Filler Whistle?

rogue · Post by **rogue** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 6:31 pm

I have taken the step from closet whistler to playing with the church band. I ordered a Tully Whistle a couple of months ago and should receive it early 2007. In the meantime, my beloved generation whistles aren't quite up to the job, so I'm thinking of getting a Susuto Soprano in D to use until my Tully arrives. Does anyone have any experience with the Susutos??

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 7:27 pm

Susatos are pretty loud. Some people like the sound, others dont (I sold mine). Depending on the size of your church band, they may work well. A better behaved choice might be something that Jerry Freeman has tweaked .

Whistling Willie · Post by **Whistling Willie** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 8:02 pm

I agree with Paul,I still have my Susato but it never gets played,I just don't like the tone of it,but then again you might...it's all down to personal preference.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 8:13 pm

I found my high D to be awfully loud. I don't know, though, what you would be needing for the church band. Maybe you need something loud.

I found the high register to be very unpleasant sounding. I think it is possible that my lack of experience could have been a factor there. I could get the notes, they just were so loud and shrill. The low register did not sound bad in terms of tone, just very loud.

I have not played the whistle very long so I'm not an authority. I know some people really like Susatos. I thought it was a good quality whistle for its price range, comfortable to hold and play, not junky or anything like that. I don't play mine anymore either.

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:15 pm

I like my Susato. It is in tune, easy to play, and loud enough to be heard in a moderate size room without amplification. It is also quite sturdy. The upper register can be shrieky and difficult to control.

It might be helpful to describe what you want, and how the Gens are lacking, and people might be able to give more specific answers. Are the Gens out of tune with the other instruments? Not loud enough? Too Chiffy sounding?

Impempe · Post by **Impempe** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 12:53 am

A Susato may be what you are after. I find in our church band that with all the other instruments amplified, my Clark Old style is totally drowned out. My Susato's are definatley able to hold there own. They do however tend to shriek in the upper octave, which does not give one confidence to nail a particular part without some serious practice. Perhaps one of Jerry's tweeked feadogs or sweetone may be a better choice with some sort of condensor mic to get volume if that is what you are after.

Ian

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:39 am

Welcome to the forum!

Susatos are one of those "love them or hate them" types of things. I agree with the others that a Susato might be what you're after.

Good luck!!

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:49 am

I think the Susato plays beautifully. It is well intune. However, I am one of the ones that doesn't like the sound. We were at the Potomac Celtic Festival the other day watching a group called Tinsmith. On one tune the lead singer pulled out a Susato G and began to play. My wife who is not very musically inclined said that whistle has a reedy sound or something. I have heard people say that the whistle doesn't sound the same to the audience as it does to the player. Not so in this case. Some may like the sound but I don't. It is a well made and nice to play whistle though. I have one and I do play it regularly.

Ron

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:51 am

If Susato could just improve on the sound without compromising the tuning, responsiveness, and price, I suspect everybody would love it.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 8:06 am

I was recently at the Susato website and I think they are now making models with narrower bores which are supposed to be quieter. Of course, I don't know how that would affect other things. I don't have time right now to go back and confirm this, but the website was easy to find at Google.

Feadin · Post by **Feadin** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 8:15 am

I don't really like Susato's... I found them way too "pure"... like they need some more character on the sound, maybe just a bit of more chiff and airyness would make them sound better to my ears.

The loudness is another thing, I understand that in some conditions it's really needed, but maybe changing a bit the characteristics of the sound as I said before would make the tone less awfully piercing...

Anybody has ever tryied tweaking them? Maybe changing the blade a bit would help...

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 8:17 am

Cynth wrote:I was recently at the Susato website and I think they are now making models with narrower bores which are supposed to be quieter. Of course, I don't know how that would affect other things. I don't have time right now to go back and confirm this, but the website was easy to find at Google.

http://www.susato.com/

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 8:30 am

Search for Bloomfields guitar pick tweak.

Ron

michael_coleman · Post by **michael_coleman** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 10:37 am

Kevin Crawford plays a Susato and it seems to be a whistle widely used in Ireland, but I agree its a love them or hate them kind of a thing. I despise anything lower than the C, but the D and C really pop well.

markbell · Post by **markbell** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 10:48 am

rogue,

I'm not a fan of Susatos myself. I have had a mezzo A (narrow bore) and a low F, neither of which live at my house anymore.

The whistle I play most often is a Clarke traditional in D (another love-it-or-hate-it whistle), slightly tweaked with a thumb squish on the windway. I have played it so long that all the much-maligned gold diamonds have worn away.

This must be my day to invite folks to visit www.praisewhistlers.com because you are the third in the last 24 hours. It's a great board (with a lot of folks you'll recognize from here) devoted to using whistles in public or private worship.

Mark