I Love All Whistles (Almost)

[PhilO]

Yes, beware, it's Philo posting day.
I've been thinking(always dangerous). I've gone through so many phases and read about others going through phases with regard to whistle preferences, and after awhile, it all starts to sound like blah, blah, blah, blabbity blah. SO, I've come to the conclusion that I have just one thing in common with Joannie Madden with respect to whistles (see Jerry Freeman thread re meeting up with Joannie recently) - I basically love em all. Cheapies, high-enders, wood, metal, plastic, conical, narrow and wide bore. Ok, so I prefer tuneable, and I'm just not a Chieftain/Overton kind of guy (wonderful as they are). And yes, if pushed to the wall, I'll play my Sindts, Burkes, Copelands, Abells, O'Riordans, and Walton Golden Tones first, and never leave home without my Busman green delrin.
By now if any of you have been paying attention (not required thankfully) to my posts over the years, and someone bothered to track them, you'd probably catch me up and scream "What bloody whistle doesn't he like!" So here's a suggestion for analyzing and weighting the Board chit chat on people's whistle preferences, especially with regard to newer less entrenched brands. See if they come back and continue to praise said whistles over time. Many's the time I'll say I just tried such and such whistle and it plays well and it's beautiful to look at; be careful with dilettante player/collectors like me, because sometimes I'll realize after a while that said whistle is not going to be among my favorites based on its playability and tone and I don't usually come back and say so; I just never mention it again. That said,probably a good 95% of my whistles are eminently playable and enjoyable, and I hate just one.

Philo

[Pipe Bender]

Hear, Hear!

100% agreement.

And even though I am fairly recent to the Forum I think I can guess your "I hate just one."

But, if my guess is correct, I still believe it to be a great cold beginner's whistle.

[PhilO]

Hear, Hear!

100% agreement.

And even thought I am fairly recent to the Forum I think I can guess your "I hate just one."

But, if my guess is correct, I still believe it to be a great cold beginner's whistle.

Actually, quite the opposite; a beginner could only wield it as a war club.

Philo

[RonKiley]

I am very much in agreement. I have a variety of whistles in various keys. There are some I love and some that I like. There is only one I don't like as in I seldom play, Clark Original. That puts me in the minority. I have all the cheapies some of these are my favorites. I also have some more expensive whistles, Alba, Burke, Humphries, etc. For instance At the Cleveland Irish fest I bought a Feadog D. This weekend at Dublin I will probably buy another Burke. They each have there own personality. See my signature line.

[rhulsey]

Same here. I've not been to a session, though there are many local players. I just enjoy playing this music for myself. I've lots of recordings, links to tunes here and there and am always adding to the tune collection here on the Mac in one form or another. I've bought, sold and traded whistles for a handful of years now, and have Hoovers, Burkes, what's basically a whole set of O'Riordans, O'Brien, Greenwoods, and a Clarke original that I simply don't like and never did as well as others I'm probably not remembering. The music and the whistles have brought me countless hours of enjoyments, as does C&F. I say thanks to all of you!

[Pipe Bender]

My guess was wrong. I thought it was the Clarke Sweetone.

[Scott McCallister]

..., and I hate just one.

Philo

And... ?

[pancelticpiper]

So here's a suggestion for analyzing and weighting the Board chit chat on people's whistle preferences, especially with regard to newer less entrenched brands. See if they come back and continue to praise said whistles over time.

Well I've been playing my Feadog D since around 1980 and nothing I've played has knocked it off its perch as my go-to D.

And likewise with my Generation C.

None of the Neo-Whistles I've ever tried measure up to either one. Of course it's a completely personal thing.

I don't love all whistles at all- I have some horrid ones which are unplayable and I couldn't give away, probably. Anyhow my goal is to own ONE of each key I need and learn to play it as well as I can.

[Anyanka]

So what is the one you hate, Phil?

I've only just started building my collection of whistles, and so far only own three different makes (Generation, Susato, Dixon). Already I'm starting to understand the addictiveness of whistle-buying... the only thing that's stopping me is the red colour on the bank statement.
Btw, I find it noticeable that my favourite out of my three hardly ever gets mentioned on here - Tony Dixon. Why's that?

[hoopy mike]

Btw, I find it noticeable that my favourite out of my three hardly ever gets mentioned on here - Tony Dixon. Why's that?

Maybe because they are in that twilight zone - not ridiculously cheap, but not expensive either? I like my Dixon trad in D very much, but then I also like the whistle that PhilO hates.

[Feadoggie]

95% of my whistles are eminently playable and enjoyable.

Great post, PhilO! Whistle do in general make me smile. I've had many, many whistles. I will likely acquire many more. I think I've learned something from every whistle I've owned and played. Some of the lessons have been good and some not so good. That fuels my own whistle making adventures.

I hate just one.

Might that be a chrome-molybdenum model? I can't say I've hated any whistle but a few have caused me to ask "What were they thinking?" They cause me to chuckle when I pull them out of storage. And I won't sell those because I wouldn't wish them on any other unsuspecting player. Still their makers went to a lot of effort to produce them and they represent unique efforts in whistle design and crafting. Some happen to be more rustic than others.

I find it noticeable that my favourite out of my three hardly ever gets mentioned on here - Tony Dixon. Why's that?

Mr. Dixon has had his days in the sun, for sure. Just do a search. You'll get over 6,200 hits. Hardly overlooked or noticeably absent! Oh, and don't leave a polymer Dixon out in the sun or in the car on a sunny day.

Feadoggie

[highland-piper]

Anyhow my goal is to own ONE of each key I need and learn to play it as well as I can.

I'm not quite there, but I'm leaning in that direction. After getting my Jerry Freeman Mellow Dog in D with the C body, I'm not inclined to play any of my other D whistles. The Mellow Dog is just easier to play.

But if I had a need for a soft breathy tone, I'd go with the Clarke Original. That might be useful in certain ensemble situations, for instance.

[StevieJ]

SO, I've come to the conclusion that I have just one thing in common with Joannie Madden with respect to whistles (see Jerry Freeman thread re meeting up with Joannie recently) - I basically love em all.

Point of information: that thread was about Jerry's meeting Mary Bergin. I take it you haven't met Mary and Joanie, Phil, if you had I don't think you'd be confusing them.

I know what you mean BTW: in answer to the question of what whistle I thought was best, I once came up with, whatever I've been playing for the last 5 minutes.

[straycat82]

I'm nowhere close to that. I've bought and then turned around and sold many whistles because they just did nothing for me.
For example, wood and plastic whistles do absolutely nothing for me. I won't name any makers out of respect but there are a lot of metal (aluminum, brass, etc.) "high-end" whistles that I've tried out which couldn't come close to getting me to put down my O'Briain Feadog. I don't know quite what it is but my Sindt and a few particularly nice cheapies are all I've been able to hang onto. Oddly enough, low whistles do absolutely nothing for me either (though I enjoy Bb immensly).
Maybe I just let the Chieftains and Mary Bergin records get into my ear too much in the early days of whistle exposure

[LorenzoFlute]

I think I hate all whistles below Bb, and many of the high onces i've tried.