Details on Freeman-Tweaked whistles...

Jason Paul · Post by **Jason Paul** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 4:37 pm

With the recent threads of new players looking for a first whistle, I found myself recommending the Mellow Dog a few times. I have one and it's a very nice whistle.

But that got me wondering about Jerry's other whistles.

Can anyone comment on the playing characteristics, tonal quality, responsiveness etc. of Jerry's others? The Feadóg, the Generation, the Sweetone?

I know that Wanderer's got reviews on his site ( http://www.tinwhistler.com/index.aspx ), but I'm curious for other opinions, and those reviews are a couple of years old.

Thanks,
Jason

riverman · Post by **riverman** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 4:46 pm

I have one of Jerry's Generation Bb whistles, and it's very nice.

Enclose · Post by **Enclose** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 4:49 pm

I've ordered a tweaked Generation Bb. I'll post my opinion about it when it arrives. A beginner's opinion might I add :p

bud · Post by **bud** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 4:52 pm

I have a Sweetone. The tweak job is fine, but the conical body and small holes take a bit of getting used to. However, I am in the process of ordering from him a complete tweaked set of Generation Blues. Jerry can make a cheap whistle sound and play like a high-end one.

littlejohngael · Post by **littlejohngael** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:28 pm

I posted a thread back in August regarding Jerry's fine work. So as not to hijack this thread, my remarks are reprinted below:

littlejohngael wrote:Okay, I've never been in the position to afford a Freeman Tweaked whistle. And I'm not in that position now. However, due to a recent trade, I acquired a couple.

Hats off to Jerry. He's succeeded in knocking out the touchy breathiness and the reedy/buzzy tone in the Gens. I can use more breath (backpressure, I guess?) and be more aggressive on them. I am really, really pleased.

Do I think they're worth what they're selling for? I do now. Definitely.

Bravo, Jerry!!

I failed to mention in that post that I had acquired a Generation D and a Generation Bb, both in brass w/the red fipple. What absolutely wonderful whistles. I also recall that crookedtune concurred with my assessment, but then went on to rave about Jerry's Mellow Dog.

I find the Gens I have from Jerry to be very responsive, and the thin/reedy tone has a little more beef to it. Also, the backpressure seems to be more even across the two octaves, and by that I mean that it doesn't flip up into the next register if I accidentally blow too hard. That's a bonus for me.

Anyway, I hope all that adds something useful to the discussion.

Best,

LJ

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:49 pm

I have a Freeman Feadog. I only play it when I'm not playing trad, though. The sound is nice, but it's lost the flexibility of the untweaked Feadog. Which is probably what Mr. Freeman was going for, but not as much to my liking.

boatgirl · Post by **boatgirl** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:22 pm

okay, finally got my whistles! I can now give my 2 cents on Freeman's tweaked whistles. They are awesome. I have Generation nickel plated Eb, C, D and Bb as well as the brass mellowdog D and c. They are tweaked wonderfully, very responsive. The Bb is a bit breathy but as it is my lowest whistle I've owned yet, it could be down to my technique entirely. These sound like the whistles I've always tried to emulate from recordings. Every bit as good as an expensive whistle IMHO. The cost for 6 whistles was a little more than one very expensive whistle. The Eb isn't even shrill as I thought it would be and I think it is because through tweaking them he's taken the edge off if ya know what I mean. Still great chiff in there though - if I understand the definition of chiff correctly. I mean it still has a great sound when ornamented. Irishy!

Mitch · Post by **Mitch** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:32 pm

I have nothing for respect for Jerry's whistles.

I have had the oportunity to see the lot - from a few different batches. To start with, I thought they were a bit breathy, but that was before I got to try a few Abells and hear how they perform - without exception superlative whistles, but with a distinctly breathy quality. Then the realisation set-in: the breathyness of a whistle has a major contribution to the harmonic range and expression at the disposal of the player. Consider neys and kavals - these are extremely breathy, but the performance options available to the player are also extreme - Phil Hardy published a magic webcast of some kaval performances - well worth the listen! The open reed is one of our most ancient woodwinds, the best performances of it can be found in the middle-east where the reeds come from (Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Iraq etc - they have had millenia to develop the art).

So long as it is in accord with the performance, the noise component of the sound quickly becomes subliminated by the listener - and when in ensemble, the noise component is lost (consider the role of reverb - essentially noise with a spacial key). Also consider that audible breath-sounds have a part in the expressive communication of voice - I once did a mixdown of a vocal performance in which I removed all the in-breath noises - the result was that those listening started getting out-of-breath and complained - I had to put the in-breaths back in. We resonate with a performance - it's what an audience does.

Another audio-spacial thing I experimented with, was the role of the high string note - It can be very soft and distant, but applies a body to the resulting composite sound that is equally as filling as a noisy instrument or reverb, as evident in prior recordings (this is the heart and soul of the 80's/90's pop music sound as producers came to grips with noiseless sound technology - after which, they started demanding meaningful high-frequency overtones - erm ... limited by the 41khz imposed by the CD sample-frequency debacle imposed by the standards committee at the time - well, it turned out to be a good commercial decision, hi-fi, unfortunately, got massacred and we are now happy to get our lichen in a 1 and 1/2 inch square on our mobiles

needs verses expectation is the way that our money gets siphoned from our pockets - look to your expectations people! Needs beats economy in the long-run - if you are stopping a gap, it could be a gap in your life, and many go from day to day with a gap filled with lichen that is mostly fuelled by their own imaginations [choose who you work-for]).

