Opinions about a new whistle : )

[MarcoTúlio]

Hello C&F!!

I really want to buy a DX001 (Dixon Polymer One Piece) and a DXNTRD (Dixon Trad Niquel) all in the key of D from Dixon website.

Are they good Whistles? What is your opinion about them?

Thank you all!!

[maki]

Hey Marco,
The DixonTrad is an excellent whistle.
I think its a great value too.
I don't know about the polymer DX001 though.

[German Whistler]

if you like the sound .... buy it

also important for a beginner, is that its not to difficult to play, but as i did read several times the dixons seem to be easy to play ... so if u like the sound...get it or even two

you will see its nice to collect and have different whistles to play

at least one dixon is on my wishlist too, the one with the duohead whistle/flute

[Brent Lyons]

Hi Marco,
I just got a Dixon Trad in Nickel and I love it! It plays very well (better than I can) and it seems to use a bit less breath than my Clarke D.

[MarcoTúlio]

I think that I am developing a WhOA I dream with whistles!!! Is That Normal???

Hahahaha

Thank you all for the tips!! I will get them next month!

Good whistling folks!!

[bogman]

I got a Dixon Trad and don't like it at all, but to be fair it's not the type of whistle I prefer. However, plenty others like it so at £20ish you can't really go wrong, it's worth a punt.

[MarcoTúlio]

What type of whistle do you prefer?

[bogman]

I've played quite a few but always go back to a Goldie, though for low D I use both Goldies and an MK.

[Angel Shadowsong]

Hi Marco,

I suggest go for a 2 piece instead for a 1 piece whistle.

2 piece whistle is tunable and easier to clean.

For sounds characteristics
There are reviews that I seem to agree on the Property of each

On Metal
Brass: Sounds Crispy, Warm and mellow
Nickel: Sounds Bright and clear

Aluminum: Sounds sweet and light
(Mine is a Dixon which I bought second hand. It is not on the website anymore but it is aluminum body and the head piece looks like that of a DX 204) Mine sounded sweeter after I tweaked it.

On Polymer
ABS Plastics: Sounds Precise, consistent and clear but sounds non-traditional.

Others argue that it sounds like that of a recorder, but I disagree.
I have a recorder and they do not sound the same.

Regards,

Angel

[Angel Shadowsong]

I think that I am developing a WhOA I dream with whistles!!! Is That Normal???

Hell yes... It is hahaha

Good thing I don't live on countries where whistle is "rampant" . Otherwise I could have bought a lot out of my budget.

It starts with a dissatisfaction of the "TONE" of your current whistle.

The good thing is the dissatisfaction part is training your ears to have a good taste and
to find a good tone. You can even train yourself eventually to tone consistency upto perfect pitch training, as you now hear subtle differences

After the dissatisfaction with the tone, you will then develop a nice air control which you will be sensitive and give you more understanding about the whistle air requirements.

The bad thing is you get unsatisfied for the rest of your life.

After the dissatisfaction period, you will then improvise on your whistle, where tweaking comes in.
I started with "tweaking", then I got upset. The tweaking process is a trial and error and you will sacrifice a lot of whistles to get it right. It is a mastering skill that many have conquered.

After temporarily being satisfied, your hunger will grow more and start reading reviews and asking opinions.

Then I started to buy based on reviews, and finally got satisfied.

Remember that every whistle has a quality that is different from one another.

Those qualities may match or may not match you.

Good luck with the quest.

As with Dixon, I have to agree with Guido Gonzato's statement that the First Octave is a little quiet

[supergeo]

I don't know about the polymer whistle, but own the nickle Trad and I am not a fan. It was $20, and it doesn't sound as nice as my cheapies, the $5 Clare or the $5 Waltons Little Black Whistle. If I were you, I would test one first before buying.

[MarcoTúlio]

 Angel Shadowsong... Are you a Psychic? That's exactly what I'm suffering!!!! Hahahah It was very funny and disturbing to read all the symptoms

But I am not very sure if the Dixon is the whistles I want to buy... One say it's a nice whistles others say it's not

What I should do???  Angel Shadowsong??

[maki]

It’s really a matter of taste.
What you like is a function of your ability and experience.
You won't really know what you like until you have spent serious time playing and trying different whistles.
The nice thing about whistles is that you can get dozens (of cheapies) without spending too much.
For about $10 I like the Oaks.
http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/w ... ak/oak.htm
For about $30 I really like the Freeman Whistles, the Bluebirds and Mellowdogs in particular.
http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/w ... ebird.html
http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/w ... g/dog.html

Freemans Ebay site;
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=fre ... 4038934955

[Angel Shadowsong]

Angel Shadowsong... Are you a Psychic?

Yes I am, I've been suffering from that ever since I was 4 years old when I saw a little girl filled with blood on a pail of water (blood)
I told it to my mom and my mom was quiet. She told me, before we bought the lot where our house was build; there was a rumor that a little girl died on the lot. It became worse when I was on high school. People thought I was crazy, because I saw this lady in Black veil walking across our classroom and nobody seems to notice. I was glad that a girl from a different section told the teacher and she saw what I saw. So I finally believed that I am not crazy but special.

But I am not very sure if the Dixon is the whistles I want to buy... One say it's a nice whistles others say it's not

Every whistle has a property on its own. For me these are the qualities that I am looking for.

