wooden whistles, need advice

eran · Post by **eran** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 3:26 am

im going for a wood one soon...

how could i choose?

thin weasel, abell, busman, greenwood...??

any thoughts?

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 3:46 am

Busman!

bjs · Post by **bjs** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 4:09 am

What do you want it for? I have a rose. It has a very pure tone. Not loud. Back pressure and breath requirement low. I love it for playing classical music as I can cross finger nearly all the sharps and flats.

Brian

notus · Post by **notus** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:47 am

Hard to go wrong with an Abell. One sold recently on ebay for well over its original price.

Chris manages to create a pure and pleasant sound without all the gear-head perterbations and chewing gum tweaking that seems to be going on these days.

I am quite happy with my A model although it is much neglected since I have been working on my own design.

Lots of fine choices out there, to be sure!

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 8:19 am

Boisivert (similar to an O'Riordan by several accounts)
Rose
Thin Weasel
Grinter

all good choices with their own sounds...

DRC · Post by **DRC** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 10:38 am

Depends on how you'll be using it. If you play basically for yourself and/or indoor sessions, etc, the previous suggestions are all viable choices, although I'm not a big fan of Thin Weasels (but that's another story). If you do a lot of outdoor stuff where temp and humidity are always a concern with wooden whistles, consider a Sweetheart Pro D since they're impregnated with resin during the lamination process and basically impervious to temp/humidity. Easy playing, nice tone, but a bit loud for indoor sessions. Our band is doing an outdoor festival today in TN, and it's going to be cold and very windy.

We don't play until 8pm, so by then it should be nice and winter-like. But with the Sweetheart's volume and resistance to weather, I'm not concerned about maintaining tuning or not being loud enough.....only freezing to death. Gotta learn to play with gloves.

DC

Hornpiper · Post by **Hornpiper** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 11:25 am

James Galway plays an Abell, if you care.

seisflutes · Post by **seisflutes** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 11:30 am

My Busman is really, really, really nice! Everyone whose played it has loved it. I love it. Almost as much as I love my flutes(and that's high praise from me!)! It's my favorite of all my whistles. I have no clue about any other wooden whistles, but I don't think you can go wrong with a Busman. I heard someone say once that the beak was a bit short for thier taste, but I think it's fine. I've just ordered one in C.

-Kelly

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 12:27 pm

I have a Busman and a Bleazey. Both are extremely well made and good-looking. The Busman is made in the USA and the Bleazey in the UK, if that makes any difference to you.

The Bleazey is conical, while the Busman is cylindrical. Both are pretty well in tune, but the Bleazey is better balanced across the octaves. Both have the OXXOOO C-nat perfectly in tune.

However, both the Bleazey blackwood and the Busman bloodwood get pretty harsh on the second-octave C#. I also have a Busman Delrin, which is a bit better on this point. Of course, I only have one song My Lagan Love that uses that note, so it's not that big a deal. I just play that one on my Syn aluminum or Hoover CPVC.

The Bleazey is blackwood, with a wooden mouthpiece and fipple plug. Its sound is purer than the Busman's. The Busman is bloodwood, with a stainless steel mouthpiece and Delrin plug. It has a reedier sound than the Bleazey. The Delrin Busman is not as reedy as the bloodwood, but it's still reedier than the Bleazey.

The Bleazey weighs 61.7 grams, while the Busman bloodwood is only 48.6, and the Busman Delrin is 54.0. This is in spite of the fact that the Busmans appear to have more metal on them. I find it hard to believe that the material is irrelevant to the sound. I can feel the bloodwood vibrating in my fingers sometimes. If I order any more wooden whistles, I think I'll stick with blackwood, or something with similar characteristics. Bloodwood is nice looking, but the sound is more important.

whistlegal · Post by **whistlegal** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 12:47 pm

Hi there! I'll cast my vote for the Abell. I've had mine for about 5 years now, and have since sold my other high D's. I've found it to be reliable, without fail, for indoor and outdoor playing.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 1:31 pm

In D I have a Busman, a Thin Weasel and an Abell. I have Abells also in F, Eb, C, Bb and A. I have a Grinter low F.

They are all good whistles but my preference is for the Busman, the Grinter and the Abell high F. Busman and Grinter seem to be very consistent, Abells perhaps less so. If you want a whistle in D with a purish but still complex sound and very good playing characteristics, I'd recommend a Busman.

Of those I haven't played (yet), Greenwood and Rose interest me the most.

Unseen122 · Post by **Unseen122** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 3:10 pm

I have a feeling this thread will go on for a while.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 5:27 am

Darwin wrote: I find it hard to believe that the material is irrelevant to the sound. I can feel the bloodwood vibrating in my fingers sometimes.

I still don't believe that the wood makes a huge difference. I think that perceived vibration of the wood is actually the air column vibrating within the whistle. This is simply more noticeable in whistles with large fingerholes like mine and Thin Weasels.
I gotta try this experiment: have someone else play several whistles while I feel the outside of the whistle tube to see if I can feel vibrations. Actually, I have about 6 whistles in different woods and Delrin ready to go out to customers, so now would be a good time to compare!

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:13 am

Welcome to the seductive world of wooden whistles. I have three Busman D whistles: bird's-eye maple, ironwood (aka hop hornbeam) and Delrin (non-wood); all have stainless steel fittings. I also have a Greenwood (aka Boisvert) D in blackwood and brass.

Of these, my favorite wooden whistle is the Busman ironwood, though they are all beautiful, wonderful whistles. The Greenwood is slightly louder (and considerably heavier), but I've been playing Busmans longer so I'm more used to them.

I don't notice much difference in sound between the two wooden Busmans; the ironwood is my favorite of the two due to sentimental value.

Good luck making a choice! I doubt you could go wrong with any of the makers mentioned so far.

Cheers,
John

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:53 am

brewerpaul wrote:
Darwin wrote: I find it hard to believe that the material is irrelevant to the sound. I can feel the bloodwood vibrating in my fingers sometimes.
I still don't believe that the wood makes a huge difference. I think that perceived vibration of the wood is actually the air column vibrating within the whistle. This is simply more noticeable in whistles with large fingerholes like mine and Thin Weasels.
I gotta try this experiment: have someone else play several whistles while I feel the outside of the whistle tube to see if I can feel vibrations. Actually, I have about 6 whistles in different woods and Delrin ready to go out to customers, so now would be a good time to compare!

Last June, at the West Coast C&F gathering, I brought my bloodwood, and also got to play a Busman blackwood (Tony's, I think), and there was considerable difference in the sound. The blackwood was more like my Bleazey blackwood. Of course, I realize that with handmade whistles, this could be due to slight variations in the bore, blade, and holes.

If you'd like to send me one made from each of the woods you use, I'd be happy to do some extensive testing for you over the next couple of years.