David O'Brien Low D whistle

[Steve Bliven]

David O'Brien advertises a Low D whistle at what seems to be a quite reasonable price. I don't recall any discussions of it here (and the search function doesn't help much on multiple word attempts).

Anyone have one and care to do a review (or point me to an existing one)?

Thanks and best wishes.

Steve

[MTGuru]

(and the search function doesn't help much on multiple word attempts)

But the Chiffboard is thoroughly indexed by Google. So the query

"o'brien" "low D" site:forums.chiffandfipple.com

returns 1900+ results, some of which may actually be useful.

[Steve Bliven]

Thanks for the search option. I waded through a lot of them and found a bunch of stuff about Cillian O'Brien (misspelling of O'Briain); David O'Brien, the flutemaker; Peter O'Brien; Mark O'Brien; Conan O'Brien; and Shauna O'Brien, apparently a p*rn star (interestingly the built-in auto-censor changes "p*rn" to "lichen"—the things you learn...); etc.

From the search, I gather there was a tour of the David O'Brien Low D back in '07–'08 days but not much in the way of review. There are a some hints of a review in the couple of instruments sold in the UIE (by-the-by, is the UIE still "an experiment" ?) but an interested seller might not be an impartial reviewer.

So, the original question stands—Anyone have one and care to do a review (or point me to an existing one)?

Thanks and best wishes.

Steve

[Mr.Gumby]

Cillian O'Brien (misspelling of O'Briain)

Not so much a misspelling as the English form of the same name and as such both are correct.

[Steve Bliven]

Sorry. Should have said "alternate" spelling.

I'm never clear when the anglicized version is appropriate and if/when it is socially incorrect.

Thanks and best wishes.

Steve

[Mr.Gumby]

It's really a bit of an arbitrary thing. Safest is probably to stick to what the person in question prefers but quite a lot of people use both the Irish and English versions of their name. In some circles circles it is customary to use the Irish version, even if the person never uses only the English version otherwise. For some it is closely tied up with issues of identity and at times political overtones.

[MTGuru]

It's really a bit of an arbitrary thing.

Which always made using the Irish telephone book (white pages) an interesting exercise. Anyway, back to topic ...

[scottie]

Thanks for the search option. I waded through a lot of them and found a bunch of stuff about Cillian O'Brien (misspelling of O'Briain); David O'Brien, the flutemaker; Peter O'Brien; Mark O'Brien; Conan O'Brien; and Shauna O'Brien, apparently a p*rn star (interestingly the built-in auto-censor changes "p*rn" to "lichen"—the things you learn...); etc.

From the search, I gather there was a tour of the David O'Brien Low D back in '07–'08 days but not much in the way of review. There are a some hints of a review in the couple of instruments sold in the UIE (by-the-by, is the UIE still "an experiment" ?) but an interested seller might not be an impartial reviewer.

So, the original question stands—Anyone have one and care to do a review (or point me to an existing one)?

Thanks and best wishes.

Steve

Hello Steve,
I do not have the whistle you are asking about at present, but did own one in 2011. It was a nice whistle to my recollection as far as the tone. It did have the black mouth piece and was much easier to play than some of the original Kerry whistles. The air demand was moderate and the volume fine. I do not recall why I sold it but I guess I was just experimenting at that time. This is a picture of the mouthpiece and one of me holding it.

[Steve Bliven]

Thanks Scottie -

I'm sure that it's an artifact of the lighting and photo, but in the top two pictures it almost looks like the metal tube is surrounded by some sort of transparent material and in the lower photo (once I got past that great shirt) it looks like the upper portion of the tube is larger than the lower part. Can't imagine that's really the case.

Appreciate your comments.

Best wishes.

Steve

[BigDavy]

Nice to see Scottie has chipped in, I was beginning to think that I was the only one that had bought an O'Brien low D.

David

[Steve Bliven]

So David -

Care to pass on your impressions of the O'Brien Low D?

Thanks and best wishes.

Steve

[Mikethebook]

Have you checked out the review here? http://pipersgrip.50webs.com/Obrien.html

[Steve Bliven]

Thanks. Hadn't seen that.

Wish the reviewer would add dates. That would allow for updates/refinements in the makers' work to be accounted for.

Best wishes.

Steve

[OBrien]

That review is around five years old. The design hasn't changed too much. I have narrowed the airway and increased its height a little, which has improved the volume and focus of the whistle.

I plan to start a batch soon and would be happy to send one out for examination by a couple of competent reviewers. They should be ready in a month or 6 weeks. I have to go to China for a few weeks next month, as part of my other job, so it could be longer. PM if interested.

[ubizmo]

That review is around five years old. The design hasn't changed too much. I have narrowed the airway and increased its height a little, which has improved the volume and focus of the whistle.

Is this you? https://youtu.be/V3We1kvAE3U I'm guessing it is, and the whistle sounds very nice. It's a good tune choice for a sample, since it goes from low D to high B. Those high notes can be dicey on low whistles, but they sound pretty good (i.e., not harsh, shrieking) in the video. There are so many low whistle reviews on YouTube where the player doesn't play any high notes, so we don't get a chance to hear what they sound like. The low D is perhaps a bit muffled, but it's hard to tell from the recording. In the sample on your site, the low D seems to hold up better.