Goldie low D arrives

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bruce.b
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Tell us something.: I’m a whistle, fiddle and tenor guitar player. Mostly low D, mostly Irish trad, but I’ll try any fiddle tune on whistle.

Goldie low D arrives

Post by bruce.b »

My Goldie low D arrived a little while ago. It took about fifteen minutes to figure it out, mostly my right hand middle finger wasn’t sealing hole #5 properly as it’s placed a bit higher compared to my MK, plus the holes on the Goldie are slightly bigger. I quickly learned to play more forcefully than I do on the MK. Once that was sorted it played great. I got to play it for about an hour so far. It’s very different than my MK, which is good. They sound nothing alike to me, which is what I wanted. like the MK, it’s very responsive and the notes and articulations effortlessly pop out. I can’t, so far, find anything I dislike about it. It’s significantly lighter than the MK, which is nice, plus it’s a lot less slippery to hold, also a plus. It is harder to play, IMO. The MK is so easy to pick up and play, both sealing the holes amd blowing.

It’s a soft blower, but compared to the MK there is way more resistance. It wants to be pushed hard, much harder than the MK. It seems like they take almost exactly the same amount of air. On one tune, The Sunset Reel, in the b part, I like to play without a breath to the point where I’m almost out of air, and it felt the same on both of them. Inside the bottom of the barrel it says, Colin Goldie, Nov 2022, 97. I assume the 97 is the windway height. Wow, what do his hard blowers feel like to blow?

I will definitely keep playing both my MK and the Goldie. I’m thrilled they sound so differently, yet both sound awesome. Is the Goldie the cosmic drainpipe sound? I love that description even though it only makes sense when you hear it. Whatever, it’s a great sound, more trad than the fat, rich, complex tone of the MK.
Narzog
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Tell us something.: Can play several instruments at an unimpressive level. Currently most interested in whistling with a side of acoustic guitar.

Re: Goldie low D arrives

Post by Narzog »

Glad you like it. I found I loved the Goldie tone first octave but preferred the MK tone in second. The Goldie tone was too focused, making it feel thin. But first octave, the Goldie has that 'staple' low whistle tone. Which feels much more trad than a lot of others like the MK.

You say you have to push it harder, but is that also in the high end? I felt like the high end was actually easier, especially the top of second octave. VS my MK. Just due to how the pressure works.
bruce.b
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Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2019 11:23 am
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Tell us something.: I’m a whistle, fiddle and tenor guitar player. Mostly low D, mostly Irish trad, but I’ll try any fiddle tune on whistle.

Re: Goldie low D arrives

Post by bruce.b »

Narzog wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 12:10 am
You say you have to push it harder, but is that also in the high end? I felt like the high end was actually easier, especially the top of second octave. VS my MK. Just due to how the pressure works.
The narrow windway on the Goldie feels to me like you have to blow harder than the more open windway of the MK. So far, two days in, I think the Goldie sounds best when you lean into it more, particularly the low octave. Something Richard Cook once pointed out is he likes a low D note where you can push it until you can start to hear the second octave D in the tone, without it flipping up to that note. It’s a great sound and something my Goldie does really well.

I love how both the MK and the Goldie sound. The Mk is a little louder I think. I’m not yet as comfortable playing the Goldie, but I think I’ll get there within a week or two. I played for a long time last night and it had me thinking I’d like to have a quieter low D for when I play for an extended time in the small bedroom I use as my music room, where both whistles can be a little overpowering. It has me wishing I didn’t sell my Kerry Optima low D as that might be nice for the second hour of practice.
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