Greenwood Soprano D review

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:10 pm

Here's the review of this whistle I posted on my website today @
http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/review ... /index.htm

Preface
 I really wanted this whistle for my birthday last year. I dropped hints. But I didn't get it. I think my family was afraid that I'd be disappointed if I only got the one gift (since these ain't cheap!), so I got several less-expensive gifts instead. This year, my interest was re-kindled when JessieK mentioned that these whistles have the same dimensions as a concert O'Riordan. (For those who don't know, the O'Riordan is probably one of the most sought-after whistles on the planet right now..they go on Ebay for around $700.00). I respect Jessie's opinions about whistles...she's owned a lot of different kinds. So, this year, I put myself on the waiting list. As luck would have it, it arrived 3 days before my birthday! What timing!

At a Glance 
 Whistle Reviewed: Greenwood soprano D in blackwood
 Models Available: Keys of Bb, C, and D, tunable.
 Construction: Construction: Blackwood or Cocobolo. Brass slide and ferrules. Nickel silver and other woods avaiable on request. These options may affect price.
 Price at time of review: Price at time of review: $200.00 for C or D. $250 for Bb. $290.00 for C/D set. (I got mine for less than this, just before he raised his prices)
 Available From:Available From: David Boisvert at <a href="http://www.greenwoodpipes.com/">Greenwood Pipes</a>
 How Acquired: Purchased for my birthday

Bottom Line: Strong, full tone. Good intonation into 3 octaves. Loud. Moderately high air volume requirements.

Appearance/Construction
This is the most gorgeous whistle I have ever owned. I really liked the Busman I had--I found it well crafted and highly interesting. But this whistle just screams "work of art" to me. I don't know if it's the blackwood, or the substantial ferrules, or what. But man, oh, man. It's utterly gorgeous. My pictuers don't really do it justice. Evidently when he started making these, the finish was a little rough. I can say that this is no longer the case..this is a sleek, well finished, classy instrument.

<img src="http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/review ... istle2.jpg">
 Here she is. See what I mean about class? I mean, that's just gorgeous! Lets get a closer look.

<img src="http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/review ... piece1.jpg">
 Closeup of the mouthpiece. You can see the tuning slide here, too. This close, you can see a little reddish-brown in the blackwood. I'm told that African Blackwood is a kind of rosewood, and you can see it in the finish here if you look really hard. I'm also told that this will probalby darken with age. You can see the decorative rings put into the mouthpiece and tuning slide pieces. It's the little things like this that show David's strong attention to detail. The labium ramp and windway look pretty small. But really, they're not much smaller than an average instrument's. It's just that this whistle is so freaking fat that the hole looks small in comparion. More about that later.

<img src="http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/review ... piece2.jpg">
 Here is the mouthpiece from the side. Kind of medium-beaked. Not as long as a Generation or other cheapie. Not as stubby as a Susato. It fits in the mouth quite comfortably.

<img src="http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/review ... /slide.jpg">
 Close-up of the tuning slide. You can't see it here, but that slide is long.

<img src="http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/review ... istle3.jpg">
 Closeup of the holes. They say a picture is worth a thousand words..I'll let the picture do the talking, except for this one word: sweet!

<img src="http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/review ... mpare2.jpg">
 Remember what I said about this whistle being fat? Look at it compared to a Feadóg Soprano D. You can almost put the Feadóg inside the Greenwood. I think this huge bore accounts for a lot of the volume and stability that this whistle has.

Playing Characteristics
This whistle has a very strong, pure, sweet tone. It has very little chiff, and is as far removed as that "breathy Clarke" sound as you can get. If you're looking for that traditional scratchy or breathy sound, don't get this whistle. But if you're looking for a strong-toned instrument that commands respect from the first note, this will do nicely. I have a hard time describing what I mean here, because it's not just volume, and it's not just purity of sound. So, let me make an analogy:

When brewers make beer, they use several kinds of sugar. Some kinds turn into alcohol, and another other does not. The kind that does not isn't sweet-tasting, but instead contributes what they call "mouth-feel" to the beer. It makes the beer feel fuller and more rewarding in your mouth, as opposed to feeling weak and watery. This whistle has "ear-feel", I guess. The sound is just full and rich and has "presence". By way of comparison, my Burke is also a pure, sweet instrument. But it just sounds weak when compared with this one. This isn't to detract from the Burke (which is a great instrument) but rather to show how much presence this whistle has. I took the whistle to the Texas Renaissance Festival, where I worked last year, and played it for the dance coordinator. Her eyebrows went up at the first note, and she made that "wow" look.

A sound clip of the whistle:
 <a href="http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/review ... p3">Here's a clip of Fraher's Jig</a> done on the whistle.

