Tilbury Music Company world tour

[ctilbury]

There are 4 "legs" on the tour in order to bring the time to a reasonable number.

Very cool, and considirate of you Chuck.

Thank you!

[Pazziato]

Got it in the post today - at my office, which is torture, because I won't be able to play with it until this evening, when I have to drive the kids down to the Cities and then go to a meeting..

However, the good news is that the Minnesota Irish Fair is this weekend and I'll be able to play it all weekend at the sessions!

-Patrick

[narrowdog]

Hi all
The Tilbury Euro Tour high D whistle landed at its first port of call today.
I only had a brief play when it arrived but I have to say its very different to what I'm used to (Gens, Dixon Trad & Thornton).
I'll have a good toot this weekend and pass on some comments.

Could the next in line PM me their address so I can pass it on when I'm done.

[MagicSailor]

Hi

Hi all
The Tilbury Euro Tour high D whistle landed at its first port of call today.
I only had a brief play when it arrived but I have to say its very different to what I'm used to (Gens, Dixon Trad & Thornton).
I'll have a good toot this weekend and pass on some comments.

Could the next in line PM me their address so I can pass it on when I'm done.

Isn't it a thing of beauty though? Chuck very kindly sent me one on a one (whistle)stop Caribbean tour. I've been playing it for a few days and when I haven't been playing it I have just been admiring it.

This must be the most beautifully machined piece of aluminium I've ever seen. My only criticism is that Chuck has missed the opportunity to put a nice logo and maybe the letter D on it. There is no identification at all. I wonder if 100 years from now someone will be posting photos of a Tilbury on forums desperately looking for someone to help identify it...

Whistleblowing:
It's more chiffy and breathy than I had expected. And louder than I would expect with such a narrow windway. I'm not saying it's a loud whistle, just louder than what I expected. The whistle is very well in tune with itself - and also with the world thanks to the tuning slide. There isn't much to go on if you want to tune the pitch higher though (could this be related to my hot climate???).

The tuning slide is very nicely made with a neoprene O-ring, so no risk of the slide getting stuck as can happen with some metal instruments. As with nearly all tunable whistles I've come across (except the ones I built myself), I miss some sort of marking for showing the in tune position. Even if it varies with the player and temperature, it would be nice to have a starting point rather than have to retune the whistle whenever it has been dismantled or bumped.

My favourite whistle is (and will probably remain) the Thornton and as Narrowdog said, this is a very different beast. The Tilbury needs quite a bit more air and I find it difficult to play softly in the second octave, particularly near the top and that is a quality I always look for in a whistle. However, the whistle is very easy to control, not like some of the big loud whistles which can very difficult at the top of the second octave for someone who is not used to that type of whistle.

I've had a brief encounters with a Cheftain C and an Alba A in the past. Both big boisterous aluminium whistles which I failed to get along with. I imagine the Tilbury would appeal to people who like the sound of a Cheftain, but want something more controllable and maybe not quite as loud. It certainly does appeal to me in many ways, but when I play it, I miss the dynamic range and low breath requirements of the Thornton.

As I said, it's a beautiful whistle and I am very tempted to keep it.

Regards,

Owen Morgan

Yacht Magic
Anchored in the lagoon, St Maarten

My new blog.
Click here for my latest reported position. (Use the satellite view.)

[crookedtune]

I just finished my test run, and agree with Owen. It's a finely finished whistle, and very attractive. I especially love the smooth and comfortable shape of the mouthpiece. The whistle has some mass to it, and feels good in the hands and lips.

As for sound, I love the first octave. It's solid all the way down to the low D, with just enough hint of chiff to give it a traditional sound. It's warm and pleasing throughout the first octave, and into the second. By about the second octave G, I'm a little less pleased with the sound, but it's decent. The second A is a little harsh, and the B moreso. The second octave B was the highest useful note for me. I would have liked to get the the third octave D, which is the highest note I need, (but I do need it).

I don't want to overstate this criticism, as I'm sure Chuck could revoice this whistle to overcome the deficiencies, but it's something I would expect as a customer.

Also, I would probably recommend a double-O-ring construction in the joint, which would eliminate the slight wobble I noticed.

