Advice on intermediate whistles

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:43 am

I will add another vote for the O'Brien.

LoLo · Post by **LoLo** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:47 am

O'Brien copper is well nice, lovely, interesting tonal character. I haven't tried any of David's other whistles.

Also to consider is the Dixon trad. Not sure whether this is classed as a cheapy or an intermediate, or maybe it's an intermediate-cheapie or a cheapie-intermediate being sort of on the boundary betwix the two?

I'd also put the Burke as an intermediate. My DASBT is a lovely, easy playing, beautiful sounding whistle that is really not that expensive - some whistles are more than twice the price.

I met a woman a couple of months ago who played a Susato high D. It certainly did not sound like a recorder in her hands. A well nice sounding whistle. Have to admit that i can't make the damn things do anything nice sounding - but i haven't really given them more than a few minutes of my time.

jkrazy52 · Post by **jkrazy52** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:12 pm

Just to throw another whistle in to the mix .... you might consider a Dixon Trad, too -- as well as all of the above.

So many whistles, so little time to try them all.

Key_of_D · Post by **Key_of_D** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:37 pm

Eh, I'm quite certain Susato's "sound like recoders" simply because of their construction, not because "you haven't learned to control them yet." Although I do agree there are some aspects of playing a Susato that one needs to learn in order to really bring out the Susato's capabilities, (I think this goes with any whistle personally) however a Susato is still going to sound like a Susato, the rest is up to the player. Any alterations to the whistle is beyond this scope.

As for intermediate priced whistles, Susatos (oh dear) and Syn's come to mind. Susato's given their tone, are yes, great whistles for the money, but also a bit loud, unless that's what you're going for. Syn's are great whistles with quite a unique tone to their own, and they have a bit of backpressure as well if you don't mind that. But as someone mentioned Burkes which now start at 170 US dollars brand new, I guess intermediately priced all depends on your wallet size...

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:09 pm

It takes hundreds of hours to learn to play a whistle well. If you like the sound of more expensive whistles (not all do), then $100-200 is not a lot to pay, given your time investment. (Especially since these whistles retain most of their value indefinitely).

My top picks would be Burkes at the high-intermediate range, and Mellow-Dogs at the low-intermediate range. There are many that I've never played, though.

Anita's Dad · Post by **Anita's Dad** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:05 pm

At the suggestion of Kevin Crawford, we got the kids a set of Susato's, while we wait for Anita's Sindt to arrive. The price for the set was GREAT and we are VERY happy with them. Even once her Sindt arrives, she will still have a very good set of other keys WITHOUT bankrupting me.

From Kevin:

I would suggest a susato 'D'.
This is what I use at the gigs as I find it very consistent tuning wise. Although the tone is not the best in world it is very balanced and extremly responsive. Ever since my Grinter 'D' got stolen with some other stuff in New Zealand I am reluctant to bring my Sindt on the road.
I have a 'D' and 'C' susato in fact I recorded Island Paddy from "Kinnitty Sessions" on my 'C' susato.

The entire thread is pretty informative.

http://www.lunasa.ie/bb/viewtopic.php?t=509

Key_of_D · Post by **Key_of_D** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:09 pm

Or you can spend 10 dollars on a Generation or Feadog (perfectly fine instruments as well as tunable) and save the hundreds of dollars on say, uilleann pipes, flute, concertina, whatever your fancy. =) Just my honest thoughts on the matter. This isn't to say that Burkes, Sindts, Copelands, aren't fine instruments, I'm just saying I'm completely happy with a whistle that cost me the price of lunch for two at McDonald's. Something to thinnnnk abouttttt.

AlonE · Post by **AlonE** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:23 pm

buy a Mellow Dog and Dixon trad. = $55 +-

luck!

houstonwhistler · Post by **houstonwhistler** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:27 pm

Thanks to everyone who took the time and trouble to share with me their experience and expertise. I appreciate you all.

