Thoughts on starting on Clarke whistles

[Conley]

I started on a Clarke Orig. D and eighteen whistles later (including Walton's, Generations, Acorn, Oaks, Water Weasel, Feadog), it's still my favorite whistle. It's one of the older ones with a more flattened airway and the sound is absolutely HEAVEN! Sure, the air requirement was tricky at first, but like someone else said, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[Blackbeer]

Hi my name is Tom and I love the Clarke Original.
It wasn`t my first whistle but most of the ones before it are gone. It has its own sound and is not comparable to any other(IMHO). I love Gens and I love Shaws too. I am a hopless cheepy peepy. I still haven`t played a dog yet though............

Tom

[madfifer9]

I like my unpainted Clarke original because it is historically accurate for my Civil War reenactments. It didn't take too long to get used to the air requirement, though it definitely was a shocker when I started (enough to make me chuck my very first black painted Clarke back in its box and forget it for about six months). I think that *having* to play it made me a better whistler in general.

My Sweetone is my favorite cheapie whistle, and I love my Abell... but my Clarke original will always have a reserved space in my knapsack.

madfifer9

[momerath]

My dear wife gave me a Clarke unpainted for Christmas. My previous whistle was a Bach big-bore trombone, so I didn't really notice that the Clarke took that much air. I loved the sound, and just took off with it. I play in my car at stoplights--in Atlanta that adds up to a lot of practice time. I've never really thought about getting another high whistle, except now that I'd like to play with our student praise band and they like to play in other keys than D, G, and A minor.

[peeplj]

My dear wife gave me a Clarke unpainted for Christmas. My previous whistle was a Bach big-bore trombone, so I didn't really notice that the Clarke took that much air.

I wouldn't expect you'd have any air problems!

By the way, Bach makes a nice horn. You still play it?

--James

[jim_mc]

My first whistle was a Clarke original in C, and I had no other whistle for the first 10 years I played.

In my opinion, if your going to play IrTrad, starting with the Clarke is a great idea. You get an immediate and dramatic idea of what properly executed cuts, taps and rolls can sound like with the Clarke C. It gives you that nice burbly plop and pop. Breath requirements? If you can't handle the breath requirements of a Clarke C, you need to get out and walk around the block a couple of times every day.

By the way, my second whistle was a Soodlums in D. I had only those two whistles for the next twenty years. Then Tom Dowling told me about this web site called Chiff and Fipple...

[JessieK]

I have read through everyone's comments and I think I have a different opinion to add. I don't like Clarke originals at all (way too breathy, the upper octave is too thin, etc.), but that's neither here nor there. I think it's a bad idea to start on a Clarke original for the following reason. Most inexpensive whistles, and even some handmade whistles have a weak low end, so that it is necessary to hold back a bit in order not to squeak on the lowest notes. If a person starts on the Clarke and gets used the the high air requirement, it will be that much more difficult to hold back when he or she switches to almost any other whistle.

[momerath]

By the way, Bach makes a nice horn. You still play it?

--James

Yup. I love it. It can either sing sweet or give you that nice brassy slush-pumper blat, depending on the mood desired. Mostly I play ska with the above mentioned praise band (the hornmaker no doubt turning in his grave all the while), but I sometimes sub out to our church orchestra for seasonal things.

[peeplj]

My friend and co-worker Larry gave his daughter a (used) high-end Bach Strad trumpet for Christmas a few years ago when she was ready for a better horn.

She has no clue what she has in that trumpet; when Larry plays it he can get the softest, most round and controlled sound out of that thing, all up and down its range.

--James

[mdutr0]

I'm also a trombone player turned whistler, so the air requirement was never reallya factor for me. A Clarke D, unpainted, was my first whistle as well and it was truly a valuable experience. I still love that whistle, though it has tarnished almost beyond recognition. The Clarke is, IMHO, very versatile; I play with a praise band as well, in kind of a free-improv style. If you want, go to Clips and Snips, look under the Misc. category for my name and you can hear what I'm talking about (it's called Sing Like the Saved).

Thanks,

Micah

[Martin Milner]

My first whistle was a clarke original, with the book & tape, but within a few weeks I'd added several other cheapies, just so I had a choice of whistles. I didn cinch down the airway a bit but not much.

A friend who also had a Clarke tried mine, and found it much easier - hers had a HUGE breath requirement and was putting her off playing, and as we met at a singing class, I know she wasn't suffering from tiny lungs.

As Patrick pointed out, there's a lot of variation between Clarkes, get a bad one (airway like the Channel Tunnel) and it could put you off.

Of course there's a lot of variation in Generations too, but a good Generation is a wonder!.

[BillChin]

I started on a Clarke C with Bill Och's pamphlet and tape. The Whistle Shop has a great idea, a starter kit with two whistles, a Clarke Sweetone, and a Clare. It is under $39 with CD and pamphlet. (The kit I started with now lists for $25.) I would favor this approach over a Clarke original, and over a novice dropping over $30 on an instrument without knowing the basics and having first hand knowledge of how whistles can differ.

Other pairs of inexpensive whistles would make a good starting tandem, but I believe the Whistle Shop chose carefully and wisely when picking the Clarke Sweetone and the Clare.
+ Bill

[Wombat]

The crux of the argument goes like this: you should start learning whistle on the Clarke original, and shouldn't move to another whistle until you've played for at least a few months on the Clarke.

Learning on the Clarke, so the conversation progressed, gives you a kind of baseline, an understanding of where the modern pennywhistle came from. Then when you move to other whistles, you have the background to understand better what their strengths are and how to better take advantage of them.

The more I think on this, the more I think he's on to something here.

--James

I don't think a single poster has actually addressed the argument James began with. (Yeah, I know. This is C&F, what did you expect?) Well, just to be perverse, that's where I'm going to start.

I think this argument has absolutely no merit whatsoever. Do piano players do best to start, say, on clavichord? Should guitarists learn lute for a few months before committing to a guitar? Of course not. Learning an instrument is one thing, finding out where the modern version of that instrument came from is another entirely. The latter activity is very worthwhile but has nothing whatsoever to do with acquiring profiency on an instrument.

That said, I started with a Clarke original and an Acorn. For a couple of weeks I moved between the two, trying to do things on the one that weren't happening on the other. I'd recommend that approach to all beginners. I quickly settled on the Clarke and still enjoy playing it. Breath control was no problem; I came to whistle from saxophone. I went from the Clarke straight to Overtons. I did go through a brief period where I found a Sweetone easiest to learn and improve on. It was just easier to manipulate than the Clarke Original and the Overtons. Buying several cheap whistles still seems to me the best way for the beginner to proceed. You do get a feel for the ways in which whistles vary, a feel for what really suits you (which no amount of reading C&F can give you if you are a rank beginner) and an opportunity to exploit the good qualites of various whistles to build up your confidence.

[herbivore12]

I was just about to submit my reply, when Wombat's post appeared. His post addressed just about everything mine did -- even including an identical example (piano/clavichord)! -- so I'll just say: I agree with Wombat. Dude's a smart marsupial.

[cowtime]

I have read through everyone's comments and I think I have a different opinion to add. I don't like Clarke originals at all (way too breathy, the upper octave is too thin, etc.), but that's neither here nor there. I think it's a bad idea to start on a Clarke original for the following reason. Most inexpensive whistles, and even some handmade whistles have a weak low end, so that it is necessary to hold back a bit in order not to squeak on the lowest notes. If a person starts on the Clarke and gets used the the high air requirement, it will be that much more difficult to hold back when he or she switches to almost any other whistle.

Thanks for keeping me from being the lone one who does not like the Clarke original.