Best whistle for an oboe player?

[GordonH]

A friend of mine is very keen on traditional music and is a regular attender at festivals. By profession she is an orchestral oboe player and she has had a go at the whistle in the past but has real problems overblowing because the back pressure on the whistle is a lot less than the oboe.
Do you think a whistle with more back pressure might be easier for her?
Or would the opposite be true, and one that could take plenty of air like a Clarke and therefore resist the overblowing?

Reason for the question is that I am thinking of giving here one as a gift which will be easier for her to start on.
I want it to be a surprise.
Otherwise I would get her to try some out.

[MoonMind]

I'm not an oboe player but a saxophonist; since she's a professional, I'd get her a whistle that's really worth it in your eyes rather then trying out something you're not sure you would recommend. She'll be able to get used to the whistle pretty quickly if she really tries. It's true that it's very, very different, especially when it comes to breath control, but apart from the amount of pressure need, she'll already know all about it! Reed players, especially good ones, are very aware of what can be done with air...

M.

[brewerpaul]

Much as the whistlemaker's here among us would like to sell her one I'd really suggest getting her a good lower priced whistle until she's sure she even likes playing it. Maybe a Freeman tweaked one. She needs to decide what characteristics she wants in a whistle before you spend the big bucks. You could always get her a handmade one for her next birthday, Christmas etc once she's really into it.
FWIW-- my wife was an avid oboist but had to give it up due to headaches. She switched very easily to the low backpressure recorder.

[MTGuru]

I agree with MoonMind and Paul. An experienced woodwind player should be able to adjust and finesse her breath pressure pretty quickly. Heck, Gordon, the trumpet has a lot more backpressure than the whistle, too. And yet I've heard rumors that even some trumpeters have taken to playing the whistle.

Part of the the problem for orchestral wind players may also be volume expectations. When you're used to a louder instrument you tend to overblow the whistle, especially in the first octave. But experienced whistlers learn that a high whistle doesn't have to be overly loud to be effective.

For a high backpressure whistle, the Overton probably takes the prize. Colin makes them in several variations, from easier blowing to harder blowing (lower vs. higher pressure). It's also a fairly loud whistle. The Susato is another popular, inexpensive choice in a louder whistle. Scottish whistler Alex Green plays Susatos.

But for your friend having another go at it, I'd think a nice Generation, Feadóg, Dixon Trad, or Freeman would make a wonderful gift with a traditional sound at a very reasonable price.

[Unseen122]

For a high backpressure whistle, the Overton probably takes the prize. Colin makes them in several variations, from easier blowing to harder blowing (lower vs. higher pressure). It's also a fairly loud whistle. The Susato is another popular, inexpensive choice in a louder whistle. Scottish whistler Alex Green plays Susatos.

I would second this suggestion, I played the Bassoon before I took up the whistle and even though I haven't played a Bassoon in over two years I still prefer higher back pressure high D whistles such as Overton and Susato.

[hans]

I got here a friend's Bleazey wooden soprano D whistle on loan. Now this is a whistle demanding a lot of back-pressure, more than my Overton. It can play very loud, and very well outdoors in windy conditions. Not so easy to tame though, a whistle for the wild!

Cheers,
~Hans

[devondancer]

MTGuru said "Scottish whistler Alex Green plays Susatos."
Thank you, MT - Lesley has the CD and wondered what he played. she will be pleased to know.
Ro

[GordonH]

OK, this is all excellent advice, and I think the volume expectation is a serious issue.
She has tried before and not been able to master the breath control.
I will try her on a basic Feadog (cheap and easy to get hold of) and see how it goes.

I find the whistle and trumpet very compatible and playing the whistle improves my trumpet playing.
The Oboe on the other hand is a very tight instrument.

[highwood]

The oboe's back pressure is so much higher than any whistle that I don't think back pressure is an issue. What I think is perhaps harder to get used to is that there is much much less ability to play pp or ff, in fact almost none (if you care about pitch). So a whistle that you can 'lean into' might be easier to get used to. That's my 2 cents as an oboe player who is working on his whistle playing and making.

The Oboe on the other hand is a very tight instrument.

what does this mean?

Bill

[GordonH]

The oboe's back pressure is so much higher than any whistle that I don't think back pressure is an issue. What I think is perhaps harder to get used to is that there is much much less ability to play pp or ff, in fact almost none (if you care about pitch). So a whistle that you can 'lean into' might be easier to get used to. That's my 2 cents as an oboe player who is working on his whistle playing and making.

The Oboe on the other hand is a very tight instrument.

what does this mean?

Bill

Well to give you an example on the oboe you usually have to exhale whats left in your lungs before you breathe in.
The reed is very narrow.

[lalit]

Well to give you an example on the oboe you usually have to exhale whats left in your lungs before you breathe in.
The reed is very narrow.

I have to do that with my Syn whistle sometimes, depending on phrasing. I always think of oboists when it happens.

[jmiller]

Harper

[MoonMind]

OK, this is all excellent advice, and I think the volume expectation is a serious issue.
She has tried before and not been able to master the breath control.
I will try her on a basic Feadog (cheap and easy to get hold of) and see how it goes.

I find the whistle and trumpet very compatible and playing the whistle improves my trumpet playing.
The Oboe on the other hand is a very tight instrument.

Just a little warning: I (being a newbie) found the Feadòg very demanding in terms of breath control. Once you've got it down a little, it begins to really sing, but at the start, it made a lot of additional noise that wasn't always pleasant (like high ringing tones), especially if I used to much air.

A Clarke Original is much nicer to a new player and takes too much pressure a lot more gracefully. The same's true for the Sweetone (even more so), but she might mistake that one for a toy. My best experience (as a real beginner) was with the Clarke Sweetone and Meg; now I like Generation, Feadòg and, before all (of the cheaper ones), Dixon equally well (though the Generations proved to be just as surprising in basic quality as they're famed to be). My honest tip would be a Dixon Traditional (Brass) or a Clarke Original (if you can get hold of an uncoated, "natural" one, that's even better).

If you want more volume (and clearer sound), I own a very convincing Parks WalkAbout (that's the "portable" version of the Every Whistle)
that you can make sound both loud and clear as well as extremely calm (thanks to the adjustable tone ring) . But that'd be a bit more expensive.

M.

[jemtheflute]

Have you considered Guido Gonzato's plastic tube whistles? They play better than most of the production whistles already mentioned and more responsively - probably take more through-put of air (less back-pressure!) so may be actually less of a problem to an oboist with an over-supply? She might find something she can "push" harder easier than something that uses virtually no air and requires extremely fine control of very low breath pressures. Susatos might also fit the bill and although their tone is not to everyone's taste, they are at least in tune with themselves, unlike things like Sweetones! As a classical bod, she's likely to be more sensitive to those kinds of things!

Another trick that might help - something I often do unintentionally and actually waste air I could do with saving, especially on flute, but which can help on a more economical whistle - is to "bleed off" air through the nose while playing - you can't really do this on high-pressure reed instruments because you have to stop off everything to sustain an even pressure on the reed, but it doesn't matter on flutes and whistles where back-pressure, even on a fairly resisitant whistle, is negligible by comparison!

[GordonH]

All very interesting advice.
Yes, I was thinking that more throughput of air might make it easier for her not to overblow as she blows HARD.
I have a spare Clarke unused so maybe I should just give her that?