The State of the Inexpensive Whistle Address
- peeplj
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The State of the Inexpensive Whistle Address
Having just bought some inexpensive whistles with the idea of perhaps distributing some of them as holiday gifts, and having then indulged my curiosity to see how each played, I was again struck by how buying inexpensive whistles is somewhat of a crap-shoot.
Here's what I bought, and how I found they play:
Generation brass D (red top): this is a Good Whistle. I don't think I can give this one away, it's one of the legendary Generations that you hear whispered stories about. The tone is pure and clean, the whistle is responsive, and intonation is good. The only gripe I have with this whistle is one that many inexpensive whistles share: the fipple is glued on, and the whistle is about 45 cents sharp to A=440.
Generation brass D (green top "folk" whistle): almost as good, with some air in the sound on the high end of the upper octave. Still a very good whistle, I'd consider this another good Generation. Has that "lonesome" sound some folks like. Again, fipple is glued on and the whistle is about 45 cents sharp.
Generation nickel D (blue top): dissapointing whistle out of the box. Won't take much air. Squeaks, hard to blow soft enough on the lower notes to keep it in the lower octave, and the low D bell note has an unpleasant raspiness to the sound. Well, honestly, every note on this whistle has an unpleasant raspiness, but on the low D when you can hit it, it's extremely pronounced. Fipple is glued on and whistle is very sharp but it really doesn't matter: not a playable whistle in its current condition. Will noodle around on it from time to time--sometimes the inexpensive whistles improve on their own when played. May try some tweaking if in a couple of months it's still this bad. As an interesting aside, I have another bluetop that is a few years old and is quite good. It's fipple is a much lighter shade of blue than on the new bluetop.
Clare one-piece nickle. I didn't have one of these, but have an old 2-piece Clare (Eagle?) whistle tht is very good. This one was another dissapointment out of the box, would barely take any air, and had a weak "stuffy" gone--sounded like a whistle with the flu. On careful inspection of the fipple, there was some flash molding on the lower end of the windway that was partly occluding the windway. Having carefully removed it, the whistle now plays quite well, very quiet, with lots of chiff, and a very clean tone. Has a very easy second register--this is now a Good Whistle. Unfortunately, it also has a glued-on fipple and is about 40 cents sharp to A=440. I think it's a conspiracy.
Oak--I have found Oaks to be pretty consistenly good out of the box, and this is no exception. The tone is pure and easy in both octaves, with good chiff. Very responsive little whistle. The fipple on this one is also glued on but I don't care so much as it's default position has it only slightly sharp, maybe 5 cents or so, to A=440. Oaks are a favorite of mine and one reason is I've yet to get a bad one.
Feadog -- having just got a Feadog Pro, I wanted to get a new regular Feadog to compare it against. Like all Feadogs, breath control is the secret to this whistle. Blown very softly, it's a sweetly-voiced, dependable whistle with good chiff and a moderately pure tone. Blown just a bit harder, the tone goes harsh with a cutting edge. And that's a good thing: this is a whistle made to be played aggressively. You can hit some notes a little harder and because the tone changes they "pop out" at you. A great whistle but not necessarily an easy whistle for beginners, as it takes very disciplined breath control to play this whistle well. The fipple is glued on, alas, but as with the Oak, it is reasonably well in tune in its default position.
That brings us to the Feadog Pro. I will be putting up a review of this whistle later, and Bloomfield has already done an excellent review. This whistle has a very clean tone and is more forgiving than the original Feadog design when it comes to breath control. Has wonderful chiff, and is another whistle with that "lonesome" sound. You can still makes notes "pop out" on this whistle pretty easily--overall, it's a more forgiving whistle than the original Feadog but with all its good points intact. This is quickly becoming a favorite whistle. Also, in a move that's bound to shake the whole whistle industry, they did not glue the fipple on, making this whistle easily tunable.
That's it, folks. I suppose my conclusions are:
1. Generations are still upredictable but it seems your chances of getting a good one are pretty good if you order several at once. When you get one of the good Generations, it's a real treasure.
