Deciding on a Burke

[Mason]

Hi All,

I hope everyone is doing well. My wonderful family gave me $200 for Michael Burke's shop! I'm torn between getting a Bb or a D, and also whether to go with aluminum or composite. (For a little background, I play mostly hymns and I already have a Mellow Dog D and a Freeman Bb). Does anyone have some clips that might be helpful for deciding? I've looked around but haven't found any that were a good comparison. (Or, even better, if there is someone with both a Burke Bb and D who wouldn't mind doing a take with both whistles on a song like "Be Thou My Vision" or "Amazing Grace".) Thanks for the help!

[Feadoggie]

Does anyone have some clips that might be helpful for deciding? I've looked around but haven't found any that were a good comparison.

Hi, I don't have any clips for comparison but I'd expect that clips wouldn't give you a good feel for the different keys and materials anyway. I play a couple dozen different Burke whistles. I also play in church on a regular basis.
In choosing which key, D or Bb, I'd just ask you which key you find yourself playing in most frequently. I play ITM also so the D whistle is my most used whistle. A lot of church music is written in Bb and Eb (although it is easily transposed) so that might work for you. What's your experience with that? For example I played Bi Thusa Mo Shúile (Be Thou My Vision) on an aluminum Burke G whistle in the key of C.
The materials are another personal matter I think. I have a set of Burke aluminum whistles in keys from high D down through low C. They are my standard set of whistles for accompaniment. But I do have quite a few Burke brass whistles and a few in composite as well. I played a Burke wide bore composite as my main whistle in church for the last three years. But again, I chose the music and the keys played. They are all very well designed whistles and well constructed. They all exhibit the same great playing characteristics. Both the aluminum and composite whistles are lightweight, the composites are almost freakishly lightweight, The composite whistles have a more mellow tone than the aluminum or brass. But that is apparent only to the player I think. I've recorded with all three materials and the aluminum and brass are indistinguishable on playback but the composite does sound a tiny bit more woody. I like the sound of the composite whistles with acoustic guitars/mandos/dobros/fiddles. The aluminum and brass go well with concert flutes and amplified instruments. But that's just my experience. Yours will vary I am sure.

So you can probably tell by my rambling that in the end I would recommend buying one of each key in both materials. The good news is that in any case you cannot make a bad choice here. Whatever you select, you will have a terrific whistle.

[Mr.Nate]

Hello Mason,

People discuss Burke whistles and the material comparison a lot on the board. Using the search engine might be to your advantage in your quest for information.

Here is a youtube video of "Doc" at the Irish flute store http://shop.irishflutestore.com/ fumbling around with some Burke whistles so I don't know if it will be of much help. Plus if you took various keys and played all three materials yourself you would probably have a favorite material in each key. Doc sells a lot of new and used Burkes at his internet site so you could save a little money on a used Burke and also have the opportunity to return it if you don't like it.
Seriously, if I had 200$ to invest in a Burke whistle I would go for one of his lower whistles like A,G, F, or E . In my opinion you would get a lot more whistle for your money when you consider that a soprano D is 200$ and a low G aluminum for comparison is 230$ There are a lot of soprano D's on the market and Michael's session D wouldn't be my first choice for 200$ (just my 2c)
Personally I own a Low E aluminum. My friend LisaD had a Composite low E so I was able to compare the two. The composite had a pleasing, mellow sound but I like the aluminum because it has a little more complexity and sizzle in the sound. The composite would sound good playing solo if you were using a microphone to amplify it but the aluminum justs has a little more definition and brightness.

[riverman]

Hello, Mason,

I think it depends whether you plan to play a lot of session music with Irish trad musicians or plan to mostly play alone. You know how high and shrill the D whistle can be, especially with slow airs that sometimes have extended high B notes.
The Bb would be much more pleasing and easy on the ears for playing by yourself, and for listeners (like my longsuffering family)! I would instantly vote for the Bb.
As for material, I love aluminum because it doesn't pick up so much vibration. The newer model Burke has a fine, husky tone in aluminum (at least on my low A, my reach-for whistle).
By the way, you have a great family!!!

