Mr.Nate wrote:For a female with potentially small hand spread and finger diameter I would be more concerned right now about the hole spacing and size of the holes
I can second that.
I found a good Low D whistle suitable for my smallish hands - and only that provided me with the freedom to work on sound, breathing etc.
(The not so old thread of my search for that whistle, don't know how to link it though: Post subject: Which Low D Whistle with smaller holes (than Howard) ?)
From my experience I am going to say that the Dixon low D is the most user friendly for finger spacing and ease of getting the notes to speak properly. Also one of the more affordable for an entry level instrument. Unfortunately Dixon's don't have the best intonation so you might have to suffer through a few notes that are out of tune. YMMV!
I had the chance to take over an MK Kelpie four weeks ago.
It's well in tune for my ears, and breathing requirement's just fine for me (higher notes in upper octave yet a bit demanding, but I'm feeling my way into it and by now can even hit the third octave in good moments).
No matter if it's an MK, Onyx, Dixon - the important thing for me was to find a well sounding, playable Low D for my fingers.
From here on my hands can learn. That given, I can widen my focus on breathing. Then on other (bigger holed) Low Ds: I would dearly love to try a Goldie, Kerry, Chieftain, Reyburn, Burke.
That's how it works for me. And, as you said: YMMV
Tell us something.: May 2022, I'm a second-time beginner to the whistle and low whistle after a three-year gap due to a chest injury brought to an end twelve years of playing. I've started on a high whistle and much is coming back quickly but it will be a while before I can manage a Low D again where my interest really lies. I chiefly love slow airs rather than dance tunes and am a fan of the likes of Davy Spillane, Eoin Duignan, Fred Morrison and Paddy Keenan.
I had one pass through my hands but it didn't get played a lot. It was a very different beast from the tapered bore, requiring much more air. At the time I didn't like it but with more playing under my belt I might now. Not very air-efficient as I recall.
Tell us something.: May 2022, I'm a second-time beginner to the whistle and low whistle after a three-year gap due to a chest injury brought to an end twelve years of playing. I've started on a high whistle and much is coming back quickly but it will be a while before I can manage a Low D again where my interest really lies. I chiefly love slow airs rather than dance tunes and am a fan of the likes of Davy Spillane, Eoin Duignan, Fred Morrison and Paddy Keenan.
Tell us something.: Playing Scottish and Irish music in California for 45 years. These days many discussions are migrating to Facebook but I prefer the online chat forum format.
This thread finally crystallized my desire to try a low D whistle. Not living in a location where I can try any, I just went ahead and bought an MK Pro, based on the recommendation of Richard and others. I'm quite pleased with it so far, it took less than an hour of playing to become accustomed to the holes and hole spacing. Very different from a regular ("high"?) whistle, but not so different from an uilleann flat chanter. Anyway, thanks for the discussion and recommendations.
Join the club, An Draighean. I can confirm that WHOAD is infectious. But is this really a reason for getting abstinent - I haven't met a nicer community on the www. So let's face the ruin like real men (and women).
I'm going on a whistle shopping tour tomorrow and I will report when I return. Can take some weeks, but I hope you're still there.
Tell us something.: Playing Scottish and Irish music in California for 45 years. These days many discussions are migrating to Facebook but I prefer the online chat forum format.
Just a couple days ago I came home from work to see one of those wonderful tell-tale long cardboard cylinders sitting on the porch... with my first Colin Goldie Low D inside! (Thanks to our own MiketheBook.)
Unlike many people, who come to the Low Whistle from the smaller whistles, I came to it from the flute, and pipes. It's a common path, because (it seems to me) that many uilleann pipers gravitate to the Low Whistle rather than the high.
This Goldie is very nice, very interesting. I suppose because it looks like an Overton I expected it to play like an Overton (with which I have over 30 years experience) but it's its own beast for sure. Overtons and Goldies have long been the choice of professionals and one can see why: there's no flies on this Goldie, nothing it doesn't do well.