Chiff and Responsiveness - Chiff Definition is varied but Most say it is the tone bite. Or should I say the millisecond lag that your ear can hear before the note is correctly played. Responsiveness is how fast the note plays corresponding to the time you blow your breath

The ideal chiffness depends on the player; chiffiness adds a traditional factor that most whistlers would want. You will just want a right amount of chiff. Because if it is more chiffy the less responsive it is, and the longer "lag" will correspond to a note that is not hit properly, which other listeners may perceive as a mistake.

Breath Requirements -Defined as if you consume more air, or less, or the whistle requires more air to sound right or less air as it might squeak. This also tackles about the air transition of first octave to second octave. The ideal is the transition on the breath should be smooth and gradual increase per note to note on ascending scale (at least for me). Other whistles make you blow extra hard on the second octave and blow less on the first octave.

Timbre- I have mentioned this on the early post, regarding the material whether, brass, nickel, aluminum, pvc or abs polymer. But another thing that affects the timber is the air requirements. Breath requirements can usually make the whistle sweet when it requires less air and breathy or loud (or both breathy and loud) when it is air requirements is large.

Aside from the Appearance which is secondary, these properties are the most important, well at least for me, to select the best whistle appropriate for me.

These properties does not depend on the whistle alone but also to the one playing the whistle.

You may notice you have varied opinions as you try to satisfy yourself making a survey if this brand is good.

This is because every individual has a different set of lungs for breath requirement satisfaction,
different set of ears for timbre satisfaction,
and different set of taste for chiffiness satisfaction.

It is hard to recommend you a brand, when my taste will be different to your taste.

What I should do??? Angel Shadowsong??

Based on how my Psychic feeling, there are other factors that you are considering.

I have foreseen the Price and the Date of Delivery as those factors.

You are very much restricted by the Price and buying the whistle that will not satisfy you will make you really upset.
Date of Delivery, you have mentioned you are from Brazil.

If I can remember my Geography it is located on South America. Therefore the Date of Delivery from UK or US or Ireland (where whistle supply is enormous) to your country is roughly approximated as 4-6 weeks (just a hunch). As here in the Philippines where I am located it is around that period.

So, I can imagine that you bought a whistle online .... You are very excited,...and you wait for about say a month.

Then after a month, the whistle came, you are so excited to open the parcel.

Then you played it.... then you were disappointed after playing it.

Also not to mention, you can no longer avail the 30 days money back guarantee by sellers if you are unsatisfied as if it came to you around 30 days and send it back around 30 days it will be about 60+ days; nullifying the 30 days guarantee period.


As for me, here is my experience that I think you will benefit from.

To find a good sounding whistle that will fit you; you will need to check on sound and breath requirements.

For Sound Quality:

Look for videos of the whistle brand that you like or that was recommended to you. Youtube will be the mining ground.

Then criticize the playing skill if the person is beginner, average, or expert. My advice is look for a beginner to average and avoid experts. Expert videos can be misleading, in a way that you cannot see and hear their breath control error as they have mastered it already.

Look for videos that seem to be done by raw record. Reverb, echo and good looks like my super crush Andrea Corr can definitely affect the sound of the whistle and how you perceive to hear the sound of the whistle.

Listen also if the music played is fast or slow. Fast music can hide the flaws of whistle, while slow music exposes them all. Fast music can reveal the responsiveness though.

As much as possible avoid sound clips. They are misleading, at least for me. They can/may be edited with software making them sound good. Again I am not claiming, that sellers are doing that, but it is possible that they are.

For Breath Control:
Check the height and the weight of the player.

To check the weight, first look at their face and cheeks. Then look at their belly.
To check the height measure the head and they neck to their pelvic bone (torso area). It the length of the torso is equal to twice the length of their head, the person is short. If more than 2.5 they are average if 3 times or more they are tall.

Generally, persons with large height and heavy weight tend to have large breath supply on whistles. Thus if you are tall or fat, you might want to consider buying the brand that they use, as most of them prefer a free blowing whistle due to the structure of their lungs in proportion to their body.

However there are exceptions, there are thin persons who can free blow. Again check their belly if they are breathing in a large amount and then check their cheeks if it inflate a lot.

Conversely if you have small breath supply you may avoid the whistle they use and narrow down the choices.

For budget purposes, you may want to buy second hand whistles as they are 3-4times cheaper.
Buying second hand are available on Ebay, amazon and even on C&F occasionally.

I'm not that expert on whistle yet. The one I mentioned above are based on my experiences and observation.
The C&F community has helped me alot, and I know you will learn a lot from them too.

I have started Tin Whistles and been here around March 2012 and have learned a lot.

Here is a site of whistle reviews. He is very much in detail.

http://www.tinwhistler.com/reviews.aspx



Sorry for the long post.


Hope this help you.

Regards,

Angel

[Peter Duggan]

But I am not very sure if the Dixon is the whistles I want to buy... One say it's a nice whistles others say it's not

Afraid that's both inevitable ('one man's meat is another man's poison') and typical of Internet research ('it's a must have' vs 'it's rubbish'). So you ultimately have to evaluate what you read and/or hear for yourself, but I'd say just get the Dixons if you want them because they're nice whistles, not expensive and bogman's Goldies and MK are pitched at an altogether different price point!