Volume: This whistle is loud without being obnoxious. It's louder than my Copeland (which is slightly louder than a Susato), but is less painful to play in the 2nd octave. We play at a loud pub on Tuesdays, and usually even the Copeland has a hard time being heard when I start a tune. This whistle was able to fill that space effectively. Also, I played it at the after-hours drum circle at TRF, and was able to be heard over the crowd noise.

Responsiveness: Super fast. This whistle is very nimble in my hands.

C-Natural: OXXOOO produces an in-tune c-natural.

Tuning: This whistle is spot on in tuning, up into the 3rd octave. You can also easily push the tuning around with your breath. This gives a very dynamic, emotionally responsive instrument, but probably would be a bit of a challenge for beginners until they gain good breath control. The tuning slide is extremely effective. I think this has something to do with how wide the bore is. The tuning slide takes big adjustments to make small changes in tuning, which makes it great for ultra-fine tuning. All the way open (which is close to 1.5 inches!) the whistle bell note sounds at c#. At about .5", it's at D, so you get about a semitone with an inch of play. On the other hand, my Burke can be a challenge to tune--small adjustments to the tuning slide translate into large changes to the tuning.

Hole Size and placement: This whistle has holes are very slightly larger than average size, and are fairly evenly spaced. I only keep this category around because some few whistles have extremely weird hole spacings. This isn't one of them.

Air volume and pressure requirements: This whistle is an easy player. You can jump the octave easily, and it doesn't take much breath pressure. In fact, when I hit this whistle with the second-octave pressure I'm accustomed to from my Copeland, I tend to jump into the third octave! Due to the large clarke-like windway, this whistle has larger than average air volume requirements. I have to breathe slightly more often than with my Copeland. If you're used to playing a Hoover or Sweetone, this would take some getting used to. After quitting smoking several years ago and spending some time getting used to the Copeland's requirements, the transition doesn't seem to be that big of a deal to me.

Clogging: This whistle collected a lot of condensate while I was playing at session. But it never "clogged"--It'd get wet feeling, and I'd blow it out, but it never just up and quit playing. I've found this to be generally true of larger-windway instruments. I'm wondering of some Duponol would help keep it dry.

Summary
This is my dream whistle. It's got that voice of authority, with an impeccably classy look, spot on in tuning (and easy to fine-tune). It is crisp, clean, squeak free, and has pleasing upper octaves. When I was newer, I may have found the breath requirements and control a bit of a challenge, but I don't at this stage in my playing. In the wooden whistle category, I've played Abells, Busmans, Thin Weasels, Syns, Weltmeisters, Sweethearts. While this isn't every wooden whistle out there, it's a fair number of them. Of them all, this one is my favorite, hands down.

Will O'B · Post by **Will O'B** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:45 pm

Wanderer, that's a gorgeous instrument, and it sounds as nice as it looks, too. Thanks for the great review and the sound clip. I'm envious of your new gift. Enjoy it.

Will O'Ban

peteinmn · Post by **peteinmn** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:58 pm

David's shop is less than 20 miles from where I live. Nice to see a local boy make such fine whistles. Makes me think about dropping hints about my next bithday.

Thanks for the review Wanderer!

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 7:30 am

Great review!!

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 8:33 am

Very nice whistle Mr. Wanderer! David does fine work. I've just recently received a new cocobolo chanter from him, and am delighted with it's tone, comfort, and ease of playability.

I have heard David's whistles up close and am very impressed with the strength and versitility of tone. Happy tunes to you sir.

MarkB · Post by **MarkB** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 8:35 am

Lovely sounding whistle Wanderer! And a very good review.

Thank you for your effort and sharing.

MarkB

fpoulenc · Post by **fpoulenc** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:01 am

Greg,
Thanks for the great review. Between your pictures and Jessie's advice, I couldn't resist. Mine should be here in February

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 7:55 am

fpoulenc wrote:Greg,
Thanks for the great review. Between your pictures and Jessie's advice, I couldn't resist. Mine should be here in February

I hope you like it as much as I like mine! I'm already thinking about getting a C tube for it..the only thing holding me back is the fact that I know like only 3 session tunes that call for a C

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:09 am

A bit of information I received from David recently is that he is ceasing to use Cocobolo in his whistle making. He has developed an alergy to the dust.

He told me his current woods are Blackwood, as mentioned, and Lemonwood.

fpoulenc · Post by **fpoulenc** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:17 am

IDAwHOa wrote:A bit of information I received from David recently is that he is ceasing to use Cocobolo in his whistle making. He has developed an alergy to the dust.

Thanks for including that, Steven. He mentioned it when I ordered, too, and I intended to post it and forgot.