cheap whistles, with the exception of Clarkes and Susatos).
For $20 you can get both a Clarke and a Sweetone, which should keep you amused for a little while (longer if you don’t read too many posts on this board!).
Micah
I can tell you that you m-a-y not be happy with either the sweetone or clarke since you are use to the Generation sound. I started with Generation and got both a clarke and a sweetone and did not like their sound at all.
In fact I gave away the sweetone(kept the clarke since it’s a conversation piece with the black diamond decoration and all).
I know that lots of folks like these, I’m just warning you that they have a very different sound.
Since you only own ONE whistle, why don’t you try this:
Get another Generation and hope it works!
Lol, wow thanks for all the responses. I decided to split the difference and order both a sweetone and a clarke. The clarke I ordered will come with a Bill Ochs tutor book and tape. I’ve heard good things about that book in another thread. They’ll take about two weeks to come in, and I’ll let ya know what I think when I get them.
Thanx,
Jeff
oh, btw, you were talking about the tone of clarke whistles, well I was looking in another thread about songs to play and I came across this page:
http://tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/newspage.htm
well it has recordings of songs AND the whistle that is playing them. you can hear susatos, oaks, clarkes, albas, ect.
well anyway I thought it was neat.
thanks, jeff
Ps. about tweaking my generation, I guess I’m too much of a coward to tweak at this point. dale had a nice page on it, but maybe later. I’m still in the early stages of whoa.
There is a lot of variation in
the Clarke original, cause
of the wood block and rolled
tin construction. Sometimes
they are very breathy; sometimes
less so. If you can get a
good one, it can be extraordinarily
good.