Chiff and Fipple Forums

corrcullen wrote:no i'm genuine, i'm not wasting anyones time..
just looking for some advice...gonna treat myself to one decent whistle in the next week or so...

this site was is actually very helpful for product range...
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/Expens.html

Other than the part about "confusion about the intersection of these three whistle lines: Overton, Chieftain, and Kerry" (which was actually clarified in July of 1998 [see http://web.archive.org/web/199909212257 ... amess.html) it is a very informative page indeed!

I think it will help you decide for sure.

Good luck

corrcullen wrote:no i'm genuine, i'm not wasting anyones time..
just looking for some advice...gonna treat myself to one decent whistle in the next week or so...

this site was is actually very helpful for product range...
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/Expens.html

I used to spend a lot of time drooling over the main C & F site, too.

Really, a lot of "best whistle" will be personal taste. And sometimes having different whistles for different moods is a good thing.

If you've never played a Low D, you may not know what you like and don't like in a whistle. I haven't had a chance to play all the whistles out there, either, but of the ones that I *have* tried I'd probably be looking most closely at Copeland, Overton, or NR Chieftain.

But that's just my taste - I like the sound of all of them, and prefer a whistle with solid backpressure.

I'd strongly urge you to get a decent, not too expensive Low D first and spend some time with it - that'll give you a solid baseline for comparison.

And for that "decent, not too expensive" whistle I'd recommend a Howard or Kerry Low D. Possibly a Dixon (a bit quiet for my taste, but easy to play). Possibly one of the new Serpent Brass/Poly low whistles (I haven't tried one, but I like my older brass Serpent Low F quite a bit.).

I would not recommend a Susato Low D, but - again - that's personal taste; for all I know, you might love them, and they're fairly inexpensive (hard for a beginner to play, though - very challenging reach and fingerhole size).

Helped any?

The best whistle I have played is the tunable Kerry Pro. To my wife ( my best critic) it sounds as pure as an Overton without the upper octave breath requirements (for me). Mine doesnt clog (people say I have lucky spit), it responds rapidly for playing reels or ornaments, and certainly has "appearance".

But as I have said before, and will say again, everyone needs to find the whistle that fits for them.

The best low D is a flute.

if i could buy any low D it would be a copeland....wait, i just bought one.

you will not be let down with a copeland....ive owned a kerrypro and an alba and played several others. i love my copeland whistle

I think Amar is right - Finbar Furey had Bernard Overton make the first low whistles for him. I remember him in Edinburgh in the '70s: I saw him play a low G (I think) in the pub, and I thought it was great, so I bought an Overton A which I still have - actually I bought 2 of them, though I can't remember why, and I still have both.

I have owned Shaw low D which I hated (it gave me cramp in my right hand - I gave it away), and I have both Burke and Alba low Ds, which I like equally well. My Grinter F is a favourite too.

I find the Overtons (and the family descended from them) too prone to clogging, and they have a bit too much back-pressure for me. but in the right hands they can sound fabulous.

Mr.Nate wrote:The best low D is a flute.

true!

Mr.Nate wrote:The best low D is a flute.

agreed.

I don't know if I have played more low D's than anyone on this board or not, but I have played a LOT of them. I also have a VERY critical critic in my wife. After having more than a dozen come through our home the two that have remained are my Goldie Overton and Mopani Bleazey. Others came close in sound and such, but something about these two just tripped our trigger.

The best whistles do not come from pakistain or India.

corrcullen wrote:Hi
Am considering buying a low D whistle...Just wondering what is the best one on the market regardless of price?

The best on the market is the Entropy Low D. Good thing cost is not a factor though, they sell for around $500,000.00 US. Just disregard the Dixon label.

Seriously, it depends on what you want. The ones that have the most vocal following (and detractors) around here are the Overton, the Chieftain/Kerry, and the Burke. I own a Dixon, and have become rather fond of it. But when I was researching low D makers, I was specifically looking for one that would accommodate a beginning player, not an experienced one. Everything I'ld read led me to believe that the Dixon was the best choice based on that criterion. It doesn't matter how well the whistle is made, if the person playing it can't use it to it's full potential. Then again, there's something to be said for buying a whistle that you can grow into. It just depends on what you want.

I have learnt through expensive experiment that what is 'sauce for the goose is not necessarily sauce for the gander' so to speak. I bought an Overton Low D as my very first whistle....I didn't know about C&F at the time so did not seek advice. I ended up getting rid of it and moved into high Ds and some Fs and Gs and gort on well with them. A few weeks ago I decided to go for another Low D. Just before the Kerry Low D songbird came out...I have the high D and love it so had I not bought sooner I couold have ended up with one of them. However, I bought the new Dixon aluminium Low D. The fact I can manage the fingering well enough to play reels etc will, in part at least , be down to more experience but since I got it I have never looked back...could be described as a little 'quiet' I prefer 'subtle' and I love the tone. £85 and well worth it..when I play a slow tune I can really get it to sing and it moves from octave to octave more by 'focus' than by heavy blowing...it may not be for the 'experts' but , for me it's the best thing since the proverbial 'sliced bread'. So do be careful...it's what will suit you that is important. Les.

