Steven wrote:OK, that lucite fipple is really cool!
Steven
Very cool indeed!
Handcrafted copper whistles
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Byll
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- Tell us something.: Long ago, I was told that I faked iTrad whistle work very well. I took that comment to heart. 20 years of private lessons - and many, many hours of rehearsal later - I certainly hope I have improved...
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Mr. O'Brien: I am also a teacher. I teach a Sociology of Music course on the 8th Grade level, and advanced Sound Recording Technology on the college level. Part of my living is made playing hammer dulcimer and whistles...I work with lots of really talented kids on the side, who learn to play both instruments...I would be honored to review your whistle for you...
Best of luck in your endeavor...
Bill Stine
Byll
Best of luck in your endeavor...
Bill Stine
Byll
'Everything Matters...'
Lisa Diane Cope 1963-1979
Lisa Diane Cope 1963-1979
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Byll
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- Tell us something.: Long ago, I was told that I faked iTrad whistle work very well. I took that comment to heart. 20 years of private lessons - and many, many hours of rehearsal later - I certainly hope I have improved...
- Location: South Eastern Pennsylvania
- Contact:
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waitingame
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The "bent" O'Brien Bb whistle I won on Ebay has just arrived. Less than a week from Canada to UK and well packed too so great service.
First impressions are mostly good. The angled mouthpiece certainly looks different!! The whistle is heavy which for me is good. Although there are a few tool marks on it the whistle looks great and is certainly well-made.
Tuning is absolutely spot on both to my ear and to an electronic tuner. The bell note is Bb almost exactly and the whistle remains as faithfully in tune up and down the scale in both octaves.
Standard crossfingered C Nat (as relative to D) is also spot on.
This whistle is mellow and quiet and just a tad too breathy for my liking. However, the only audience to have heard me playing it thus far (my long-suffering whistle widow of a wife) thinks it sounds just great. Now, unless she's after my credit card for a day's shopping I can tell you this is praise indeed.
My only tiny niggle is that the tuning slide is very short (maybe because of the angled nature of the mouthpiece) and just very slightly loose in its fitting although strangely it feels secure enough when playing. I'm guessing a small amount of beeswax may completely solve this perceived problem. There is really next to no ability to make the whistle either sharper or flatter. But, then the tuning IS spot on as is.
Given the current price of this whistle I'd say it has to be true bargain and I'd put my money on David O'Brien's conventional (straight) whistles being even better.
Congratulatons, David. I for one will be keeping my eye on further developments of your whistles.
First impressions are mostly good. The angled mouthpiece certainly looks different!! The whistle is heavy which for me is good. Although there are a few tool marks on it the whistle looks great and is certainly well-made.
Tuning is absolutely spot on both to my ear and to an electronic tuner. The bell note is Bb almost exactly and the whistle remains as faithfully in tune up and down the scale in both octaves.
Standard crossfingered C Nat (as relative to D) is also spot on.
This whistle is mellow and quiet and just a tad too breathy for my liking. However, the only audience to have heard me playing it thus far (my long-suffering whistle widow of a wife) thinks it sounds just great. Now, unless she's after my credit card for a day's shopping I can tell you this is praise indeed.
My only tiny niggle is that the tuning slide is very short (maybe because of the angled nature of the mouthpiece) and just very slightly loose in its fitting although strangely it feels secure enough when playing. I'm guessing a small amount of beeswax may completely solve this perceived problem. There is really next to no ability to make the whistle either sharper or flatter. But, then the tuning IS spot on as is.
Given the current price of this whistle I'd say it has to be true bargain and I'd put my money on David O'Brien's conventional (straight) whistles being even better.
Congratulatons, David. I for one will be keeping my eye on further developments of your whistles.
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Wanderer
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But I guess you gotta filter out the spambots.
100 characters? Geeze. - Location: Tyler, TX
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I got one of Mr. O'Brien's whistles in the mail yesterday. I'll be posting a thorough review at www.tinwhistler.com/music/reviews.asp in about a week or so.
So far many of my initial impressions are the same as waitinggame's. I've come down with a bit of a cold, so I want to be sure I spend some quality time with the whistle when I don't feel terrible before giving my final words on it, though...keep an eye out!
Greg
So far many of my initial impressions are the same as waitinggame's. I've come down with a bit of a cold, so I want to be sure I spend some quality time with the whistle when I don't feel terrible before giving my final words on it, though...keep an eye out!
Greg
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OBrien
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copper whistles
I agree that the tuning slides on my bent whistles are short. That's a problem with the fittings I use. The slides on my straight whistles are over twice as long. I could make a bent whistle with a long tuning slide, but it wouldn't look very nice and it would be even heavier. I would solder the same type of slide I use on my straight whistles below the bent fitting at the bottom of the head joint.
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waitingame
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Re: copper whistles
Let me put the record straight. I do NOT see the short tuning slide as a problem as the whistle is so well in tune anyway. Additionally warming up doesn't seem to be an issue, for me at least.O'Brien wrote:I agree that the tuning slides on my bent whistles are short. That's a problem with the fittings I use. The slides on my straight whistles are over twice as long. I could make a bent whistle with a long tuning slide, but it wouldn't look very nice and it would be even heavier. I would solder the same type of slide I use on my straight whistles below the bent fitting at the bottom of the head joint.
This whistle is a great bargain and strangely reminds me of some of Serpent's offerings, not a bad thing at all.
