Burkes loud

E = Fb · Post by **E = Fb** » Thu May 27, 2004 11:00 am

I was at a session last night where there were 2 gold colored (brass?) whilstles. I now have no doubt that Mr. Burke can make a loud whistle. Susato is louder, but that Burke was plenty loud enough in a session with about 10 people, 4 of whom played fiddle.

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Thu May 27, 2004 11:43 am

Are you sure they were Burkes? If they were loud, they may very well have been Copelands. Were they straight or conical? If you are certain that they were Burkes, please forgive my speculation.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu May 27, 2004 11:46 am

My Burke (brass sessionpro) wasn't loud enough for the session i go to, but i've seen loud Burkes, especially old ones. And the old Burkes look more like Sindts than like the current models. Our piper has a few of those, and they're sure loud.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Thu May 27, 2004 1:05 pm

JessieK wrote:Are you sure they were Burkes? If they were loud, they may very well have been Copelands. Were they straight or conical? If you are certain that they were Burkes, please forgive my speculation.

Jessie,

E=Fb should know what a copeland looks like, having seen mine a few times. I wasn't at the weds session (coffee house, E?) so I can't say what whistles he saw, but I'm pretty sure he'd recognize a copeland.

I've heard a loud aluminum burke in houston once...cut across the entire loud session (including the accordionist), and caused me to seek out the other whistler in the crowd. I was surprised to see a Burke, and figured at the time it must be a new model since my Al-Pro would never hit those kinds of decibels.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu May 27, 2004 1:12 pm

I wonder if some are louder than others. When i bought my brass sessionpro (2.5 years ago, from Mike) i tried pretty much every kind of whistle Mike had at the time, and i got that one because it was the loudest (but still not loud enough, it turned out).

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Thu May 27, 2004 1:27 pm

glauber wrote:I wonder if some are louder than others.[ ....]i got that one because it was the loudest (but still not loud enough, it turned out).

You can wonder is it really not loud enough. When you play a whistle you have a very different perspective compared to when someone else plays it.
Last summer on one occasion I was playing in Friel's wit h a fairly large group [which in my book would be seven or eight] I hardly heard the Sindt going at all. At one point one of the group, Marion Mccarthy[who is lovely whislteplayer], put down her pipes and said 'that's a nice whistle'. She had a go and I was surprised I could actually hear each and every detail in the playing, realising she must have heard my playing as clearly all night. Often it is just a matter where the sound projects, more often than not your the only one that doesn't hear the whistle.

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Thu May 27, 2004 2:29 pm

Last night a guy sat in on my drum set and played my ride cymbal, which is a flat top ride and is not very loud by cymbal standards. I sat off to the side and it sounded so much louder and better than when I was playing. I think instrments are designed to project outward, maybe, possibly, ya think?

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Thu May 27, 2004 2:54 pm

FJohnSharp wrote: I think instrments are designed to project outward, maybe, possibly, ya think?

Ofcourse they are but sometimes we get a reminder of the extend of the difference between hearing an instrument played and playing it yourself.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Thu May 27, 2004 3:10 pm

Peter Laban wrote:
FJohnSharp wrote: I think instrments are designed to project outward, maybe, possibly, ya think?
Ofcourse they are but sometimes we get a reminder of the extend of the difference between hearing an instrument played and playing it yourself.

Dizzy Gillespie bent his trumpet upwards so he could hear himself better, presumably in a big band setting initially. A trumpet player who can't hear himself? Eh?

Michael Burke · Post by **Michael Burke** » Thu May 27, 2004 3:14 pm

Hi Everyone,
I don't know what kind of whistles the gentleman saw in the session but it is possible that they were the new DBSBT whistles. As everyone that knows me understands, I don't ever set out to make a whistle loud for loudness sake. I have, however worked to increase the volume of all my models as long as it did not lose balance across the octaves, pure tone, and responsive playability. Another thing that I would never want to do is to make a whistle harsh or unusually loud in the upper hand of the second octave. This kind of whistle may sound great to the player, but his friends may not appreciate it as much as the player thinks. We have achieved a significant increase in lower octave volume in this new model while making it even sweeter and more well balanced than the D Brass Pro Session model. These were our goals. As to actual performance and comparisons, I leave that to the people that play the instruments. The reason there are so many kinds of whistles is that different people like different characteristics in a whistle. That makes it more interesting and challenging for me as a maker, and is a great part of my love for the craft. I very seldom post here, but am always listening in and paying attention to what people want in a whistle.
Hope this helps a little in explaining why people with older session brass whistles may not be getting as much volume as the newer ones.
All the best
Mike

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu May 27, 2004 3:27 pm

Michael Burke wrote:Hi Everyone,
I don't know what kind of whistles the gentleman saw in the session but it is possible that they were the new DBSBT whistles.

What does DBSBT stand for?

lixnaw · Post by **lixnaw** » Thu May 27, 2004 3:55 pm

glauber wrote: What does DBSBT stand for?

D brass session black tipped.

thanks a million for those magnificent whistles mike!!

E = Fb · Post by **E = Fb** » Thu May 27, 2004 4:27 pm

Wanderer got it right. I was at the Coffee Haus and specifically asked if these were Copelands. No, they are Burkes, I was told.
One belonged to the lady who was very much in charge of the whole affair. She could be heard very clearly. She was two players to my right and the fiddlers four were lined up to my left.

When she really needed to screech she moved to a Susato wide bore. I think that's when my headache started up.
I have a Burke on order and I now have no doubt that it will be loud enough for me and anyone with a desire to participate but not dominate.