I have a couple of friends with young sons (6&11) and they want them to give tin whistle a go. There’s a strong possibility that it won’t take but why not give it a shot. I suggested a Clarke Sweetone and I think there’s a kit from the Whistle Shop that sells it with a Susato and two DVDs. Seems like a nice starter kit and maybe dad can learn too. Any other advice that I could pass along?
I would have suggested the Tony Dixon ABS.
An “Oak” maybe. I think it is one of the best bangs for the buck. While the Sweetone sounds and play quite nicely, the seam in the back always annoyed me.
I would suggest a Walton’s Mellow D (not their regular bore high D but the wide bore “Mellow D”). It sounds very nice and is easy to play without screeching and squawking. Best thing is you can find them brand new for under $10. Looking back I wished that had been my first whistle to learn on. Don’t let the cheap price fool you, it should more than suffice for their learning until they figure out if they want to continue playing the tin whistle or not.
What you want are reliable good tone in the full range through both octaves. No screeching, just the music! For tone and playability at lost cost, these fit the description. Seems like this is seconding what others have said:
- Walton’s Mellow D …plays far superior to the regular model in D and is very inexpensive
- Tony Dixon DX001 plastic…very good tone, tough plastic, reviews are consistently good
- Feadog “Pro”… still very inexpensive and a clear cut above their regular D model
- Oak… very good tone, low price
What you want to avoid is getting a scratchy, inefficient instrument that doesn’t play well, that has notes breaking apart, putting the players off the instrument, when if they had a more legitimate musical instrument, they’d stick with it. Tone, especially in the second octave, when sounding good is something you want to return to, to build some talent and repertoire in. The four I’ve mentioned I’ve seen nothing but good reviews of, by talented players demonstrating them. And they don’t require any further tool shed alteration work to play normally. And remember that instruments that have good tone and playability can maintain their resale value.
Excellent responses and a good bit of choice for a fair price.
Sedi, I couldn’t agree more about the seam on the back of the Sweetone. I have one that I play on occasion and it seems really easy to play but I had to fill that back seam with puddy so I wouldn’t always be thinking about it.
The DX001 seems like a great choice for a kid that is destined to destroy everythng he touches. I’ve never played one but the reviews are always good.
I would go for a Tony Dixon Trad D. I would not recommend a susato for new player as 2nd octave requires quite an effort at the beginning.
I have a DX-005 (tunable ABS) and a Trad. I like that the ABS Dixon whistle doesn’t sound “plasticky” (my term) like some of the other ABS whistles I’ve tried. Its tone is sweet, but not too pure.
I’m teaching one of my grandsons; I bought him an off-the-shelf (well, over the internet) Generation D and it has been fine. He’s making pretty good progress.
I recommend looking into the Dixon D Trad also. Very nice whistle, to me it just feels a bit more high end than some of the cheaper ones, by not needing tweaks, and the mouth piece is easily tunable (where others you can un glue it and pull it out but then it may be a loose fit, which isnt good). But it costs around double a lot of the cheaper ones recommended above so it depends on what you want.
I also recommend a generation Bb. It will be too big for a 6 year old but the 11 year old might be able to use it as a kids low whistle. And its the only cheap decent Bb that I know of.
it just feels a bit more high end than some of the cheaper ones, by not needing tweaks, and the mouth piece is easily tunable (where others you can un glue it and pull it out but then it may be a loose fit,
You arre operating under the false assumption the cheaper whistles need tweaks. Which is nonsense. It was a thought that was prevalent here during the earlier days of these forums but which has disappeared mostly since the forum grew up a bit.
Equally, none of my whistles are a loose fit when tuned, not a single one in any key. Which ones of yours are wobbly and loose?
My Dixon Trad mouthpieces (on brass D, Eb and E) are on the loose side and have been from new!
All of my Dixon Trads, (D, A, G), are tight; & all my other whistles, but for one nickel Gen Eb.
Maybe yours were from old/tired moulds.
My Dixon Trad mouthpieces (on brass D, Eb and E) are on the loose side and have been from new!
That was my memory of the D I had. I never took to that whistle and jumped at the chance to let it go when someone on the forum was looking for an early one (I got mine when they were just new to the market, which rules out old moulds).
And maybe not. I just state my experience as differing from Narzog’s without speculating why.
OK this is interesting, I’ve only been playing just over three years and like almost everyone who starts out with a nice selection of whistles; inevitably you blame someor all of the instruments for your lack of ability. I know I did. My Dixon Trad still does have a loose fitting head which requires a light tuning every time I grab it. Small dab of glue would cure this of course. My Killarney brass felt almost unplayable with it’s light breath requirement and easy clogging; I love it now. Easy blowing and stable in both octaves would probably be preferable to perfect tuning (does that even exist) for the rank beginner if you ask me. I’m sure I’ll take a beating for that comment tho.
There seems to be some variation with the Dixon heads. On my nickel “trad” model it’s nice and tight, on my “heavy brass” model it’s rather loose but that should be an easy fix for any brass instrument repairman. The tuning slide is just a thin piece of metal, very similar to a boehm flute tuning slide. It can be fixed by very slightly widening the slide from the inside out.
But I also had Generations on which the head became loose when making it tunable. Some heads are actually glued, some are just friction-fitted. So there is some variation here as well. A tiny piece of clear sticky tape fixes the problem rather easily.
Easy blowing and stable in both octaves would probably be preferable to perfect tuning (does that even exist) for the rank beginner if you ask me.
Yes, it does exist. A maker who knows what he’s doing can pretty much tailor-make a whistle to any specification (within reason).
Easy blowing and stable in both octaves would probably be preferable to perfect tuning (does that even exist) for the rank beginner if you ask me.
Yes, it does exist. A maker who knows what he’s doing can pretty much tailor-make a whistle to any specification (within reason).[/quote]
I think we’re mostly talking about mass produced whistles here with a few exceptions, so it seems a bit more luck of the draw and it’s not like you’re allowed to try ten or twenty whistles anymore in a music shop until you hit gold.
OK I hope it’s OK to hi-jack my own thread but my mate who I’m trying to help with this dilemma actually lives in Hamburg. I offered to send him a couple of my whistles and some tutorial books but he figures the shipping doesn’t make sense for that since he can buy locally. Any good recommendations for whistles in the EU or UK I suppose? I suggested Whistle Shop but that’s all I can think of.
I feel like I’ve just had really convenient luck with my whistles, which influences my opinions haha. My dixon trad headpiece fits absolutely perfectly, like it was hand made. My feadog is extremely out of tune, and the only way to get it partially in tune was to pull the headpiece out, which then became not tight and I had to use some flute joint grease I got with a cheap keyed flute and tape to seal and hold the headpiece on. Which still plays terribly out of tune, but less bad than before. I’m pretty confident I just got the worst one from the factory, because everyone else loves theirs. My Generation Bb does play relatively well. But once upon a time I used hot water to take the headpiece off and then put it back on. Then a while later I went to twist it to pull it out a little bit to try and get more perfect tuning for recording, and it turned a whopping 20 degrees and has been permanently stuck. I couldn’t even get it off with hot water and pliers now haha. While trying to not break it.
But every time I say that cheaper ones are worse I get a ton of people saying their cheap whistles are better, so this is why I’ve just been trying to commit to building my own haha. Why cant Generation make A, G, F, and low D’s. For like $20-30 each. Even if some were duds or needed tweaking, it would be amazing.
Try a little candle wax on upper part of the brass tube. Drip it on and before it hardens slide the head on. It isn’t permanent, but it will help.