Goldie Low D Soft Blower Plus!!

[Mikethebook]

Most players familiar with Colin's whistles will know he makes them in varying "strengths" from soft blowers through to hard blowers. As a beginning player, I've owned a non-tuneable low D soft blower for about a year and have loved it. But of late I've realised the need for a tuneable whistle and so approached Colin with a request for one, and to ask him if it was possible to make one with a slightly more "relaxed" second octave B but still having a strong bottom end, something of a grail low whistle. It turns out that a very well known customer of his also desired that in a low D. So Colin sent me one of his 1.00mm low Ds - his normal soft blower windway height is 0.97mm so we're not talking much difference here - similar to the one(s) owned by said customer. And it's wonderful! Very different from my non-tuneable but then all Colin's whistles have a unique character of their own. It's a little less forgiving than the first but has a wonderful rich tone with an unbelievable bottom D and that easier to play top B and above. Amazing whistle! I think it will be years before I can get out of it in tone what it has to offer. Sheer alchemy, Colin!

[retired]

Mike - have you ever played a medium blower - if so could you compare them ?

[Mikethebook]

I've only played an Overton Low E that Colin worked on for me and which he said was a medium blower. My thoughts are that the differences between his whistles are not huge. It's more subtle that I first thought if the Overton is anything to go by. The softer blowers do take more air but in the last five years Colin has made the heads far more air efficient and speaking as a very unfit 58 year old beginner I don't find the air requirements excessive. Even so with practice I'm sure my lungs will improve. Obviously the medium blower will take less air and though the first octave will require more push, I think the differences will be more noticeable in the second octave, G and above where the medium blower will take a lot more pressure to sustain notes. I can play rolls on second octave B without trouble, in fact in a very relaxed way. No way could I do that on a medium blower right now.

Apart from the lower air requirements, I believe the advantage of the medium blower will be it has more room for expression on each note, more than a soft blower. But Davy Spillane plays a VERY soft blower and Colin tells me most of his pipe playing customers also play soft blowers so that's good enough for me.

The softer blower MAY, and I stress that word, have a fuller tone. Brigitte wrote me that "easier blowers can sometimes be fuller in tone, there is more air passing via the blade, hence also more breath noise." She herself uses the word "sometimes" so I stress than each whistle is individual.

I don't feel as though I have been as helpful as I would like but maybe others with more experience of both kinds of low D whistle will be able to chip in or even correct me.

[ecohawk]

Mike,

I don't know that I'd correct you as much as agree with you. My first Goldie Low D was a "soft blower" that I sold because I wanted to try an MK and didn't have the budget for both at the time. Though, in the end, I preferred that whistle to the MK and eventually let the MK go after I had Colin craft my favorite low D, which has more resistance than my first Goldie. Though, I never asked him the question and Colin didn't call it a "medium blower", I believe that would be an appropriate description. I later traded a couple of other alto whistles for a non-tunable Goldie "medium blower" that I sold to another C&F member in order to make a deal for a Burke Viper that I'm having a little fun with. This Goldie had the same resistance as my custom Goldie. Wow that sounds confusing doesn't it?

It is hard to say that I found any big difference in tone between any of these three Goldies but my custom definitely has the best overall range of all three including what I refer to as "dynamic range", which I equate to your "expressiveness". To me this means that I have quite a lot of room between flat, sharp and the octave break on each note. I got exactly what I asked for in this whistle.

I'd try another "soft blower" if I had the chance but it would have to be really special to beat my current Goldie which gets played nearly every day.

ecohawk

[Mikethebook]

Hi Michael,

It's great when you can find your ideal whistle or close to it isn't it.

For me the softblower + hits a optimal middle ground between the likes of a free blowing Burke which I've never tried (and which I'm sure I would love if prices were lower and import duties didn't kill the deal) but I think I might struggle with it air requirements-wise . . . and the medium blowing Goldies where I would struggle with the playing pressure of the upper second octave e.g playing rolls on high B!! Colin's soft blower is by no means a free blower - I think the backpressure is fairly moderate - but it has loads of potential for expression, a wonderful bottom note and a relaxed upper second octave.

But each to his own and its great that Colin offers whistles to suit everyone. Maybe in a couple more years when I'm a better player (I hope!) I will want to at least try a medium blowing low D . . . but maybe even then I will still prefer my soft blower, which now that our house move is over, will get played nearly every day again.

Mike