Quiet Whistle

dolphinjon · Post by **dolphinjon** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:20 pm

Howdy all,

I've been playing a Clarke d whistle for close to a year now, and while I like it, I'm looking for something quieter. I just started seminary a couple of months ago, and now that I'm in a dorm, I'm looking for a whistle that isn't very loud so that I don't bother the other guys in the dorm. I've been looking at a Susato V series Dublin, but I haven't seen a lot about it on the board. Any thoughts on if this would be ideal, or any other suggestions? The main requirements are that it be fairly cheap, and reasonably quiet.
Thanks for all the help I've gotten just lurking here so far!

Jonathan

scoutcow · Post by **scoutcow** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:42 pm

You can try a Parks Every whistle.
http://www.parkswhistles.com/
You can mute it, so when it's possible you can play it at 'full strength' and when you have to be more quiet, you can turn the tone ring and make it much more silent.

violinmyster · Post by **violinmyster** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:50 pm

I agree with the Parks whistle. It is an easy player and can be muted quite easily.

Ballyshannon · Post by **Ballyshannon** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 6:03 pm

Also take a look at Hoover.

BTW, a Susato V Series may be quieter than the S series but from my own experience of having owned and played both, the V Series D makes up for it with its annoyingly bright and thin tone. Don't get me wrong... I have three Susato S series Kildares that I like very much and still play, but that VSB was simply annoying and I finally gave it away.

Just my opinion on that one. Wait. Did I just pull a McCain? Someone shoot me.

Tommy · Post by **Tommy** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 7:08 pm

The ''Shush'' whistle from www.bigwhistle.co.uk is very quiet, and less than twenty dollars.

monkey587 · Post by **monkey587** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:07 pm

You'll probably find, like I did, that all of the quiet whistles are just not as quiet as you'd like. You'll never learn to play properly if you have to be quiet all the time, IMO, so I recommend a regular whistle for when you can play at regular volume and when you can't, take that time to listen carefully to good players and visualize playing what they are playing.

This sounds like voodoo but I don't get to practice nearly as much as I'd like, but I do spend much of my time at work listening to irish music and when I hear a tune I like, I visualize how I think it's played.

Welshman · Post by **Welshman** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:27 am

A fairly common topic on these boards, so you would do well to look through the archives before buying new kit. Far be it from me to deprive you of a chance to buy a new whistle, but you may like to first try some of the ideas here -

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... et+whistle

You never know, trying this option may allow you the chance to buy the whistle you'd like, rather than the one you think you need.

Jason Paul · Post by **Jason Paul** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:09 am

I'll put in a vote for the Every Whistle as well. I love mine.

Jason

mcurtiss · Post by **mcurtiss** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:21 am

in looking for some tweaking ideas, I found a nice blog post at "Learning to Whistle" on different ways to muffle a whistle.

Bothrops · Post by **Bothrops** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:33 am

Go for an Everywhistle, you won't regret!

breqwas · Post by **breqwas** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 8:24 am

Choosing between Shush and Everywhistle (I have both) - Shush is quiter.

Ballyshannon · Post by **Ballyshannon** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 1:03 pm

Tommy wrote:The ''Shush'' whistle from www.bigwhistle.co.uk is very quiet, and less than twenty dollars.

Jonathan, I don't know where you're located but if you're in the U.S., the total price would be $33.36 using International Signed For shipping. Air Mail Packet shipping would be $27.67. Both are non-insured. However, BigWhistle requires a minimum order of $35 to ship to the states so you'd have to order something else or choose the International Signed For with Insurance shipping, which is $37.

dolphinjon · Post by **dolphinjon** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 3:44 pm

Thanks for all the suggestions. I played around with muting a Walton D and discovered that two paperclips cut the volume by about half. I'm going to play around with that for a while before I order anything quieter. At some point, I'll probably get an everywhistle, but I think this will work for now

t

straycat82 · Post by **straycat82** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 3:57 pm

I've always just used a bit of scotch tape to cover half the window. Get a whistle you like and, as mentioned above, play that at full volume as often as you can and mute only when absolutely necessary. Playing a muted whistle all of the time (or a whistle engineered to be quieter) will not help you practice your breathing technique.