whistles for beginners vs more advanced whistles

cutterpup · Post by **cutterpup** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 2:58 pm

All of the turnings that the threads have taken to lately has me wondering something. Now my frame of reference is in recorders ( and I am damn proud of it

) but perhaps the same reasoning can be applied to whistles.
Among the "good" recorders you have instruments that are considered best for beginners. These typically, are made out of a soft wood and are designed to blend in well with others. The more advanced recorders are designed to sing out clearly and often are of a harder wood. Being made of a harder wood the notes are not "absorbed" as much by the instrument allowing for clearer tones.
That said the mistakes made by a beginner would resound much more clearly and loudly on an advanced instrument than on a "typical" beginners recorder or even an advanced recorder that has not been designed for ensemble work. An advanced player can still get a beautiful, if some what quieter, tone from the beginners recorder but a beginner on an advanced one would sound fairly poor.
Could this same hold true for whistles? Where the advanced player can get good sound from nearly any whistle where as the beginner's mistakes are more obvious in some of the advanced models.

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 3:16 pm

I agree with the first part of what you say - a good player can make almost any instrument sound better than a beginner can make it sound. But I'm not sure I agree with the second part - a beginner would sound poorer on a highly crafted instrument.

The more expensive instruments have had a lot of work put into making the top notes easier to play and the bottom notes stronger. My personal experience and what I've seen with other beginners is that, given an instrument that willingly gives up a high A and high B, they are less timid about trying for those notes and less likely to squawk. You start learning to control your breath better.

This is also the point where you go back to the Gen's and such and find out they sound pretty good after all.

cutterpup · Post by **cutterpup** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 3:52 pm

Tyghress wrote:But I'm not sure I agree with the second part - a beginner would sound poorer on a highly crafted instrument.

Ah, but that's why I put it as a question.

dfernandez77 · Post by **dfernandez77** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 4:54 pm

I'm in agreement with Tyghress here. My first three whistles:
1. Freeman Tweaked Sweetone;
2. Freeman Tweaked Shaw;
3. Burke (DAN) D Aluminum Narrow Bore.

I was having a great deal of fun with he first two, and bought the Burke because I wanted to treat myself.

I just happened to be at the perfect slope in the learning curve for the DAN. The Burke is not to loud, sweet voice, and hangs on pitch really well - very forgiving for a beginner. I gained confidence and started practicing more, and learning more.

Two years (and a few more whistles) later, I still pick up the Sweetone and Shaw for their charming quirks. And they don't sound half bad.

cutterpup · Post by **cutterpup** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 5:47 pm

And thus my question is answered..yet another difference between the two instruments.
Many thanks

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:39 pm

I think the Susato is a whistle that is misplaced in the hands of a beginner, but which an advanced player can make sound wonderful.

--James

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 8:48 pm

I agree with James on the Susato. A Susato is quite good when played by someone experienced. This is very well demonstated at the Kerry Whistle site. However, it is not very forgiving in the hands of a beginner. There are some makes that are more forgiving than others some are demanding of control. Price isn't even a factor.

Ron

Feadin · Post by **Feadin** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:07 pm

I started with a Feadog Pro... and now that I have more whistles to compare I found that it's not an easy player. Burke's, for example, are a lot easier to play, but as always this has it's good and bad sides, a good side is that you'll learn to play it faster, a bad side is you won't develop so much breath control as you would with a difficult (or handicapped?) whistle.

Anyway, I don't think that difficulty to play is directly related to price. Some cheap whistles are easy to play, like Megs for example. And some not-so-cheap whistles are not so easy to play, like my NT Water Weasel, which has a lot of backpressure and needs quite a bit of breath.

dfernandez77 · Post by **dfernandez77** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:52 am

Feadin wrote:...my NT Water Weasel, which has a lot of backpressure and needs quite a bit of breath.

Funny thing is, the NT Water Weasels are the only ones with that amount of backpressure. My other Weasels, both Water and Thin, have perfect back pressure according to my taste.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 6:40 am

Burkes are often cited as a whistle that's forgiving and easy for a beginner to play.

That's true, as far as it goes.

But it should also be said that an accomplished player can make a Burke do things that a beginner never dreamed of.

In my opinion, "easy" does apply to Burkes, but "limited" does not.

--James

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 9:16 am

I think the easiest beginner whistle is a Sweetone. Your breath control only has to be 'ballpark'. I only wish it were more in tune.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:03 am

There is a clear difference between whistles that are easier to play and recorders as described above which seems to be just emerging. For players who want an easy whistle to control there is absolutely no reason to think it will get to be unsuitable down the track as you improve. A Sindt and a Humphrey will make a beginner sound as good as they can sound. But a highly advanced player won't have to move on to a Susato or something else. I think which whistles blend well with others in ensembles is an interesting issue but not one that we tend to ask much since ITM doesn't involve whistle 'choirs' playing in harmony. I've done some experimentation in other styles and I have found some very interesting combinations, but I won't report them here.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:05 am

FJohnSharp wrote:I think the easiest beginner whistle is a Sweetone. Your breath control only has to be 'ballpark'. I only wish it were more in tune.

Agreed. But that's one easy whistle you'll want to ditch fairly quickly. It won't sound better in an ensemble than it does solo though.

Chief Wanganui · Post by **Chief Wanganui** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 1:20 pm

My take on this is that whistles are so cheap (relative to just about every other musical instrument) that there is no point in trying to save a (very) few pounds/dollars/euros/drachmas/bolivianos/etc. by buying something at the absolute bottom end of the market. If you are a pianist, the difference between a Steinway and some knackered piece of junk from the local shop is a very great deal of money. If you play the whistle, the difference is a relatively small amount of money. Buy a crapper car and get a good whistle. Grow your own vegetables and get a decent whistle. Sell your car and get a second-hand bike and get two decent whistles. Good instruments have an infinite range of responses. If you attack them they can take it. If you caress them they reveal colours you didn't know they had. And plenty in between. Sell all your furniture and get a quena as well.