I bought those two very cheap Woodi plastic whistles you can buy on Amazon.
I’m able to play the highest notes on my Clarks and Generations. But I find these very hard to hit in the Woodi’s without producing an unpleasant overtone.
So my question is – is this the Woodi whistles problem, or is it me?
Also – are those highest notes easier to play pleasantly with C and D Susatos?
I love the Woodi’s sound. For slower or more melodic tunes, they offer a nice alternative to my metal whistles.
I’m not sure what you mean by “highest notes,” so it’s hard to tell if this is a problem with the whistle or a problem with the fact that you’re trying to play higher than most people ever dare to play.
Clarke Sweetones are somewhat unusual in that they can play all the way up to second-octave D without sounding too bad, but in general, most whistles are going to shriek pretty badly if you try playing above a high B. This is especially true of larger-bore whistles. So if your problem with the Woodi whistle is that it sounds rather bad playing above a high B, there’s nothing particularly unique about the Woodi in that respect, and a Susato isn’t going to fair much better in that range.
That said, if you’re having trouble sounding good in a more reasonable range, the problem could definitely be your whistle. Woodi whistles can be pretty darn awful. I bought a couple of Woodis a year or so ago just to see what they were like, and they were very poorly-made whistles. Apparently this isn’t the case with all Woodis, and some people have gotten good ones. But the ones I got were terrible.
I got two whistles - one in C and one in D. Both were bad, but the D was especially bad. Multiple notes in both registers had raspy, unpleasant overtones, and a lot of notes would shriek uncontrollably, especially in the second octave. (And I don’t mean insanely high notes like third octave D - even medium high notes like high G and high A would shriek terribly). The intonation was also awful. The C whistle was a lot better, but it had all the same problems - just to a lesser extent.
Susato whistles are way, way better than Woodis, in my opinion. I still have my gripes with high D Susatos: they tend to be a bit overpowering in the second octave (not nearly as shrieky as Woodis, but anything above a G is still fairly shrieky), and their intonation is far from perfect. But they’re still pretty good. The sound is clearer and less breathy than a Woodi. The first octave is probably a bit louder than a Woodi, and the bell note is stronger, but the second octave is slightly quieter. There are no random raspy notes or unpleasant overtones. Overall, they’re vastly better than Woodis, which are essentially Susato knockoffs.
I especially like C Susatos. I think those are the best ones Susato makes, personally. They have slightly better intonation than D Susatos, and they aren’t as loud in the second octave.
(Everything I’ve said about Susatos up to this point is about the Kildare/Kelischek S model. Susato also makes the Oriole model, which is ok, but I don’t like it as much as Kildare S, because the volume is less consistent and the intonation is worse. I also detest the Kildare/Kelischek VS models that Susato makes, which have a strange squeaky tone and wildly inconsistent volume. If you get a Susato, Kildare/Kelischek S is the way to go.)
By “high notes” I mean A and above. Those are pretty hard to play on my Woodi’s while still getting a clean note. There are unpleasant undertones with them.
These notes play cleanly on my Clarks and Generations (though mainly I play lower whistles like Bb and low G). But even on my D whistles those notes sound decent up to the high D. (It was just a matter of spending some time learning proper approach to those notes.)
Rather than spend a lot of time trying to learn to fine-tune those high notes on my Woodi’s, I think maybe I’ll look into those Susatos. Thanks for the advice on which ones might be best.
Cheers.
Would these be whistles worth trying to tweak, BobbieCB? Rather than just relegating them to that drawer where old tin whistles go to die?
There’s plenty of information on doing that here on the list (try searching for “tweak credit card”), though it isn’t organised in any useful way (as far as I know).
Makes sense! Do keep in mind, though, that Susatos might be too harsh for you when playing that high as well. They are rather loud when playing high A and B (but not as bad as Woodis, in my experience). And I wouldn’t recommend trying to play higher than a B on one. High Cnat, C#, and D are so loud on a Susato that I’d avoid playing them altogether, personally. But at least you won’t have the rasp of the Woodi, so that’ll be an advantage.
I may be able to suggest some alternative brands other than Susato that have quieter second octaves. What draws you to that style of whistle, as opposed to your Clarke and Generation whistles?
@Terry… wow, great idea. Why not try to tweak these guys a bit? When I received them, I inspected them to ensure they had no internal defects (like plastic shavings or something), but it never occurred to me to tweak them. Why not? I remember an excellent tweaking tutorial on Youtube by SweetiPie (Stephanie).
>>>>>> What draws you to that style of whistle, as opposed to your Clarke and Generation whistles?
I often use the tin whistle for slow melodic songs (rather than fast Irish tunes, jigs, and the like.) In this, I would guess my use of the whistle is different than many.
To me, many whistles don’t sound to me quite as good in that role unless one polishes them up with a sound editor like Audacity. If it’s uneditted, I prefer the Woodi sound better for my purposes. (Just my personal opinion, of course!)
If you’re willing to spend a bit more money, Roy McManus whistles are incredible, and they have a vaguely similar sound to Susatos but without any the drawbacks. But they are quite expensive. So maybe it’s best to stick with Susato.