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Cyfiawnder
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It's interesting to see somebody that uses the same curved-blade-windway-fipple plug design that I have been using for a while. Although I'm not up to selling any yet. There are a few misterious problems with this particular design. For instance this disign gives that breathy sound that I saw mentioned. You can't realy do anything about that. I personally like 'em a little breathy anyway. The other problem is the almost lack of a 3rd octave. At least on my whistles. You can hit, D,E,F#,G,A,B,Cnat,C#, d,e,f#,g,a,b,cnat (half holed),c#,d3,e3,f#3,g3... and that's about it...
This is what they sound like made of Aluminum:
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssni ... ustinP.MP3
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssni ... ustinP.mp3
And this is what Copper sounds like with a mapple fipple:
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssni ... anovec.mp3
No I could have sworn I posted "southwind" on my PVC Eb but it's isn't in the clips and snips... oh poop. Oh well.
This is what they sound like made of Aluminum:
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssni ... ustinP.MP3
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssni ... ustinP.mp3
And this is what Copper sounds like with a mapple fipple:
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssni ... anovec.mp3
No I could have sworn I posted "southwind" on my PVC Eb but it's isn't in the clips and snips... oh poop. Oh well.
Last edited by Cyfiawnder on Wed Jun 02, 2004 8:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Justinus say guiness in hand worth two in ice-box.
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waitingame
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Jetboy
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I have had some success with a curved blade on my own copper whistles (link at bottom of page)although I counter/curve mine the other way, similar to the Clarke design of blade. Couple this with a flat windway and I find that it mellows the tone a tad an removes some of the chiff and breathyness that can be apparent with a traditional flat windway/flat blade arrangement.
PS A couple of my whistles are doing the rounds at the moment on a pan-american tour. Results (good and bad!) should be on the Forum soon.
PS A couple of my whistles are doing the rounds at the moment on a pan-american tour. Results (good and bad!) should be on the Forum soon.
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NicoMoreno
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- Location: St. Louis, MO
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waitingame
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Now that I've had my "bent" O'Brien Bb for 3 weeks and got to know it a little better I feel more qualified to give my impressions of it.
The main selling point for this whistle is without a doubt the angled mouthpiece.
I can see that for some people the angle of the playing position could be an advantage but for me, personally it has more novelty value than practical use.
The whistle is still quiet but not as quiet as before i.e. I've unconciously adapted my technique to suit it.
The whistle is still a bit too breathy for my tastes. However, it appears to sound very different from the listening position. Almost everyone who has heard it is positive about the sound. There is a nice bit of chiff although my own personal preference is for a purer sound. The real plus is that it is great to use as a contrast to my normal prefered whistles - a mixture of Burkes, Goldie Overtons, Chieftains and a much loved Thin Weasel.
Of course, it is unfair to compare it to these as price-wise it is more on a par with Dixons.
The bell note errs on the side of weakness but not excessively so. The second octave is not shrill but does greatly benefit from a more aggresive, confident approach. The third octave is similar, if you must but as you'd expect ear-plugs are a real advantage.
The lucite (clear) fipple looks and feels good. The problem with the looseness caused by the short tuning slide has been resolved by the simple addition of a little beeswax a la Serpent. As I said before the tuning is spot on all the way through the useable range.
The workmanship is fine and the whistle looks really good. It could easily double-up as a bodhran beater or as something to beat a bodhran player with.
The O'Brien Angled Bb is an interesting addition to any whistle collection but is not in my opinion really suitable as a first whistle mainly because of the need to take firm control of it. At the price it is a real steal and the straight C O'Brien that I've had for about a week is even better value. I'll post more about the C in a few days.
The main selling point for this whistle is without a doubt the angled mouthpiece.
I can see that for some people the angle of the playing position could be an advantage but for me, personally it has more novelty value than practical use.
The whistle is still quiet but not as quiet as before i.e. I've unconciously adapted my technique to suit it.
The whistle is still a bit too breathy for my tastes. However, it appears to sound very different from the listening position. Almost everyone who has heard it is positive about the sound. There is a nice bit of chiff although my own personal preference is for a purer sound. The real plus is that it is great to use as a contrast to my normal prefered whistles - a mixture of Burkes, Goldie Overtons, Chieftains and a much loved Thin Weasel.
Of course, it is unfair to compare it to these as price-wise it is more on a par with Dixons.
The bell note errs on the side of weakness but not excessively so. The second octave is not shrill but does greatly benefit from a more aggresive, confident approach. The third octave is similar, if you must but as you'd expect ear-plugs are a real advantage.
The lucite (clear) fipple looks and feels good. The problem with the looseness caused by the short tuning slide has been resolved by the simple addition of a little beeswax a la Serpent. As I said before the tuning is spot on all the way through the useable range.
The workmanship is fine and the whistle looks really good. It could easily double-up as a bodhran beater or as something to beat a bodhran player with.
The O'Brien Angled Bb is an interesting addition to any whistle collection but is not in my opinion really suitable as a first whistle mainly because of the need to take firm control of it. At the price it is a real steal and the straight C O'Brien that I've had for about a week is even better value. I'll post more about the C in a few days.
I got one in the mail this week and was somewhat underwhelmed. It's a nice looking whistle and in tune, but the "chiff" (Dale's version of it--the raspy air sound, not the pop at the beginning of the note) is so loud that it competes with the notes being played. Not one of my favorite whistles at the moment.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which is least known--Montaigne
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light
--Plato
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light
--Plato