Silkstone still blows mightly

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 10:43 am

I've been playing my Humphrey Geekmeister whistle almost exclusively since i got it. Well, yesterday i played some tunes with an accordionist friend, and i used my Silkstone alloy. I'm listening to the recording right now, and just wanted to let you know, that's still a great whistle. [bait]It even makes me sound good. And when i play it i play faster, and i look sexier, and play more in tune.[/bait]

Whitmores75087 · Post by **Whitmores75087** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 11:02 am

Silkstone Alloy is a great whistle. Loud without being shrill. Sounds like a whistle, not a recorder. And very much in tune. I had a bagpiper look at mine a few weeks ago and he was multo impressed with the workmanship. In loud sessions I keep coming back to mine, which I bought from Wanderer. Not sure why he sold it.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 11:05 am

Whitmores75087 wrote:Silkstone Alloy is a great whistle. Loud without being shrill. Sounds like a whistle, not a recorder. And very much in tune. I had a bagpiper look at mine a few weeks ago and he was multo impressed with the workmanship. In loud sessions I keep coming back to mine, which I bought from Wanderer. Not sure why he sold it.

Didn't i buy mine from Wanderer too?

I think he has a business selling them on the side.

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 12:17 pm

glauber wrote:
Whitmores75087 wrote:Silkstone Alloy is a great whistle. Loud without being shrill. Sounds like a whistle, not a recorder. And very much in tune. I had a bagpiper look at mine a few weeks ago and he was multo impressed with the workmanship. In loud sessions I keep coming back to mine, which I bought from Wanderer. Not sure why he sold it.
Didn't i buy mine from Wanderer too? I think he has a business selling them on the side.

Does he have any more?

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 12:29 pm

I never thought the one I have was that loud. It's tone certainly carries, but I don't consider it very loud. Now, I do believe it's one of the most in tune whistles by far. The C nat is not only spot on, but as strong as any other. I think the tone is a little.....I think I heard someone use the term "stark". I like chiff.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 12:46 pm

Oh. A positive thread, after all. If I'd say something/one "blows mightily", well...you know.

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:09 pm

glauber wrote:Humphrey Geekmeister whistle

Huh? I don't think Gary's whistles are at all geeky.

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:31 pm

JessieK wrote:
glauber wrote:Humphrey Geekmeister whistle
Huh? I don't think Gary's whistles are at all geeky.

He is refering to the tuning of his Humphreys: Werkmeister III, in fact. You have to be a geek to know about different intonations, and a Geekmeister to know about and want a whistle with organ tuning....

Oh, and on the subject of Sikstones: I am proud to provide the odd man out. I don't like them. They strike me as poor in harmonics and too loud.

john swinton · Post by **john swinton** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:52 pm

I had a go on one and didnt like it

I started playing the wrong tune, and everyone heard it

Still, nice whistle

McHaffie · Post by **McHaffie** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:46 pm

We had a gentleman sit in at the hoolie just a couple of weeks ago in fact that brought a Sindt and a Silkstone with him and he and I swapped out playing whistles all night long and I have to say I liked both whistles for different reasons all around.

As far as the Silkstone goes specifically, I thought it was a very even tempered throughout and genuinely a nice instrument to play. Just like anytime you pick up a new whistle, especially a different make, it took me a few bars to get used to it... takes a little coercing to jump between octaves back and forth, but shoot... that took all of about 2 seconds to get used to... quite easy in fact.

Overall I thought it was a great whistle for sessions... strong voice but not really too piercing... I like the statement made earlier... it "carries well". It's not super loud, but cuts through the rest of the noise without being too harsh.

My 2 cents anyway.

And no to the email I just got as I edit this... just because I'm a maker doesn't make me a biased enthusiast. I'm not about to post anything negative about another whistle or it's maker of course... I just won't post if I find anything as such, which is rare, however I don't find anything wrong with being fond of someone elses work aside from my own. I may not word things just right sometimes, but I'm also pretty good at making sure I keep my cool and share my thoughts in a polite manner. But that really burns my butt and I'm posting it here for all to see and make a point because it's come up before and I've let it slide.

Anyway, sorry for the rant.

Take care all, and by the way... I really do think that Silkstone I played was a purdy darned nice whistle.

-John

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 5:53 pm

glauber wrote:
Whitmores75087 wrote:Silkstone Alloy is a great whistle. Loud without being shrill. Sounds like a whistle, not a recorder. And very much in tune. I had a bagpiper look at mine a few weeks ago and he was multo impressed with the workmanship. In loud sessions I keep coming back to mine, which I bought from Wanderer. Not sure why he sold it.
Didn't i buy mine from Wanderer too? I think he has a business selling them on the side.

Lol, if I do, i'm a bad businessman, I didn't make a profit on either one

I sold the first one, because I needed the dough (due to the years of joblessess that came from being a tech programmer after the internet crash), it hit a harmonic that hurt one of my fillings, and so it went on the chopping block.

I sold the other one, because we sounded so good together with you on it, and me on the copeland

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:38 pm

McHaffie wrote:As far as the Silkstone goes specifically, I thought it was a very even tempered throughout and genuinely a nice instrument to play. Just like anytime you pick up a new whistle, especially a different make, it took me a few bars to get used to it... takes a little coercing to jump between octaves back and forth, but shoot... that took all of about 2 seconds to get used to... quite easy in fact.

Yes, that's one reason i like it, it's a very satisfying whistle to play. Very player-friendly, no squeaks or out of tune notes. I also like the attack it has. It's not a super loud whistle, but it holds well in noisy sessions because it has a very definite, almost percussive attack. Same thing happens with the O'Briain.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:41 pm

Wanderer wrote:Lol, if I do, i'm a bad businessman, I didn't make a profit on either one

I bought mine almost by accident. Nobody was bidding on it on eBay, so i thought i'd put a bid in to get things started... i was embarassed to buy it for the price i got. I offered Greg to let him keep the whistle, but he was a gentleman.

jkrazy52 · Post by **jkrazy52** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 2:11 am

I have a PVC Silkstone D -- I'll grant it has a good sound, until I try to play the 2nd octave B. No matter what, that note will not play nicely. I bought it through the Whistle Shop and Thom Larson did offer to have Paul Hayward adjust it. But I don't understand how it can be adjusted -- for just that one note, when it's probably something I'm doing wrong ... isn't it?

I'll take suggestions, please ....

~Judy

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 5:55 am

If he offered, i'd send it to be adjusted or replaced, just in case.

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Silkstone still blows mightly

Silkstone still blows mightly

Re: Silkstone still blows mightly

Re: Silkstone still blows mightly