I expected the very flat 2nd octave of the various Overtons I've had but it's higher on this Goldie, more in the middle of the pack of the 20 or so different makes of Low D I've tried. (Of course Overtons are quite in tune, it's just that the player needs to "blow out" the 2nd octave and be careful not to overblow the low octave.)
The volume is a bit lower and tone a bit more round/smooth/foggy than my Reyburn, and quite different from the loud gravelly-yet-focused tone of my MK. I think where Overtons and this Goldie really shine is in the 2nd octave, it being controlled and civilized whereas on many Low Ds high A and especially high B can get shouty and verge on harshness.
Anyhow the WHOAD shows no signs of abating and I'm driving around with three Low Ds in my car (Reyburn, MK, Goldie) for quick tunes whenever possible.
Richard Cook c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
Nice comparison Richard in the other thread in which you posted, and thanks for all the effort and thought about these three, and the others you've reviewed before. I very much like and am intrigued by your description of the MK having a gravelly yet focused tone. Of course, that is no doubt how you hear it, compared to how others hear it on clips, which is the only perspective I do care about. I had just not heard someone else describe it that way, of having a gravelly tone. It makes me want to try one (though I really am not seeking any more now), only I really do like a what I have called in the past a gravelly tone-something with a lot of character to the tone in a Low D, rather than being pure. I think acoustics of the room and how we play often effect this aspect of how we hear tonal characteristics though.
Yes, no doubt this can be infectious and it is a highly personal view to what we like, and surely it can change over time. It also depends on your orientation to the music; is it just a tool to perform the music, or is it the muse you seek to hear your music? I think it's some of both for most of us, and to those who really just prefer these low beasts, it's more the muse in the pursuit of a tone we prefer to make our music.
I am of the latter category, of course, because I just play to hear the tone, mostly, and the tune secondly. Many serious musicians may say otherwise, and I can very easily understand that, but I am what I am, and there's no fixing it at this point in time! ; ) It is just how I am wired; I play for the simple pleasure of making music, and mostly just hearing the mesmerising sound of the instrument I am playing.
But I have tried most of the offerings out there in Low D's, and it seems I have found a happy existence in the low whistles from Phil Hardy, mostly. They seem to have something if not variety and character of tone that I cannot get elsewhere, though to be honest, there are still many I have not tried in recent years that may be similar in quality of tone. But it just seems that Phil keeps delivering unique sounding whistles that I just appreciate for their individuality of tone. I have a Kerry Pro, a Chieftain V4 non-tunable, a New Range Chieftain non-tunable, and an Optima. They are all so different, yet seem to have a basic thread running through them that I think is just down to Phil's own ingenuity of design, even down to an older Low B of his that is a real hoot to hear and play.
I have had Reviols and Cillian O'Briains that were great for me as well (both probably made by Maurice), and could easily have settled on one of them, though the O'Briains needed more air put through them (not as efficient), but, what a tone for either!
So yes, enjoy the ride, and see where it takes you. No matter where you end up,
as long as it pleases you first, and your bandmates second. Non-professonally speaking of course, that is! Otherwise, nevermind and carry on!
Try as many as you can, especially the ones that don't cost you to try, and no doubt in time, you will find what pleases you. But you will have to spend some time with most to see how they suit you, so I think there is no easy way to do this-just pay your money, and put in the time to see what speaks to you, and recycle the rest!
I'm back from my low D whistle shopping tour - with no whistle in my bag, but I'd like to share my experiences with you.
First I tried the Kerry Optima, which is described as pretty accessible in this forum. Well, to me it was not and I had problems to get out the higher notes of the second octave (g, a, b, c#). I must say that I'm completely new to low whistles and so I suppose it's my fault. However this problem did not occur on the other whistles I've tried.
Then I tried some Howard whistles which are much lighter due to the thin walled material. Very different from the Chieftain / Phil Hardy models. The Howard has a very special tone, really different from all others and hard to descibe with words. It wasn't for me really, but this is a matter of taste of course.