[Mr.Nate]

Mason,
Here are a couple of links with comparisons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_P9GYVKNqQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m3FdZkuJXQ

[dspmusik]

i play a mellow dog D and have a burke brass Bb, and love them both.
yes, i think the biggest issue is what key the church songs will be in. are you playing out of a hymnal, or from lead sheets?
quick answer though, my vote goes for a Bb (my Burke replace my Freeman Bb, ironically)

[pancelticpiper]

If you're really happy with your Freeman Generation Bb, stick with it. I myself favour Generations for the high keys and I use Generations in Bb, C, and Eb. (D is covered by my old Feadog.)

I love Burkes and you'll be happy with any Burke, but if you like your Mellow Dog D you might consider getting a Burke to cover other keys, such as a Burke C, or perhaps a Burke Low A to cover some sharp keys.

I have a pile of Hymnals from just about every major denomination and to play all that stuff you need quite a few whistles.

I use Burkes in Low G and Low A quite a bit. I also need to use whistles in E and B to cover stuff in four and five sharps. I even have needed a C# on a few occasions.

Maybe you could make a chart of the keys you play in, and figure out your whistle needs from there.

One has to keep in mind both the key and the range. Most Hymnals predicate everything on a C-C range, working up and down from there as a song's range increases. That's why a Bb whistle is handy, as that's the lowest note on some big-range hymns. (A Bb whistle is handy for the keys of Bb and Eb.) And it's why whistles in C and B are often handy.

Eventually a suite of whistles in every key will be extremely useful. I have Low C, Low D, Low Eb, Low E, Low F, Low F#, Low G, Low Ab, Low A, Bb, C, C#, D, and Eb. I've used every one of them at some gig or other, mosty at Church gigs.

[Mason]

Thank you all very much for the help and advice!

[Mason]

...one more question - Is this a Burke? I've only seen one, and I can't tell because of the lighting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK6KK7NhdQU

Also, does anyone know what key he is playing in? I'm out of town without my whistles

[Feadoggie]

Is this a Burke? I've only seen one, and I can't tell because of the lighting.

Yes, as I look at the video it appears to be a Burke D-BPS circa 2001-2. D-BPS translates as - key of D Brass Pro Session bore. I happen to have one right here and can play along with the video nicely. The whistle player is either nervous or suffers from terminal diaphragm vibrato. That particular vintage of whistle would only be available second hand (sort of like a '59 'burst, IYKWIM). Michael Burke has continued to revise his design and the newer ones are terrific and voiced a little different from the earlier ones. I have purchased newer ones as the improvements warrant it and like them but I've held on to a couple of the older ones because they just have a sweeter top end than the newer ones. I am particular in that strange way . There is a trade-off though since the newer ones have a stronger low end. Different horses for different courses. If you buy a new Burke you will be getting the best whistle that Mike Burke has made so have no reservations in any case.

Feadoggie

[Mason]

The good news is I did reach a conclusion - I went with a brass Bb. The bad news is - it was dropped (literally) a few seconds after taking it out of the package. (It landed on the opposite end of the fipple) As a result, that end has a flat spot. While it isn't half, it is fairly significant. How much would something like that affect the sound? I've contacted Mike to see if he can do anything, but I thought I would check here in the meantime. I feel sick...

[plunk111]

Any brass technician can fix that in no time. Kids drop their trumpets, trombones, horns, etc, all the time. They have special "thingees" (can't remember the correct name) that reshape the tubes. I'm sure they have one that would work - and probably won't cost more than about $5...

[Mason]

Thanks for the reply - That puts me at little more at ease...

[Porridge Face]

I took my metal flute in to be fixed just the other day and had the head joint made round again. It took the repair person about 1 minute. I'm not kidding, it was really fast.

Cheers