Actually, I don't have the answer, but do me a favor and read on anyway.
Piture by chattiekathy
So that is what it looks like, in high D. I don't know why it's called Q1, and there may be no reason for the name apart from the fact that a new name was needed for it. But I do know where Stacey O'Gorman got the new design for her Q1 whistle. It was during a walk over her native Scottish heath...
A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron.
Thunder. Enter the three Witches
First Witch
Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
Second Witch
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
Third Witch
Harpier cries 'Tis time, 'tis time
Whistle secrets be told to no man
Except for Stacey O'Gorman.
First Witch
Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.
ALL
Test it once, twice and triple;
Here is how to build your fipple.
Second Witch
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
We would like to interrupt this review for an important service message from your Chiff & Fipple Ethics Advisory Board:
Please be assured that this review was prepared in close collaboration with the Humane Society and the Greater Omaha Transit Authority, and that no animals were actually harmed in the writing and production of this review. Thank you.
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL
Whistle design, toil and fun;
Try this and call it your Q1...
I will spare you the further details. But the truth of the matter is that there must be witchcraft in the Q1. Just like a bumble bee shouldn't fly at all, so the Q1 shouldn't play at all. The blade, the little blue thing visible through the windway, that breaks the air to create the sound waves, isn't sharp, it doesn't have an edge. To see what I mean, pick up a whistle and look at the blade: it's sharp, either it is the edge of a long blade or ramp, like on a Oak or Feadog or Sindt, or it is steep and sharp, like on an Overton. But it is always sharp, an edge. Not so on the Q1. The blade is square, or I should say flat and thick. What should be a razor's edge according to all whistle physics, is dull to the point of being a milimeter thick. So how does it work, why does it play? I can't tell you, because those three witches certainly didn't tell me anything (they did ask me to stay for supper, but I politely declined).
Oh, but how that thick, flat blade plays. The tone is rich and mellow. Not pure, not thin, not waify. It is earthy, complex and a bit held back. It has a subtlety that makes you lean forward to listen a bit closer. It is not a cheapo sound, although it shares the complexity and breathiness of some cheapos (like tweaked Generations). It is a bit husky, like the Grinter high D Tyghress let me play once. I think the sound of the Q1 is closest to an Overton, but it is quieter and a little grittier: not so cosmic, if you know what I mean.
Playing the whistle up and down I notice that the bottom end is on the quiet side. Not to the point where it would be a problem, or where I'd find myself trying to blow harder or straighter to bring out the D and the E. The Q1 is just not one of your bottom boomers (a.k.a. honkers).
On the other end of the spectrum, playing up: The second octave is lovely. Clear and well-balanced with the first octave. Above the high g, the Q1 takes more air and a bit more breath control. The high a and the high b in particular change in tonal colors. Some of the richness of the tone is lost and the notes become slightly purer and stronger in tone. Still wonderful and playable. And maybe it is just a matter of Bloomfield and the Q1 getting to know each other: You do want to exercise a bit of breath control up there (and I, alas, have no control at all, breath or self, when I see a sleek little whistle like the Q1).
On the matter of the top notes: The Q1 will not forgive a covered sixth hole. That is to say, you cannot finger the high b xoooox, leaving your ringfinger down to steady your whistle. This strikes me as a typical characteristic of wide-bore whistles. The Q1 shares it with the Overton High D and Susatos SB D. I've gotten used to it, even though I like to leave my ringfinger down on the cheapos. It did take me a while to figure out that I was leaving my ringfinger down, and there I was, scratching my head at the instability of the high b. (Yes, it was Bloomfield, not the whistle.)
Overall, the Q1 plays like a charmer. Very quick and pleasant, great for fast or slow stuff. It loves to be pushed a bit, and will give you satisfying plops on fast triplets. The octave transitions work well and require about as much breath control as other high-end whistles, that is to say, more than, for example, Waltons or Feadogs. Since I don't play like a charmer, you'll have to take my word for how well the Q1 plays. (Maybe I'll record a clip next time I am drunk enough.)
Unlike any other Alba I've played, and there have been a few by now, the Q1 offers a nice amount of backpressure. Meaning, you have to push the air through the whistle a bit; if you simply put the whistle to your lips and exhale you'll get no sound. (No sound worth hearing, anyway.) I love a bit of backpressure because I fancy it gives me more things to do with the sound and the tone of the whistle, power of expression. But clearly it's a matter of preference. The Q1 doesn't have so much backpressure that it would turn anyone off, in any event.
In another departure from the typical Alba whistle, the Q1 is not loud. Comparable to a Sindt, or perhaps even a bit quieter. The Sindt and the Q1 are hard to compare, because the tone is so different. Like a Generation or a Walton, but again hard to compare because the Q1 does not have the sharp, penetrating tone of many cheapos. Certainly not Susato or Overton loud (note, though, that Colin Goldie will make you pretty quiet Overton on request).
The windway of the Q1 is curved, so that clogging isn't a problem. The holes are not chamfered on the inside and are just gently smoothed on the outside. It is there that you can tell that the whistle is made by hand. The other personal touch is the resin fipple plug: Stacey pours those herself and they are different on each Q1, I understand.
I guess that brings me round to looks. As you can expect from a whistle that took three witches and several endangered species to design, the Q1 looks stunning. It has been called "sexy" and I would agree with that. In fact, whoever called the Alba Q1 sexy obviously was an unusally perceptive and brill... but enough of that. The sleekness of the Q1's lines, the seemless transition from body to head, the windway, and the blue mysterious blade... It's a whistle that is not only a delight to play. Truth be told, I am getting my mauve faux-velvet leisure suit out of the basement for the session on Friday night: That and the Q1 in my hand, and Bloomfield will be kicking up some dust (nudge nudge, wink wink).
The Q1 is a fast player, wonderfully responsive, and fun to play. Hard to put down, in fact.
Finally, a word of advice from one who has been to the caudron. If you are thinking about getting a Q1, get it straight from Stacey O'Gorman at www.albawhistles.com (don't be put off by the fact that the Q1 is not listed on the webpage, just drop Stacey a line). And get it soon: Prices will go up in 2004.
To get the real scoop, catch chattiekathy's Q1 review here.
This brinded cat hath mew'd.
an a I left ma webcam on again 
Stacey has the most bodacious fipples! & Message board
Great review, Bloomfield!