2. I have two Clare whistles, a 2 piece and a 1 piece, and they are wonderful with an enchanting tone--IF you take a small knife and clean up the molding flash from the fipple and windway. Worth the effort, though, because once you do that these are really good, stable whistles.
3. Oak and Feadog both seem very consistent from whistle to whistle, Oak being the more forgiving of the two with regards to breath control. The new Feadog Pro is a real joy to play, and is currently my favorite of the inexpensive whistles.
4. For some reason, many whistle companies glue their fipples in place with the whistle very sharp to session pitch. I don't know why--if anyone does, I'd love to be enlightened.
--James
Here's what I bought, and how I found they play:
Generation brass D (red top): this is a Good Whistle. I don't think I can give this one away, it's one of the legendary Generations that you hear whispered stories about. The tone is pure and clean, the whistle is responsive, and intonation is good. The only gripe I have with this whistle is one that many inexpensive whistles share: the fipple is glued on, and the whistle is about 45 cents sharp to A=440.
Generation brass D (green top "folk" whistle): almost as good, with some air in the sound on the high end of the upper octave. Still a very good whistle, I'd consider this another good Generation. Has that "lonesome" sound some folks like. Again, fipple is glued on and the whistle is about 45 cents sharp.
Generation nickel D (blue top): dissapointing whistle out of the box. Won't take much air. Squeaks, hard to blow soft enough on the lower notes to keep it in the lower octave, and the low D bell note has an unpleasant raspiness to the sound. Well, honestly, every note on this whistle has an unpleasant raspiness, but on the low D when you can hit it, it's extremely pronounced. Fipple is glued on and whistle is very sharp but it really doesn't matter: not a playable whistle in its current condition. Will noodle around on it from time to time--sometimes the inexpensive whistles improve on their own when played. May try some tweaking if in a couple of months it's still this bad. As an interesting aside, I have another bluetop that is a few years old and is quite good. It's fipple is a much lighter shade of blue than on the new bluetop.
Clare one-piece nickle. I didn't have one of these, but have an old 2-piece Clare (Eagle?) whistle tht is very good. This one was another dissapointment out of the box, would barely take any air, and had a weak "stuffy" gone--sounded like a whistle with the flu. On careful inspection of the fipple, there was some flash molding on the lower end of the windway that was partly occluding the windway. Having carefully removed it, the whistle now plays quite well, very quiet, with lots of chiff, and a very clean tone. Has a very easy second register--this is now a Good Whistle. Unfortunately, it also has a glued-on fipple and is about 40 cents sharp to A=440. I think it's a conspiracy.
Oak--I have found Oaks to be pretty consistenly good out of the box, and this is no exception. The tone is pure and easy in both octaves, with good chiff. Very responsive little whistle. The fipple on this one is also glued on but I don't care so much as it's default position has it only slightly sharp, maybe 5 cents or so, to A=440. Oaks are a favorite of mine and one reason is I've yet to get a bad one.
Feadog -- having just got a Feadog Pro, I wanted to get a new regular Feadog to compare it against. Like all Feadogs, breath control is the secret to this whistle. Blown very softly, it's a sweetly-voiced, dependable whistle with good chiff and a moderately pure tone. Blown just a bit harder, the tone goes harsh with a cutting edge. And that's a good thing: this is a whistle made to be played aggressively. You can hit some notes a little harder and because the tone changes they "pop out" at you. A great whistle but not necessarily an easy whistle for beginners, as it takes very disciplined breath control to play this whistle well. The fipple is glued on, alas, but as with the Oak, it is reasonably well in tune in its default position.
That brings us to the Feadog Pro. I will be putting up a review of this whistle later, and Bloomfield has already done an excellent review. This whistle has a very clean tone and is more forgiving than the original Feadog design when it comes to breath control. Has wonderful chiff, and is another whistle with that "lonesome" sound. You can still makes notes "pop out" on this whistle pretty easily--overall, it's a more forgiving whistle than the original Feadog but with all its good points intact. This is quickly becoming a favorite whistle. Also, in a move that's bound to shake the whole whistle industry, they did not glue the fipple on, making this whistle easily tunable.