Dolby, for instance is a compressional noise-limiting technology that was originally developed to stop physical vinyl sound-tracks from breaking-through to the next loop - solved a technology conundrum and increased the amount of program that could be captured on the medium. Good economics - Necessity becomes virtue. Should we observe the virtues of the past? The Hierophant would have us believe his well-worn keys are ours (he has his own family to feed). Needs verses expectations.

It is the same with Jerry's approach to tweaking. He finds the expressive median in a whistle. A timeless need in my book.

Many times I have watched the result of putting a mellow-dog into the hands of exerienced players. The comfort and surprise are always there - usually by the end of part-A of the jig or reel they are using for the test: the tune stops and the player looks at the whistle then starts again with more gusto. Always the same. (Then the whistle goes under the arm - "mine!"). These players often move-on to other boutique whistles, but I see the Mellow-Dogs come out at sessions time and again - everyone settles on their favourite, it could be a Gen, a high-ender or something else - this evolves and is as individual as the player.

I am a big advocate of "try before you buy", but this is not always an option. Instead I am left with, largely, subjective language to assist players as best I can. Everyone here is at a different stage in thir musical journey - I support that, I also recognise the role of different whistles as they support the players. At least with whistles, you are investing in a fraction of what other instrumentalists are forced to expend - often with more imediate results. Imagine saving-up for your next Steinway!!! Vive la Whistle!!!!

All I can say is that Jerry's whistles are very consistent - he is always true to his objective. This is not always the objective of many players, but, hopefully, this review will help with the decisions of some.

[/rave - sorry for the lecture - everything is subject to change, but I like Jerry's work - it's a function of the man - he cares more than can be seen]

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:16 am

I have played Jerry's tweaked Gen D, a tweaked Gen Bb and the C/D Mellow-Dog set. The latter really impressed me, and I still feel this is the best value in mid-priced whistles right now. EBay's got 'em. Go get a set!

That said, I sure do love a Hoover whistle!! So many good choices.....!

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:30 pm

I've posted this comment before, but I'm useless at searching past threads...
I sent Jerry a Gen d I bought in 1976 and asked him to replicate the sound with a tweaked one and eliminate the weaknesses of the original. These were a weak low end and a raspiness in the upper octave (my opinion of weaknesses, anyway). That's exactly what I got, an original sounding whistle with a stronger low octave and smooth upper one.

I always used the old Chieftains recordings as the epitome of what a whistle is supposed to sound like (that was my first impression and it stuck). Therefore, I have a perfect whistle. People have commented at sessions on the attractive tone of it.

the breathyness of a whistle has a major contribution to the harmonic range and expression at the disposal of the player.

I totally agree with this opinion and of course, there is some breathiness to my tweaked Gen. And, of course, no one can hear any breathiness in ensemble playing or any noise in the room. I think even a little distance from the whistle obliterates it for the listener. (Do you notice everyone's breathing sounds in a room?)

I'm waiting on the delivery of a tweaked feadog from Jerry. Why? Because it's there. What can I say?
Tony

Ctrl Alt Del · Post by **Ctrl Alt Del** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 3:01 pm

I'm waiting for a Mellow Dog C/D set in the post. Before this thread I was having trouble waiting for them to arrive. Now I'll be pacing up and down looking for the postman. I've never had a Jerry tweaked whistle before so I can't wait to play it.

bud · Post by **bud** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:55 pm

My set of tweaked blue Generations arrived, I've given sthem a week's worth of use, and I love them. As you might expect, the Bb has a very different feel and air requirement than the high G, but use makes them all comfortable.

So I can vouch for Jerry's work on Generations and the Sweetone D. I have not been able thus far to compare them with another tweaker's product.

Thomaston · Post by **Thomaston** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:12 pm

Ctrl Alt Del wrote:I'm waiting for a Mellow Dog C/D set in the post. Before this thread I was having trouble waiting for them to arrive. Now I'll be pacing up and down looking for the postman. I've never had a Jerry tweaked whistle before so I can't wait to play it.

I've been waiting on the C/D set from Doc since the 12th. The waiting is killing me!

bud · Post by **bud** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:09 am

On the subject of tweaking, I have noticed that every tweaked whistle I have has had the open space below the windway filled in. I filled in the space of a kind of rough-sounding Feadog with poster putty as an experiment, and the improvement was remarkable.

So this causes me to wonder: if a filled-in cavern improves the sound of a whistle, why is it even there in the first place?

bud · Post by **bud** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:09 am

On the subject of tweaking, I have noticed that every tweaked whistle I have has had the open space below the windway filled in. I filled in the space of a kind of rough-sounding Feadog with poster putty as an experiment, and the improvement was remarkable.

So this causes me to wonder: if a filled-in cavern improves the sound of a whistle, why is it even there in the first place?