Thanks again,
HW

cavefish · Post by **cavefish** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:37 am

breakdown and get a copeland

----------really though freeman tweekers should be great , especially the time taken in his tweeking should rock , i have Gen Bb and put beeswax in the MP (little time tweek)and it sounds great, so i would imagine freemans tweek should put little doubt in the Gen playing world----------i also heard he gives his first tweek for FREE

scheky · Post by **scheky** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:08 pm

Key_of_D wrote:Eh, I'm quite certain Susato's "sound like recoders" simply because of their construction, not because "you haven't learned to control them yet." Although I do agree there are some aspects of playing a Susato that one needs to learn in order to really bring out the Susato's capabilities, (I think this goes with any whistle personally) however a Susato is still going to sound like a Susato, the rest is up to the player. Any alterations to the whistle is beyond this scope.
...

You really have missed the boat entirely here. I'm quite certain that you are absolutely wrong. It's been proven, not posited, but proven that all it takes is control and a Susato loses it's "recorder" quality.

Key_of_D · Post by **Key_of_D** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:39 pm

Nah, no point entirely missed, I'm quite certain of that my friend. A Susato is still going to sound like a Susato. No matter how much control you may have on the whistle, it isn't going to sound like a Generation, Feadog, Sindt, Chieftain or Copeland (for a few examples), but a Susato yes it will sound like. It's not going to play exactly like any of those whistles either simply because of it's own construction. Just to be clear, I'm talking about a stock Susato. Now however wrong you may think I am, there's no call for pointing fingers at me in such a manner of yours. But feel free to take this up with me in PM so as to preserve the author's thread from being locked due to our disagreements, when he/she did nothing to have it locked.

PhilO · Post by **PhilO** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:40 pm

Flogging Jason wrote:
jemtheflute wrote:I can't offer any specific positive advice on mid-price whistles due to lack of experience of them, but I can say, with feeling, DON'T go Susato!!!!! - At least, not if you want to sound like a whistle player.
Susatos, for their price, are extremely good little musical instruments - robust, well in tune, responsive, loud..... all the positives - except!!!! - they don't sound like whistles. They sound much more, though not precisely, like recorders. There. I've said it again. The R word..... It's such a pity really. If Susato would just alter the tone quality, they'd totally corner the market! We just wouldn't need all those lovely high-end wooden etc. whistles!
You need to go here: http://www.kerrywhistles.com/dl.php?group=19 and find the clip of Kevin Crawford of Lunasa playing a Susato.

Definitely what Jason said! Or for that matter listen to any really good player on a Gen, etc...

Philo

cavefish · Post by **cavefish** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:40 pm

susatos are fine whistles for someone on a budget--------they carry a good loud tune-that being said i will never buy anymore -------simply because it is to NON-TRAD for me, it defeats the whole uniqueness of whistle playing and the idea of a whole plastic whistle URKs me

jemtheflute · Post by **jemtheflute** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:37 pm

I just took a look at that (very impressive - predictably) Kevin Crawford clip (thanks, Anita'sDad/Flogging Jason!) and I agree it shows the Susato to advantage . Please note that I said more positive things about Susatos than negative in my original post on this thread - and I think KC's track illustrates those points admirably. However, I stick by my opinion that generally (i.e. in the hands of most of us who are NOT KC) Susatos sound recorder-ish. Not exactly like, but -ish, rather than like most whistles. I note that the KC track has a very amplification-distorted sound (why-oh-why do most sound-men see a flute or a whistle and turn up the reverb????? Yuck!), so whilst it does sound nice, it isn't a fair representation of the instrument's natural sound!
I don't share Cavefish's dislike of irksome plastic - I don't much mind what flutes or whistles are made from so long as I like the sound they make. I love my boxwood Jon Swayne High D, (which sounds like a whistle, just fuller and rounder and sweeter and stronger than the basic ones like Generation) - but I also have an old Generation that was my main whistle for some 20 years and which I still use for certain specific things. I certainly agree with the posts supporting the adequacy of such (provided you get hold of a good one and avoid the duff ones!).