Gee this thread is annoying. A newcomer asks a straightforward question and only about one in every five answers, at best, is helpful. Of course what is best is going to differ from person to person but we can and should report what we like, why we like it, what it has over other well-liked brands and also (honestly) what the consensus of opinion is amongst those who know whistles—ie those who have tried a large number and haven't lost credibility by raving about the same brand all the time.

First: the Lonesome Boatman. Finbar Furey used to play a Pakistani Bamboo whistle but met Bernard Overton at about the time it was falling apart—the whistle not the boatman. Bernard reinvented the low whistle and the rest is history. Do you have a date for the original recording of that track? It would either be the bamboo whistle or, as Amar suggested, an early Overton I would think.

Now for some suggestions. Copeland has a very flutey sound, is relatively easy to finger and has very little backpressure which means you'll get a note easily but run out of breath fairly quickly. It even has a bit of flute 'bark' about it when played well. Overtons are not just the originals but, for your dollar, still probably the best. The sound we mostly associate with low whistle is the Overton sound—rich in overtones, ethereal, good volume. They are also as consistently good as a whistle gets. The standard Overton has a lot of backpressure so a breath will carry you a long way but you will have to lean into it, especially on the higher notes. Colin Goldie can make you whistles that have less backpressure but there will be trade offs. Ring him if you want to go with an Overton.

Burke's get consistently good press. They are purer than most but if you want richer overtones than the purest Burkes, go for a composite. Others can tell you more about Burke low Ds; I have a very pure sounding AlPro low G with just a hint of chiff. Reyburns are also good. To my ears they are a bit like Copelands but without the complexity—the bark but not the growl. You can get them with offset holes which some people prefer for ease of fingering but which throw me off.

Grinters are great low whistles. The low F has the reputation—fully deserved—but I can't imagine the low Ds would be anything short of excellent. Being all wood, they require a bit more maintenance but they are truely beautifully balanced whistles with a lovely complex sound. I've heard them described as wooden Overtons. This isn't quite correct, they don't have as much backpressure and the sound is subtly different. Le Coants have fans who are knowledgable as do Bleazeys but I can't comment on them from personal experience.

Finally, if you want a cheapie that still sounds good, try a Howard. Susato highs are good; the lows are less so—mainly they are just a bit short on character. A Howard has something of the Overton sound but is a bit less focussed. It also has large holes which can be a bit daunting for a newbie.

The whistles I've mentioned are probably the low whistles that get more consistently good reviews from those who are not simply promoters of one brand than any others. If a person isn't doing a comparison—and I mean specifics, the pluses and minuses—they really aren't telling you anything other than 'I'm promoting this whistle.' Big deal.

I hope this has been a bit more helpful, along with the comments of Amar and Les and one or two others.

Wombat wrote:Gee this thread is annoying. A newcomer asks a straightforward question and only about one in every five answers, at best, is helpful. Of course what is best is going to differ from person to person but we can and should report what we like, why we like it, what it has over other well-liked brands and also (honestly) what the consensus of opinion is amongst those who know whistles—ie those who have tried a large number and haven't lost credibility by raving about the same brand all the time.

I'll plead guilty to being a bit flippant at first - I quite honestly thought it was one of the regulars having us on.

But give me a few points for attempting a serious answer once I got over my suspicion, especially since if you're not a one-maker-only fanatic this isn't an easy question. (And edges perilously close to being the perfect troll for this board).

Give the folks some credit - I suspect there would have been a lot less leg-pulling and more helpful responses if the question had been "What's a good Low Whistle to start with? Within reason, money's not an object."

DCrom wrote:

Wombat wrote:Gee this thread is annoying. A newcomer asks a straightforward question and only about one in every five answers, at best, is helpful. Of course what is best is going to differ from person to person but we can and should report what we like, why we like it, what it has over other well-liked brands and also (honestly) what the consensus of opinion is amongst those who know whistles—ie those who have tried a large number and haven't lost credibility by raving about the same brand all the time.

I'll plead guilty to being a bit flippant at first - I quite honestly thought it was one of the regulars having us on.

But give me a few points for attempting a serious answer once I got over my suspicion, especially since if you're not a one-maker-only fanatic this isn't an easy question. (And edges perilously close to being the perfect troll for this board).

Give the folks some credit - I suspect there would have been a lot less leg-pulling and more helpful responses if the question had been "What's a good Low Whistle to start with? Within reason, money's not an object."

I give you plenty of points. Your post was one of the genuinely helpful ones. I just lost track of who had made teh earlier helpful posts. If everyone had made comparisons as you did there would have been a lot of worthwhile stuff to go by after a page or two.

You could, of course, be right about the trolling. (That's a question I might have asked as a newbie, BTW.) If so then I'd be even angrier about the sorry state we've descended to. If we've got to the stage where we can't even discuss whistles in measured comparative terms, then I wonder what point this board serves. Naturally, the people who've been around the longest eventually get fed up with answering stock beginner's questions. But those who've been around for a year or two should be in a postion to pass on the knowledge. What annoys me is the loud lobby group actively trying to subvert it.