I've tried two Dixons as well. The tapered polymere model, which has a very focused, mellow tone. To me the middle frequencies are a bit over represented. The aluminum model with plastic fipple was brighter and more balanced imho. But both very good value for the money.
Finally I played one that really knocked me off my feet - it was a Chieftain Thunderbird. Very accessible, well-balanced with a full, warm sound. I was attempted to buy it but I resisted. You may laugh at me but as I've never heard about this whistle before, I first wanted to learn more about it in this forum. Well, another reason was that your advice to contact Colin Goldie seems very plausible to me, as it's no distance for me and he could adjust the whistle to my needs.
Well, reading the lines of greenspiderweb who has made very good experiences with his Phil Hardy whistles, I had second thoughts if I shouldn't have bought the Thunderbird and stop thinking any further. But pancelticpipers review of his Goldie encourage me, that I can't go wrong with it.
There was only one thing that surprised me a lot: I tried a Eb whistle by chance. THIS was nice! Now I wonder if a low D is right or if I should turn to Eb oder E. Always questions...
Thanks for the nice reviews here. Much more qualified than anything I could say so far.
Everyone has whistles that they relate to best, and everyone is different. So, the best way to find out what you like best, is to buy and play them for a while-sometimes it takes much more time with a whistle to learn how to play it best. It's the only way to really tell for sure what works for you, and what you prefer only comes from experience and playing time.
As far as the Optima and the higher notes, as with most upper octave notes in many low whistles-often it's technique that gets the job done. Sometimes backing off on the higher notes, instead of blowing harder, gets them sounding easier, and without so much screeching and harshness.
If you find a whistle that really pleases you and plays well for you, like your Thunderbird, then I would suggest that is a good place to start. If you do a search on the whistle forum for opinions on various whistles, you only find what others think; not your own way, which has to found by you only, in the long run.
Enjoy the journey-it can be fun and an education. The more time you put in, the more you learn, and the better you will know your preferences, instead of those of others. Opinions are helpful, to a certain extent though, for sure-just don't rely on them exclusively for the answer, since there is no black and white here in the matter of what is best for you. Many of us are still on that road, as we grow musically and technically, so what pleases you now might not in the near future. That's why it's probably just best to get on with it, and start playing when you find something that you like.
Getting a higher key whistle, like an Eb or E, will get you easier fingering, and a slightly more responsive whistle. So, that could be your starting place equally well, if you don't need a certaing key to play along with others, or recordiings. In that regard, tunable whistles are always the best. Both have their values.
Tell us something.: Playing Scottish and Irish music in California for 45 years. These days many discussions are migrating to Facebook but I prefer the online chat forum format.
Freckle Girl wrote: I played one that really knocked me off my feet - it was a Chieftain Thunderbird. Very accessible, well-balanced with a full, warm sound. I was attempted to buy it but I resisted. You may laugh at me but as I've never heard about this whistle before
I would advise you to get it. There's no substitute for actually having a whistle in your hands and seeing how it plays. If it suits you, don't give a thought to what other people think.
Whistle vary from instrument to instrument and that one Chieftain Thunderbird might be an exceptionally good one- who knows, you might play 20 other Chieftain Thunderbirds and none might be as good.
I've been kicking myself for 25 years for not buying a particular Dave Williams 4-key flute. It was overpriced, the seller was asking $1,300 while at that time you could buy the same flute directly from Dave for $800. But it was fantastic, every note equally full and solid, a big booming low range and easy sweet pure high range, perfect intonation, simply one of the best flutes I'd ever played. Like an EEJIT I said to myself, "no, I'll just order the same flute from Dave". Well, Dave Williams died far too young and I never got the chance to order one. Years later an identical-looking flute came up on Ebay being sold by a person who lived near the seller of that one I had tried. When I talked to him he said he had bought it from the same seller at just about that same time, so on the basis of "what if it's the same flute?" I bought it. Sadly it wasn't nearly as good!
If I were you I would run down and buy that whistle. Maybe five or ten years from now you might like something else better. No big deal, you can always sell that Thunderbird. Good whistles will always find buyers.
Richard Cook c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
