Collection by maker

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armlann
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Collection by maker

Post by armlann »

Another question with no good answer. For those of you that have a variety of whistles, are you moving to collect by maker (in a variety of keys or various D's if multiple makers)? Or do you have a variety of makers across a variety of keys? I know WOAD whispers just try this one, it'll be perfect.... I'm sure I'll keep the first I bought, another I bought in Ireland. Not sure otherwise. But generally, if you could, would you pick a maker and stick to them across whatever keys you need or keep a variety of makers? Just curious how other brains are working. TIA!

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BigDavy
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Re: Collection by maker

Post by BigDavy »

With my WOAD I don't think I could stick to one maker.

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Re: Collection by maker

Post by pancelticpiper »

First I need to say that I'm a musician rather than a collector.

The whistle roll that I take to gigs was designed to have a slot for one whistle of each pitch.

At the time I had the roll made it was, going upwards from Low C:

C D Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb B C Db D Eb.

Though it's true that since I've got rid of the whistles in the in-between pitches I rarely use (Ab, Gb, and Db) there are some available slots for duplicates.

It was cool when I had beautiful gleaming Burkes in several pitches! They looked great in the roll.

But really I don't care about who made a whistle, I only care about how it plays.

So my Low Whistles are mostly by Colin Goldie while the High Whistles are mostly by Generation.
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Sirchronique
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Re: Collection by maker

Post by Sirchronique »

A bit of both. With some makers, such as John Sindt, I like their whistles a lot in every key in which they are available, so for those makers I buy them in every key (sometimes even multiples in each key). The same is true for old Generations. I tend to acquire a lot in every key, because I like how they play in every key in which they are available.

For some makers, I think their design works better with some keys than for others, so I might only buy only either all of the low, or alto, or soprano whistles from that maker. Even if their design is very consistent from key to key, I might find that those attributes work best with specific pitches.

Basically, I acquire whistles if I like how they sound and play. I will only try to acquire sets in every key if I like how that maker makes every key, which is extremely rare for me. In fact, I’ve never encountered any maker who offers keys ranging from high D to low D (or beyond) whose work I like a lot in all of those keys. I like high and low Burkes, but I don’t like his middle keys like A and G, because I don’t like how the Burke characteristics fit in that range of the frequency spectrum. I like the middle keys of Carbony, like A, G, and F, but I don’t like the Carbony as much in low D or nearby pitches very much. Etc.

So, to make a long answer short, I don’t aim to collect all pitches from any given maker. I aim to collect whistles that I like and enjoy playing. The only cases where I am to acquire everything from a specific maker seems to be when that maker only offers a narrow range of pitches for which their design works very well, such as Sindt, who only offers high and medium keys, or Lambe, who only offered low and medium keys.
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Re: Collection by maker

Post by Narzog »

I'm always on a quest to try different makers, because you never know if a maker you didn't try yet could be your new favorite. My most recent try was Gary Humphrey, and I really like it (was a low G). I'm tempted to try some others. But my issue is I already have a good set of whistles that I like. VS before when I had whistles I wasn't totally happy with, I was always ready to try and find one I liked more. So I don't 'need' to find new makers. But its still fun so when I see a good deal used on something to try I jump on it.

What happened for me was I got a whistle I liked, but then I didn't like the next whistle from that maker as much. So I tried another maker, repeat. And once I got one that really 'stuck' I have no need to sell it or get another whistle in that key (unless it was to try a maker that I found something used for). The makers that stick I may get a few whistles from. but theres so many good makers that I cant have too many per maker without having too many whistles per key.

I try to not have too many whistles per key just because it feels like a waste. The prime example of this was my Goldie low D. Excellent whistle. But it cost too much to sit on my wall while I played my MK, so it got sold to a member here who wanted it. But if money wasn't a thing, I'd definitely have an insane stash because every now and then I wish I could experience that Goldie tone again. But just the way I work, I will generally always play the one of that key that I like the most, with very little exception. but what key I feel like playing will vary so the others still get played.
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