Whistles with good volume

[Feadoggie]

I can't remember ever seeing a suite of Susatos in the hands of a 'reed man' at a session.

I would think that Paul McCandless qualifies as a "reed man". He seems to use an Abell D as his main whistle but I know I have seen him go to Susato Kildares for other keys. One of the rust colored Kildares is what caught my attention, unmistakable Susato. Just one example, must be others out there.

Part of the issue we run into is that whistles are not made in every key by all makers. Susato is one maker that has covered many keys for the longest time. So Susato is a legitimate choice for many players for that reason. I know I gravitated to Susatos for key coverage and availability, not their tone or playing characteristics. They can do the job.

Anyone here remember Dale's "Tin Whistle Table"? I think that is what it was called. Who makes whistles in which keys? Dale addressed that question a long time ago. That is what brought me into this Chiffy community long ago. And the love/hate relationship with Susatos was documented there from the outset. Thanks, Dale.

Feadoggie

[ytliek]

I'll offer another pair of whistles that may be loud enough.

The Jerry Freeman Bluebird tweets high enough and loud enough to be heard above the power of the strings.

And a real honker with umphhh is David Boisvert from Greenwood pipes. See the recent threads.

I'll vouch for both!

[BigDavy]

Fiddle Workshop sesion - Islay Inn

This is the session I go to on Monday nights, Val, our whistle player, plays an Abell D whistle and if you can hear her through this amount of other instruments, then fiddle, viola and cello will be as nothing.


David

[ytliek]

Lucy, if its a one time gig I wouldn't even worry about it and just play the whistle you already have.

Custom whistles take time with wait lists and all.

Here is a Sindt whistler holding her own among the strings.

[E = Fb]

The regular Milligan is very loud. It's my favorite whistle Cant play it everywhere though.

[pancelticpiper]

I would think that Paul McCandless qualifies as a "reed man".

I'm not familiar with that name.

The people I'm speaking of are 'legit' LA studio musicians (formally trained sightreaders from a classical, jazz, or pop background) who know nothing about Irish traditional music, who carry around some whistles and bamboo flutes and so forth in case the composer wants a different sound on a particular cue.

These guys usually have a couple Generations in various keys, or other cheap nondescript whistles which usually don't play very well.

But from time to time one of these guys will have a roll of gleaming Burkes in every key! Hey, it's a tax write-off anyway.

Likewise they'll often have a collection of cheap bamboo flutes, but sometimes they'll have a matched set of wonderful Olwells!

[Feadoggie]

I'm not familiar with that name.

Yeah, I didn't expect that you would be. World-folk-jazz is not for everyone. I suppose winning three Grammys from six nominations in a four decade long recording career wouldn't qualify one as "legit".

Here's a bit of his "non-legit" work on the Abell for anyone that might be interested in hearing something a bit different(about four minutes into the video). Warning: this will not be everyone's cup of tea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k7R-kwGImU

Feadoggie

[JS]

Just exactly my cup of tea this morning, Feadoggie. Thanks. I hadn't listened to Oregon in quite a while. (In this genre, I especially like Don Cherry's old band, Codona). Thread drift apology included.

[Feadoggie]

Drifting further still ... more apologies ... Codona interested me for a time too for the mix of rhythms and instruments. Berimbau jazz . Quite organic.

[sfmans]

Enjoyed that, thanks Feadoggie. Reminded me of the whistle & recorder breaks English saxophonist would sometimes put into her performances. Shame the bass player is so out of tune!

[sfmans]

Enjoyed that, thanks Feadoggie. Reminded me of the whistle & recorder breaks English saxophonist would sometimes put into her performances. Shame the bass player is so out of tune!

Ha ha missed out the vital bit of information - Barbara Thompson! Now why will my iPad let me post, but if I try to edit an existing post it won't show me the Submit button?

[Feadoggie]

Ha ha missed out the vital bit of information - Barbara Thompson!

Ahh! Which brings my disjointed mind back around to Colloseum(?sp).

[benhall.1]

Ha ha missed out the vital bit of information - Barbara Thompson!

Ahh! Which brings my disjointed mind back around to Colloseum(?sp).

Spelling is Colosseum. And they were - are - one of my favourite bands of all time. I absolutely loved their stuff. Daughter of Time remains one of my all-time favourite albums.

[tin tin]

This has been touched upon in a few other responses, but let me just amplify the point. (Excuse the pun.) In my opinion, loud whistles are a bad thing and a solution in search of a problem (thus becoming their own problem).

The average whistle (like your Generation) can hold its own in most settings, simply because the pitch is so high.

However, if you want a bit more volume (or to hear yourself better), I'll second the recommendations of Burke (although I think the narrow bore is a better instrument than the wide bore without much difference in volume), Reyburn (granted, the design has changed since I last had one), Milligan (again, narrow bore), and Abell (if price is no object). These all have nice tone and don't get nasty shrill in the second octave. Whistles that are louder than this ironically almost require amplification/EQing because they're too loud and shrill acoustically.

The only time I felt the need for a loud whistle was in an auditorium seating 600-ish people with a string orchestra behind me.

[bjs]

Is Goldie the new overton? I got mine made loud for playing outdoors. It has a very narrow wind channel so needs plenty of pressure but it is my favourite.