Whistle Buying Advice

Wynder · Post by **Wynder** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 7:03 pm

Greetings...

So, here's the bottomline on what I'm looking for:

Price Range: ~$125
Key: D

Mellow and dark tone, fairly loud in the lower octave and a clean sound in the upper octaves. Able to do both indoor pub sessions and outdoor non mike'd performances.

I was thinking something made of brass to get the dark tone... Any suggestions?

Rob

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 7:23 pm

I'm not gonna touch this one, who's feeling brave?

Wynder · Post by **Wynder** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 7:30 pm

Uh oh...

Am I asking for the world at a low end whistle price? ;p

raindog1970 · Post by **raindog1970** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 7:34 pm

That's an easy one... Burke Brass Pro Session.
Burkes are the ultimate mellow sounding whistles, and the volume is good in the session models.
At least that's my 2¢ worth.

Wynder · Post by **Wynder** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 7:36 pm

That's good to hear -- I owned a Burke Brass Pro Sessioner, but it was stolen about a month ago... I had it for only eight weeks.

Has anyone ever owned the wide-bore version? I'm wondering the difference in volume, quality, and breath control it would require... Would it be too overpowering in a pub session setting?

mike.r · Post by **mike.r** » Tue Sep 04, 2001 2:53 am

If its a soprano whistle you require then a Susato tunable would be my pick for unsurpassed volume,intonation and playability at an unbelievable price.

Mike

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Tue Sep 04, 2001 6:43 am

I have a Burke Brass Pro D, and it does NOT overpower at session. That title is held by a Susato. I think its hysterical that our top players at session are now miked, all BUT the guy on the Susato.

StevieJ · Post by **StevieJ** » Tue Sep 04, 2001 6:50 am

Has anyone ever owned the wide-bore version? I'm wondering the difference in volume, quality, and breath control it would require... Would it be too overpowering in a pub session setting?

I have a wide-bore "Session Pro" model with the O-ring seal in the head joint. I have not played any other Burke models, but I don't think you need worry about it being too loud in a session. Compared with, say, a Generation, the bottom octave is a little stronger and rounder (which is a nice feature), but because of Mike's clever balancing the top octave is about the same as a Generation, to my ears.

If you're concerned about being too loud in a session, I would not recommend a Susato soprano D. Susatos are useful in a noisy pub where the patrons are all laughing and talking very loudly and you are playing with 5 bodhrans and 2 guitars and no other melody instruments. (This happened to me once and I was very glad to have a Susato at hand.) Also not everyone likes the tone of Susatos.

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Tue Sep 04, 2001 4:31 pm

I immediately flashed on Burke wide bore session pro. Nothing else to add to it. Covered well in previous posts. Good sound, good volume. I'm partial to brass whistles, so that's the one I have.

Go to Clips and Snips for mp3 samples. The whistle played is listed in the category pages. A great place to compare a lot of different makes.
Tony
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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: TonyHiggins on 2001-09-04 18:36 ]</font>