Overall, a fine whistle, with LOTS of potential with a couple more tweaks.

[ctilbury]

I just finished my test run, and agree with Owen. It's a finely finished whistle, and very attractive. I especially love the smooth and comfortable shape of the mouthpiece. The whistle has some mass to it, and feels good in the hands and lips.

As for sound, I love the first octave. It's solid all the way down to the low D, with just enough hint of chiff to give it a traditional sound. It's warm and pleasing throughout the first octave, and into the second. By about the second octave G, I'm a little less pleased with the sound, but it's decent. The second A is a little harsh, and the B moreso. The second octave B was the highest useful note for me. I would have liked to get the the third octave D, which is the highest note I need, (but I do need it).

I don't want to overstate this criticism, as I'm sure Chuck could revoice this whistle to overcome the deficiencies, but it's something I would expect as a customer.

Also, I would probably recommend a double-O-ring construction in the joint, which would eliminate the slight wobble I noticed.

Overall, a fine whistle, with LOTS of potential with a couple more tweaks.

How about if I reduce the air requirement a bit and give it a little more back pressure? I am a little surprised that you find the 3rd D unusable. It does take a lot of air and I am wondering if that is the problem? Or if it is something else? I checked the tuning and as far as I could tell, it was dead on.

[narrowdog]

Tilbury High D whistle.
I've had a good toot this weekend so here goes with my thoughts.

Looks :-
Its an interesting looking whistle, I don't think its a thing of beauty but quite nice all the same. The mouthpiece is well rounded and confortable in the mouth. The heavy brushed finish is not to my taste I prefer a smoother finish. I was worried about the single O ring at first but was quite supprised I didn't notice any movement while playing, it does waggle around a bit.

Playing:-
The first thing I noticed was just how breathy the tone was, its one of the similarities with my Shaw high D, this I wasn't expecting. Then as I got into playing I found the notes B to d are what I can only discribe as a bit woolly, especally the d this could be just me or this particular whistle but I found it a bit offputting because I started to wait for it as i played.
The whistle generally played quite easily but needed more of a push as it went up the second octave. I found I couldn't play it quietly because you couldn't ease off at all.
The whistle as mentioned by others dose take quite a bit of air but not so much as to run out before my normal breathing spots (I'm working on varying them )As for being in or out of tune I'll leave that to others,I just played I and it sounded OK to me but what do I know.

Conclusion:-
Its a high D whistle, its well made but this just isn't my kind of whistle. Others really like it but its not something I would choose.
If the woolly B to d notes could be sorted a bit I think that would improve things.

I'm going to be interested to hear what the rest of the Euro tour reviewers think of this whistle.

Thanks to Chuck for letting me try his whistle I've really enjoyed it

[MagicSailor]

Hi

Also, I would probably recommend a double-O-ring construction in the joint, which would eliminate the slight wobble I noticed.

I was going to comment on that, but then I realized that I never actually notice it when playing the whistle, only when handling it, so the wobble really isn't an issue. Another point about the tuning slide that I mentioned is that there is very little scope for tuning it sharper, as little as around 2mm from concert pitch. It would be interesting to hear whether that is related to my hot climate here or people in cooler places have the same experience. If I decide to keep the whistle, I would be tempted to shave just a little bit off the top of the body. I know that too much of a cavity there will affect tuning etc, so I would be very careful.

We seem to agree on the top half of the second octave. A little sweeter would be nice.

Owen

[crookedtune]

How about if I reduce the air requirement a bit and give it a little more back pressure? I am a little surprised that you find the 3rd D unusable. It does take a lot of air and I am wondering if that is the problem? Or if it is something else? I checked the tuning and as far as I could tell, it was dead on.

That might do the trick. I was able to hit the 3rd D with a hefty blow, but it was very shrill to my ears, and didn't sound in tune. (I didn't play it into my tuner, though). I know every whistle design involves compromises, and I'm not very experienced with whistles of this type. So, it could very well be more a matter of my own inexperience!

Still, it would be wonderful if you could mellow out the high end without reducing the nice strength of the low end. Perhaps more back-pressure is the way to go, but I'll have to defer to those with more savvy than myself.

