Clarke whistles?

[wvtinwhistler]

What are differences between the Clarke Original, Sweetone, and "Celtic" whistles. I currently love playing my "Celtic" model, which I switched to after being fed up with a Feadog ... which I might play more often after reading suggestions on the forum that Clarkes make you lazy

My question is... Should I switch to a Clarke Original? I really don't have any problems with breathing. ALSO... Do Clarkes really make you lazy (how so)?

[emtor]

The difference between a "celtic" whistle and a regular Clarke Sweetone is probably no more than the paint! Personally I don't think much of the Sweetones at all. Every whistle has its pros and cons, but the Sweetones has that unmistakable character of sounding like children's toys. This is just my opinion, others may actually like them . . .
As for the Clarke original whistle: -A great whistle if you don't mind breathing a lot. I have an unpainted Clarke original D-whistle which I just couldn't resist tweaking a bit. The lip has been flattened and the windway-exit has been flattened and made a bit narrower. It requires much less air and sounds great. The original Clarkes have lots of potential both tweaked and left in their original state. I would recommend switching to one right away

[Martin Milner]

Never heard of Clarkes makign you lazy.

Clarke Originals are gorgeous whistles, but vary in breath requirements. I squished down the windway of mine with a thumb, and it takes a lot less breath withiout affecting the sound in any way I can tell.

The Sweetone is really intended for beginners, but it's a good whistle for the purpose intended and some people use them for years with no worries.

The Celtic is just a Sweetone with a paint job as suggested, really for tthe tourist trade. It plays the same as a Sweetone.

[Roger O'Keeffe]

Never heard of Clarkes makign you lazy.

Nor I. Au contraire, Breandan Breathnach used to tell the story of people in CCÉ, after Generations became the norm, wanting to give a bonus of ten percent to competitors who used a Clark because it was "more traditional" but required more breath.

He would cite this as an example of what he saw as the CCÉ pettifogging mentality. But I wonder if it didn't also have something to do with the fact that the words "British made" are so prominently visible on the Gen .

[Mitch]

Clarke whistles have two main types:

The "Original" and the Meg/Sweetone/Celtic.

The "Original" variety is a rolled tinplate cone, the seam soldered at the back, with the blunt-end flattened on sides and bottom around a cedar block - the heart and soul of simplicity. The windway is formed by the gap between the block and the tinplate, the labium/sound-blade is formed by the lower part of the sound window pressed downward into the airstream.

In its off-the-shelf form, the sound of the original is usually way too chiffy and requires a lot of air to sustain a note, with a bit of experimentation with the height of the windway and level of the sound-blade, they can be quite nice. A lot of players appreciate this little cheapie because it makes you work hard to get a result - kinda like doing weights.

The Meg/Sweetone/Celtic variety are almost the same whistle - it has the same rolled tin-plate cone as the original, but has a plastic head instead of the cedar-block arrangement. Sweetones and the "Celtic" are manufactured in a British factory while Megs are manufactured to specification off-shore. The British-made ones seem a little more stable. Megs/Sweetones are both fairly quiet - good for learners, small sessions or if you wish to play-along without being prominent.

Legend has it that the Meg/Sweetone plastic head was designed by Micheal Copeland. It is much more consistent than the Original, but not a lot of opportunity for improvement - what you get is what you get, Jerry Freeman does a reasonable set fo tweaks and that's about it.

The Original seems to have more note-stability, depending how you tweak it, while the Meg/Sweetone allows for a high degree of pitch-change by using breath-pressure - this can be an advantage, but can be hard for a learner to keep on-pitch.

With these whistles - if you know what you are dealing with can be a perfect instrument for learning or performing.

In all these, the D is usually in good tune, while the C can be a bit of a trial to keep in pitch.

Regarding the "Celtic" - it is a sweetone with a heavy enamel finish. In my experience the Celtic plays better than the standard Sweetone - more stable over the octaves and a slightly broader tone. This could be just subjective - but that bit of paint does seem to make a difference.

Hope this helps!

[cavefish]

originals are the only way to go===========

[cavefish]

The difference between a "celtic" whistle and a regular Clarke Sweetone is probably no more than the paint! Personally I don't think much of the Sweetones at all. Every whistle has its pros and cons, but the Sweetones has that unmistakable character of sounding like children's toys. This is just my opinion, others may actually like them . . .
As for the Clarke original whistle: -A great whistle if you don't mind breathing a lot. I have an unpainted Clarke original D-whistle which I just couldn't resist tweaking a bit. The lip has been flattened and the windway-exit has been flattened and made a bit narrower. It requires much less air and sounds great. The original Clarkes have lots of potential both tweaked and left in their original state. I would recommend switching to one right away

sweetones are childrens toys------------my thoughts exactly -------that was my firstand LAST impression

[Wanderer]

I love how the sweetone handles. As a beginner, it really helped me focus on getting my finger dexterity down since it was so easy to blow a tune on in both octaves.

But eventually, I got tired of people looking around, seeing me playing one, and saying "Oh, I thought someone was playing a Game Boy"

[WyoBadger]

ALSO... Do Clarkes really make you lazy (how so)?

Ah, so THAT must be my problem! The dishes continue to pile up; the lawn remains unmowed. It's all the whistle's fault. I'll report this to the Mrs. immediately.

[Denny]

don't forget to hide the whistles first

[riverman]

I have recently been rediscovering the Clarke Original. A friend bought me one to replace my first,which fell out of my pocket in a grocery store parking lot--somewhere!
I flattened out the top of with windway arch with the ball of my thumb, hearing the familiar small snap as the glue let go and the sides spread a bit from the fipple block (not a problem--little air gets out there).
Eureka! Now the tone is sharper, with less chiff and more volume! And I can play more notes between breaths.
And the sound--I love it!
Everybody outta have one of these--it's our traditiion!!

[MaryC]

I started with an Original and really liked the sound, but found that the "fipple" (such as it is) got bent out of shape when I carried it around in my bag, so wasn't playable.

In the meantime, I'd found a Feadog from Trade-me (like eBay, but for Kiwis), but I just couldn't make it sound good.

So I got a Meg and twittered around on it for a year or so. Didn't really like the sound quality of it, but it let me learn the notes/tunes etc. After that, I tried out the Feadog again, and was amazed at how much better it sounded - the plastic head must have needed time to cure

The moral of the story (IMHO):
- originals are fine but fragile
- megs/sweetones are beginner-proof.

YMMV

[RonKiley]

I saw a whistler playing a Sweetone at the Session Tent at the Dublin, OH Festival last Saturday. He made it sound great. The only other whistles played at the session tent were Gens even though we were only a hundred yards from Mike Burkes booth which by the way were quite nice whistles.

Ron

[wvtinwhistler]

These are some great suggestions, and i might actually keep my eye out for a nice Clarke original. Being in WV, not very many people I've met actually know what a tin whistle is or where to find one. (I got mine off the internet).

I understand what some of you said about the "children's toy" sound, among other things. I've experienced that first hand. I was playing some jigs and reels by CTL at summer camp last year and someone teased me about it and called my instrument "that tin pickle thing" (my whistle used to be a distinctive dark green... now it's a bit faded).

I'll definitely use some of your suggestions. I might even ask the only other tinwhistler I know to help me tweak a bit. As I said, even when you live in one of the largest cities in West Virginia, Wheeling, there are few fellow tinwhistlers, and the ones that do exist usually get by playing in the background for a Bluegrass band.

[Tia]

I play a sweetone, and I love it, although I only actully have 3 whistles, so not sure if I can compare really, but I like the sound of it, I'm planning on buying an orignal this summer though, once I have time to go to the music store...