That's it, folks. I suppose my conclusions are:
1. Generations are still upredictable but it seems your chances of getting a good one are pretty good if you order several at once. When you get one of the good Generations, it's a real treasure.
2. I have two Clare whistles, a 2 piece and a 1 piece, and they are wonderful with an enchanting tone--IF you take a small knife and clean up the molding flash from the fipple and windway. Worth the effort, though, because once you do that these are really good, stable whistles.
3. Oak and Feadog both seem very consistent from whistle to whistle, Oak being the more forgiving of the two with regards to breath control. The new Feadog Pro is a real joy to play, and is currently my favorite of the inexpensive whistles.
4. For some reason, many whistle companies glue their fipples in place with the whistle very sharp to session pitch. I don't know why--if anyone does, I'd love to be enlightened.
--James
Last edited by peeplj on Tue Nov 22, 2005 12:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- Wormdiet
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The old-style oaks with the narrower windways! I prefer the tone of the old ones tremendously over the new ones.Congratulations wrote:It's good to see another person who appreciates the Oak D. It's a solid whistle, if a little fussy in the second octave, and it's probably the most consistent cheap one I've found. Good tone, and an in-tune crossfingered Cn. What more is there?
OOOXXO
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- monkey587
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I just bought one last night, and a C as well. The D is nice... Not perfect but manageable. In fact, I decided I'm NOT going to tweak this one, and learn to deal with its quirks through technique. It's VERY responsive.Congratulations wrote:It's good to see another person who appreciates the Oak D. It's a solid whistle, if a little fussy in the second octave, and it's probably the most consistent cheap one I've found. Good tone, and an in-tune crossfingered Cn. What more is there?
The C is... not terrible, like the other Oak C I bought. It is basically playable, but doesn't sound so great.
William Bajzek
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- norseman
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The original Feadog with the brass tube was my first whistle. I liked the sound of it in the first octave, but couldn't play the second from high G on up without really sounding horrible. That was almost two years ago now.
I moved on to other whistles, but recently got out the Feadog and did the blu tack and sanding the windway tweaks, and I'm amazed at how good I can make this whistle sound now! It's a combination of me getting much better breath control as well as doing the basic tweaks.
Like James said, the Feadog is not really a good beginner's whistle, but in the hands of a more experienced player, it can sound very good. I'm actually having to re-consider the need for any other whistles. It's pretty amazing how good a $7 whistle can sound.
Bob
I moved on to other whistles, but recently got out the Feadog and did the blu tack and sanding the windway tweaks, and I'm amazed at how good I can make this whistle sound now! It's a combination of me getting much better breath control as well as doing the basic tweaks.
Like James said, the Feadog is not really a good beginner's whistle, but in the hands of a more experienced player, it can sound very good. I'm actually having to re-consider the need for any other whistles. It's pretty amazing how good a $7 whistle can sound.
Bob
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- peeplj
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You can order them direct from Feadog:
Email whistles@feadog.ie. This will put you in touch with Paul McCarron, a very nice fella.
The current price when I inquired was US$10.00 and postage & packaging at 20% of total order with a minimum of $5.00.
--James
Email whistles@feadog.ie. This will put you in touch with Paul McCarron, a very nice fella.
The current price when I inquired was US$10.00 and postage & packaging at 20% of total order with a minimum of $5.00.
--James
- oskan_oskula
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Good! I just bought one to play with. I couldn't resist it!norseman wrote: Like James said, the Feadog is not really a good beginner's whistle, but in the hands of a more experienced player, it can sound very good. I'm actually having to re-consider the need for any other whistles. It's pretty amazing how good a $7 whistle can sound.
Bob
In lieu of actually being able to practice in my flat without waking up my lazy roommate, I've been indulging the onset of a killer case of WhOA.
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