[ctilbury]

Hi

Also, I would probably recommend a double-O-ring construction in the joint, which would eliminate the slight wobble I noticed.

I was going to comment on that, but then I realized that I never actually notice it when playing the whistle, only when handling it, so the wobble really isn't an issue. Another point about the tuning slide that I mentioned is that there is very little scope for tuning it sharper, as little as around 2mm from concert pitch. It would be interesting to hear whether that is related to my hot climate here or people in cooler places have the same experience. If I decide to keep the whistle, I would be tempted to shave just a little bit off the top of the body. I know that too much of a cavity there will affect tuning etc, so I would be very careful.

We seem to agree on the top half of the second octave. A little sweeter would be nice.

Owen

I could put another o-ring on it. Unfortunately, it seems that if you do not adjust it regularly, it could get stuck. 2 o-rings would only make that worse and they would not help much with preventing the wobble. At least with 1 o-ring you can still get it working easily. The real problem with the o-ring is that the wall of the body is not thick enough so that I can seat the o-ring deeper in it and so leave less of a gap between the body and that tuning sleeve. I may switch to a teflon ring, but I would have to add to the cost of the instrument. Do you think that adding $10 to the cost is worth not having a wobble? I bet everyone has a different opinion there.

You can chop off as much as you want near the top as long as you leave enough to keep the o-ring in place. I placed the joint in a way that should not cause it to go out of tune. I designed these instruments so that they would tune about 20c sharp if they were pushed in all the way, after they were breath-warm. Are you saying that you would like more than 20c of tuning? Or, are you saying that you cannot get that far sharp?

As for the upper octave.... I tooted a few that I have here in the shop and they all were pretty well in tune in the upper octave. I can only think that I am so used to this design that my judgment is skewed. That is, I have gotten used to the quirks. That is a *bad* thing for a maker. I need to do some more tweaking, I see.

One of the cool things about this design is that I can tweak it very easily. I made some solid delrin instruments. You can actually yank the fipple blade right out of it and trim it. If it is trimmed in a sort of spiral, you can twist it and adjust the timbre of the instrument just like you can adjust the tuning. I think that is pretty neat, but I don't believe that many people would be interested. Since they are identical to the aluminum in every other way, I could not sell them for less, just because they are plastic. (aluminum and delrin are the same price right now) Though, Owen needs a plastic instrument. They do not change size with temperature.

[MagicSailor]

I could put another o-ring on it.

As I said, I only really noticed the slight wobble when handling it, not when playing, so I don't really think it is an issue. I'd leave it like it is.

I designed these instruments so that they would tune about 20c sharp if they were pushed in all the way, after they were breath-warm. Are you saying that you would like more than 20c of tuning? Or, are you saying that you cannot get that far sharp?

I'm at work now and don't have that whistle with me. I didn't check with the tuner, but my feeling is that I could only get around 10c sharp.

As for the upper octave.... I tooted a few that I have here in the shop and they all were pretty well in tune in the upper octave.

I don't think anyone said it is out of tune, just that it needs a fair bit of push and is therefore loud at the upper end of the second octave. I have found the whistle to be very well in tune. It may be the most in tune whistle I have played.

Though, Owen needs a plastic instrument. They do not change size with temperature.

I can build good plastic whistles myself. My reason for buying whistles is to get something I can't build myself.

It would be interesting to know what the difference is between the identical aluminium and plastic whistles though. How does the material affect the sound and responce etc of two otherwise identical instruments.

Owen

[Pazziato]

Well, I sent the whistle along earlier this week to the next participant on the N.A. tour.

I'll make more substantive comments when I have time, but for now:

1. i really enjoyed this whistle. its pretty and fun to play.

2. very crisp & responsive

3. complex tone - very pleasing to the ears. no problem with 3rd D, after working with it a bit

4. I want one, and I will be discussing the matter with the leader of the opposition to see if she can make room in the budget.

atb

Patrick

[narrowdog]

Hi

The Euro Tour Whistle is on its way to Wales

Thanks.

[splitz]

Hi,

The Euro tour whistle has landed in Wales! I'll let you know what I think in a couple of days.

[Thomaston]

The Eastern whistle has arrived here. Opinions to come...