Whoa--how quickly did it set in?

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 5:17 pm

WHOA is short for Whistle Obsessive Acquisition disorder. The poll question is how soon did you buy or order that second whistle.
+ Bill

irishduffy · Post by **irishduffy** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 5:19 pm

Ordered a bunch of cheap ones to begin with.
Clarke- my fav.
waltons
feadog

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 5:26 pm

After a false start in the late 90's, my whistling began in Summer of 2001 with a Dixon. By the end of that year I had placed orders for Rose and Laughing Whistles, and by the time they arrived months later I knew enough about my preferences to keep the Laughing and sell the Rose.

lollycross · Post by **lollycross** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 5:28 pm

Gee, I was happy with my old Clarke for 3 years. Then I joined a professional band and only used it 6 more months before I KNEW
I had to buy a high-end one to sound better. Now I have 2 high-end ones,
just for safety sake.
Lolly

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 5:34 pm

I started off with a Clarke original. I think I played it about 6 months before deciding to find something different.

I smoked back then, and the Clarke takes a decent amount of air. I was always feeling out of breath..All of my tweaking attempts to reduce airflow merely ended up with ruined Clarkes.

I was pretty happy when I finally got a sweetone (after trying a shaw, soodlum, and waltons)..it was an easy blower, and it wasn't hard to control. I don't like them so much these days, but back then, they were the cat's meow.

After that initial shake-up at around 6 months, I'm pretty sure I played the sweettone for like 3 years before I seriously got whoa.

After a bit of a shake-up there, which I went through a lot of high-end whistles, I kept my new favorite (Silkstone) for a couple years or so...now I'm on my copeland, and I think I've been for a couple years on that.

I'm starting to feel the itch again, and if I wasn't going to dragon*con this year, I'd be spending that money I've saved on probably a copeland low D, or a Fred Rose.

Unseen122 · Post by **Unseen122** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 5:41 pm

My firstwhistle was a Sweetone still my second favorite. I then bought a Clare two piece which I ruined trying to tweak but I had it for a few weeks before that happened then right after that I bought a Gen. thought it was alright but still prefered my Clarke then I bought a Feadog (two actually a C and a D in a bag for big whistle) then my Dixon with the brass tuning slide arrived I have not oreder another high whistle since (this was in January or Febuary). I then ordered my Merlin Low whistle which I like a lot. I plan to get a Q1 because I have hears good things.

toughknot · Post by **toughknot** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 8:16 pm

Got my first whistle on line , A Walton D( had to tweak it after reading the tweak section on C&F.It survived) Got a Clarke D and tweaked it also.Played it for 2 years and really like everything about it yet got the tweaking urge again after reading one of Squidgirls posts.My Clarke now resides in a landfill.I have had a Shaw Low D now for a year which I also tweaked and like very much. I will not be performing anymore operations on it though as the death of the Clarke has taught me to never again tweak just for curiosity.I Like the Shaw exactly as it is and thats how it shall stay.To get back on topic ..I lasted 6 weeks before I HAD to get a second whistle.

greenspiderweb · Post by **greenspiderweb** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 9:45 pm

It all started with a lovely little Shaw in A. The easiest playing I had found, and a very sweet sounding whistle. But it wasn't very long-probably less than a month, that I knew that I had started too high...I needed to hear those low notes! And it would have to be a low D. That's when the problem started, finding the right low D!
It's kind of a nice problem, though, searching for THE sound! Good thing I found Chiff and you all to help me!

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 9:55 pm

I'll add my story to the mix, now that the thread has some time to percolate. I started with a Clarke C original with Bill Ochs' book and tape. I had no idea that there were other brands of whistles. About ten years later, I bought an antique whistle off eBay for a couple of bucks. About a year after that, I bought a Walton that a band was selling at their gig. The Clarke is still good, the Walton is a dog. At first I liked the sond of the Walton, but the proof is in the pudding--people walk out when I play the Walton (yikes!).

I discovered this board and the horizon opened up. I have since added a Susato D, and low D, and an Elfsong C/D combo. I have also received a couple of wood tourist recorders as gifts. A digital voice recorder that I bought four months ago, has improved my playing as much or more than any individual whistle.
+ Bill

amar · Post by **amar** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 2:01 am

here's my input. about four years ago i bought myself a genD. had no idea there were other keys, in fact, i didn't know what a "key" was. Anyway, i loved listening to the battlefield band, still do, and I tried to play along to a great highland bigpipe tune played be mike katz. of course that didn't work on a D-whistle and I thought it was just me. I forgot about the whole whistle thing until about 3 years ago, i then realized there were different keys, lo and behold, i got myself a Gen Bb and played a bit to mike katz. of course, it didn't work too well either, but this time it really was just me.
Anyway, from then on i kept buying, and buying and and BUYING yes..ha..haha, muahaha....ah... BUYING!!!please...and buying...where's my lithium...screw that, i don't need it...

GaryKelly · Post by **GaryKelly** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 2:36 am

Started with the Gen.D last September-ish.

But bats began exploding in the night sky over Swindon every time I tried to go above 2nd octave G and I developed SNAS (Severe Neighbour-Awareness Syndrome) so by the end of the week I'd ordered an Alba Q1 and from then on I was doomed...WhOA coupled with SNAS , a heady combination.

jkrazy52 · Post by **jkrazy52** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 3:13 am

Who knew what dreaded disease lurked beneath the innocent wrapping of a Christmas present? The WhOA bug embedded firmly in a Feadog in D, complete with book and CD ... and it wasn't even my present! My niece and I wrangled over the whistle for a couple of months while I searched the area music stores, fruitlessly. Finally, an internet search presented me with the keys to the kingdom ... I found The Whistle Shop -- a fabulous place to start (and also served as the gateway to C&F). Soon a tweaked Clarke was mine -- all mine! Followed over, the last 4 years, by Sweetones, Susato (I gave it away & still don't regret it), Hoover, Dixon (my favorite), Silkstone, Water Weasel, O'Brien ..... and a GOOD Generation D (how's that for luck!) ... among others. And now -- now I want to start with flutes .... AAARRRGGGGHHHH!!

Hello, my name is Judy -- and I'm an addict ... a poor addict, so no Copeland, Overton, Chieftain, Casey Burns, Busman, O'Riordan, (insert favorite hi-end name here) ... yet ...

~Judy

PS - Did I mention an Alba is heading my way soon? :roll: Too bad I'm a mediocre player .... but I enjoy it!

mamakash · Post by **mamakash** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 11:05 am

Whoa comes and goes. But the addiction to this board lasts forever.

I bought a Walton's LBW, but wasn't too happy with it. Went to a folk music shop, fell in love with a Sweet whistle. Then I needed a practise whistle that I could drool into without worry, which led me to a Sweettone. I got a few Gens and then a Dixon. Eventually got a Jerry tweeked Shaw.

I just don't have much time or concentration to play on a regular basis, and no one to play with to keep up my enthusiam. Whoa is faded a bit for me.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 11:49 am

I ordered a Feadog, Clarke original, and Dixon tunable right off the bat. It's been almost seven months since I started, and I only own 12, so WhOA is certainly not a problem for me. (And only eight of those are high Ds, by the way.)

I'm holding off to see how sales of my new Mac software go before I even think about ordering that Bleazey G in mopane. Now that's the kind of restraint you don't see from real WhOA sufferers.

KDMARTINKY · Post by **KDMARTINKY** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 12:13 pm

Started with a original clarke and been moving up every since. To think that the folks I work with bought my first whistle for me as a joke.....

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