bretagne whistles - anyone know anything?

callybeg · Post by **callybeg** » Sat Aug 30, 2003 12:40 pm

Hiya.

Just a quick question - and I hope this is the right forum. When I was a kid a friend of my Dad had a serious case of Whao - he had low pipes, uillean pipes, great pipes, Scottish and Irish flutes - but the one I remember most fondly was a beautiful little "penny" whistle (which probably cost him a lot more than a penny) from Bretagne. It was a high d, wooden fippled, and it had the most beautiful rounded tone I have ever heard. It was very responsive to the breath, but didn't play breathey, and it flipped very easily into a mellow upper octave. Even a little kid as I was then could sound fantastic on it - and lets face it, if I can remember the tone so clearly after twentyfive years it must have been really special. I used to pray my dad would buy me one! (catholicism breeds materialism, perhaps, or maybe it was worth praying for.) Does anyone know anything about bretagne whistles, what they are called, and where on god's green earth you can get one?

Callybeg

PS - any cheap high G's that my little fellah can play on - he's getting quite good, but still can't reach the bottom note on my high C as his fingers are tidgy. And yes, I know. Don't go mad buying whistles...

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Sat Aug 30, 2003 1:05 pm

The name in Brittany would be "pif" but it's a totally forgotten vernacular term. Nowadays, we'd say "whistle" (pronounced wee-súhl stressing the last syllable à la Froonch) to avoid confusion with the rec***er (known as the "flûte à bec" or "pipeau").

Never seen one with a wooden plug eventhough you'll find me rummaging through every Breton swap meet and flea market.

I did find one with a lead plug, closely resembling an old Generation except it says "Do" instead of "C"...

The Camac range of red-plastic-headed whistles of the 70's is discontinued; the plug was removable like on high-end recorders but plastic (at least in the models I saw). It had an extra-big bore (for D or even Eb) and could not qualify as sweet high up, though not a bad whistle all in all. In A, it kept the same head and brass tubing so it played just the opposite: no way to keep it down low end...

The only Breton whistles I'm sure are currently manufactured are by craftsmen Yvon Le Coant (IMHO about the finest... but at a price) and maybe Jézéquiel, but this latter I never had an opportunity to play. Both are primarily made in African blackwood.

callybeg · Post by **callybeg** » Sat Aug 30, 2003 2:00 pm

Hi there.

I seem to remember it was made out of a smooth black wood - maybe African blackwood then. It was smooth to the touch and looked like dark chocolate. The guy who bought it was prepared to pay good money for his whistles, so maybe it was made to order. Do you have contact details for either of these craftsmen? Also, I used to have some lovely Bretagne harp music - do you have any recommendations? It doesn't have to be harp - any trad will do.

Regards,

Callybeg

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Sat Aug 30, 2003 3:49 pm

best maker I know:
Yvon Le Coant, artisan-luthier
6 rue des Fontaines, 22520 BINIC, France
Tel/fax: (33) 296 73 36 99

there's a website: http://membres.lycos.fr/lecoantyvon/index.htm but it's a true disgrace...

His whistle in D costs 176 Euros (ca. £ 265.) with choice of African blackwood or Brazilian kingwood, with silver-plated ferrules on the tuning assembly.

They can be seen at his booth in St-Chartier festival in mid-July, or of course in his workshop in northern Brittany. Good place to visit anyhow, and you'll see him just next to Swayne, Bleazey and some others nice wood whistle makers...

Yvon Le Coant's whistles don't exactly sound that "sweet". They're more complex, with a sort of reediness when you push them, a feature which increases as the whistle keys get lower.

Now with the sound you described, why don't you see first your local makers like Fred Rose, or Jon Swayne? I think the latter would meet your sound description best. Now, to get just as good IMHO (if not identical) and save a lot, there's always Sweetheart whistles in the US, with their "Pro" model.

2) for Breton harp music, search first for records by Alan Stivell--can't miss him, he's the man behind the revival--critics would say "invention"...

callybeg · Post by **callybeg** » Sat Aug 30, 2003 4:25 pm

Thanks! That also answers my question as to where I can find an affordable high G for the lad to practise on - I haven't translated 24 dollars into english money yet, but it certainly seems cheap. He should hit the bottom note now. Also, I am going to save up for one of the sweetheart whistles, as a treat for when I think I play well enough to deserve one. Maybe I'll get myself a flute when I am at it, or at least a picollo, which I played in the past and really enjoyed. (It took my granny a while to forgive me for playing what she thought was a fife - ie a protestant instrument. I never told her that I did play the fife - I think she'd have beaten me to death with the thing if she had known!)

I'll check the snips and clips board to see if I can hear any of these instruments in action. And thanks a lot for the prompt and informative replies.

Callybeg

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Sun Aug 31, 2003 11:59 pm

You can find whistles closer to home. Click here to go to Hobgoblin which is a UK based folk instrument dealer. Also try Big Whistle Music and Shanna Quay. A Generation whistle should be all you need for the lad.
Cheers,
Aaron

callybeg · Post by **callybeg** » Mon Sep 01, 2003 2:07 am

Thanks! And a high G too, which he should get his fingers around. I feel whistle obsessive aquisition disorder coming on... moo hah hahha ha!

Callybeg