Does the WhOA ever get better?

[Protean]

I love me a good single malt (heck, I love me a good blended!). But I would not have the patience to wait for it to mature. I'll just buy what somebody else had the patience to create. (Thanks, Glenfiddich!)

I would love to get into brewing beer, though... And whistle making... :p

[pancelticpiper]

Luckily I don't have either an addictive personality or a collector mentality.

For me, musical instruments are merely a tool and all I require is one that will do the job.

But I do want to do the job as well as I can, so when I couldn't play flute anymore and sold all my flutes I had plenty of money to explore low D whistles. I bought every low D I could find, played them all, kept my fave and sold the rest. Then I bought matching whistles in several other keys that I require. End of WHOA.

Just last night I did a two hour gig with my ITM trio and my whistles, as always, performed perfectly. (Not that I could say the same for myself! I had a couple D'oh!s.)

So when I check my Low D, and my Low G, and my Low A against the electonic tuner at the start of the gig and the scale of each is perfect, and play in tune the whole gig, and the tone and playability are exactly what I prefer, why have WHOA?

[Protean]

So when I check my Low D, and my Low G, and my Low A against the electonic tuner at the start of the gig and the scale of each is perfect, and play in tune the whole gig, and the tone and playability are exactly what I prefer, why have WHOA?

Oh, aye... aye. I can see how that could be enough for some. And I am, truly, on the search for a whistle that will satisfy me in almost every circumstance. Who knows, perhaps I've found it in the whistles I have on the way right now.

I'm truly eager to try out the set of Syn whistles. I'm quite curious how the tone of the Parks Walkabout will be, too. The Walkabout is going to become my most used whistle, I know for sure, if for no other reason than it will allow me to practice when my girls are sleeping. I suspect the Syn whistles will become my standard whistles to play when I am actually performing. Alas, nobody in this town holds sessions, so I'm out of luck there. I'd try to start one up, but I have neither the repertoire nor the skills to actually play at a session.

The thing is -- while yes, I love just trying out different whistles to see what their tone is like, which definitely feeds my WhOA -- I prefer different sounds for different pieces. Some tunes deserve a nice, pure sound. Some deserve more breath, perhaps a little raspy buzz. Some more chiff, some less. I like to have the right tool for the job!

Oh, WhOA is me!

[Tucson Whistler]

I had WhOA, but it didn't last long. I found a couple of whistles that I love and it seemed to go away. I do still want a Clarke Original to replace my first whistle that I lost, but other than that, I'm a happily recovered addict.

[just4fun]

I'm definitely on the mend as I haven't bought a new whistle for over a month!! However I must confess that I have a Sindt on order and also that I'm still pondering how to re-invest the procedes of a low D that I've just sold. Oh well, at least its a Healthy Obsession!

[Protean]

I figured after my most recent purchase of the Syn whistles and the Parks Walkabouts, I was done for a bit. Turns out I was wrong. WAY wrong.

I've since ordered a Susato (as a backup plan), a Blackbird, a Domnahl na Gruen low D, and, most bizarrely, a Xaphoon. My guilt over spending so much bloody money on whistles and such has likely put off my WhOA for a bit longer, though. So, you know, there's that.

...

Hi, my name is Joe, and I'm an addict.

[riverman]

Luckily I don't have either an addictive personality or a collector mentality.

For me, musical instruments are merely a tool and all I require is one that will do the job.

But I do want to do the job as well as I can, so when I couldn't play flute anymore and sold all my flutes I had plenty of money to explore low D whistles. I bought every low D I could find, played them all, kept my fave and sold the rest. Then I bought matching whistles in several other keys that I require. End of WHOA.

Just last night I did a two hour gig with my ITM trio and my whistles, as always, performed perfectly. (Not that I could say the same for myself! I had a couple D'oh!s.)

So when I check my Low D, and my Low G, and my Low A against the electonic tuner at the start of the gig and the scale of each is perfect, and play in tune the whole gig, and the tone and playability are exactly what I prefer, why have WHOA?

The voice of common sense.

I wish I could listen to common sense...

[mcurtiss]

as much as I want a Burke Session D, I know my own limitations as well as the limitations of my relatively cheap whistles and know that mine are MUCH bigger than my whistles'

[Daniel_Bingamon]

When I deisgned and made Chromatic Whistle I though it would end WhOA, it just became a gateway instrument to Irish Flute.

[OldFencer]

I just picked up the whistle a couple of months ago and I remember scoffing at all the poor sots on C&F suffering from WhOA. I just realized I now have 3 and just ordered a beautiful Oz from Mitch.

Dear God...I'm an addict!

[Chuck_Clark]

Sure it gets better.

One day, your common sense catches up with you. It then whacks you upside the head and says "Hey, Dummy! You got into this because you wanted to play, then loved to play, then HAD to play. And now you spend so dang much time talking about and acquiring new whistles and are neglecting your playing."

I had WHOA once. Several Ebay sellers did right well because of me. Then I had way more whistlesd than I could play, in many keys than I wished to play. Now I have the same too many whistles (and recorders). I think I actually would like to start findig homes for some/most of them. I just can't decide which and don't want the hassle of getting back into Ebay.

[breqwas]

I have a Copeland in D that I don't play. I keep it in my desk in a pile of cheapies and broken whistles, and won't sell it: it reminds me that I don't need to buy them anymore. $400 is a small price for that sort of reminder

when I couldn't play flute anymore and sold all my flutes

Well, I'm sorry if my question infriges upon your privacy, but - why?

[KNQuail]

Well, I'm not quite sure exactly what WhOA stands for, but from the sounds of it, I have it. I bought my first whistle on a whim at an Irish festival at the end of last July, though I promptly forgot about it and didn't really start playing it til I found it buried under a pile of papers and whatnot in November. I've since added 9 more to the collection...3 in January, and 6 just a few weeks ago. Of the 6 new ones, only 2 are getting any serious playing time, though. 2 I rather dislike and 2 sound nice but aren't all that useful to me as of yet.

[Dain]

Well, if you want some 'cold turkey' remedy, you should move to South-Eastern Europe, eg. Serbia.

There is absolutely NO whistles in ANY of the shops (except plastic recorders), and the shipping prices and time-delay when buying over the web are mind-boggling and debilitating.

So, here we have WhOM disorder.

[breqwas]

and the shipping prices and time-delay when buying over the web are mind-boggling and debilitating.

There are no whistles in offline shops. Except Clarkes maybe. That's the reality of all the world except Ireland, UK and some US states. Everyone here shops online.

Time-delay - it reaches Russian address in 3-6 weeks, and most of the delay is at Russian post. I suppose that Serbian postal service is not too much better.

Shipping prices - well, $20-30 here from US or EU. That's a lot when you buy $5 Meg, but not when you buy $150 (whatever). If you still want a meg, get 10 of them - one for you, 9 for your friends. Then it will be $5 + $(20/10) = $7 each.