I was at a session with Dr SS a few Wednesdays back and she asked me if the Sweetheart whistle I was playing was new. I said yes and passed it and the Burke B over as they were the newer whistles that she had not yet played, (that I had with me, there was a Bleazey D and a Dixon Bb in another bag).
She laughed at me and said that I probably didn’t know how many whistles I actually had. Trying to recall what I had and I found to my chagrin that she was right.
It was suggested that I find out and post the list on here and endure the slagging, so here is what I have found so far.
Low C - Howard and a no name.
Low D - Bleazey, Dixon, 2 MKs, Burke, Impempe, David O’Brien, the Shaw and Susato have been given away.
Low Eb - Non tunable Chieftain.
Low E - Howard.
Alto F - Chieftain and Dixon.
Alto G - Dixon, Chieftain non tunable, Shaw.
Alto A - 2 Dixons, Susato, Bleazey and one made out of a broom handle
Soprano Bb - Generation, Shaw, Dixon.
Soprano B - Burke.
Whistle sets - Syn D/C and Syn A-E.
Soprano D - 2 Bleazey, Ormiston, Rose, David O’Brien, Sweetheart (soon to be 2) and an Alba Q1.
That makes 31 whistles plus the 2 sets plus another 2 on the way.
That’s quite a cache o’ whistles! I’d be afraid to count mine, although it’s been slimmed down to a collection of O’Riordans with a few others thrown in the mix.
Nice collection, and (in the best way) slag-worthy!
On the other end of the spectrum, I’m down to one: an Alba low D. However, one can’t survive as a member of C&F for 15 years with just one whistle: over the years, I’ve had around 40 (although not at the same time).
You’re well beyond me. I suffer from Periodic Recurring WhOAD, but behavioral therapy helps; “Hi, my name is Richard, I play the Pennywhistle…”.
I’m generally happy with the 15 or so I have now; what haunts me are the ones I can know longer find:
My first whistle, possessed of no name, made of a some brushed metal and playing in a key and with intervals previously unknown to humankind.
A non tuneable Susato D with a wooden fipple. Generally good to play, but with a difficult C natural.
All of the myriad Clarke’s I’ve bought over the years when I’ve caught myself on the road and in need of.a whistle (See above, “Hi, my name is Richard…”), including a C from the days when there didn’t seem to be D’s available.
They drift up in memory and I long to hear how they would sound after all these years.
I have been buying whistles from the person selling off Brian Howard’s old stock so these can be added to the list
Alto G with Howard body and Generation Bb head,
Non tuneable alto G with conical bore (got it free with the other G, 2 whistles for £15 )
Howard low C# in brass.
These things do seem to multiply - I’m only a casual player, but I seem to have acquired a few already, (just counted 17), mostly Generations, because they are so cheap to buy, but I have 2 Tony Dixon trad alto brass, (A & G), that I really like.
Hi Brett McNicholl whistle vid - this is the whistle I got. took it for a test run at the session last night. It has a mellow tone to my ears and takes a bit more air than my usual high D drivers (Bleazey, Sweetheart and Ormiston).
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