At first glance I was reminded of two whistles I have played and owned - a Mack Hoover Narrow Bore Brass and Erle Bartlett's Black Diamond. It has the slender profile of a Hoover and the Delrin on brass look of the Black Diamond. But looking at a whistle is a far cry from playing one, and though this whistle has some of what I appreciate from both the Hoover and Bartlett whistles - it has a groovy niche of it's own just like the others.
So here's my quick impressions, quick pics, and a quick sound clip:
If you look at the pic of the fipple you can tell the windway is tighter than other standard O'Briens and tighter then a standard Generation. With average breath requirement and a touch of backpressure, it's a comfortable player.
It's tunable. As for being "in tune" it's good at intuitive breath pressure through both octaves. Maybe a couple cents off on a couple notes but not enough to be a problem, and easily played into tune with a minor breath adjustment. C Natural plays right on with 0XX000. It's as good as, or better, than any I've played in it's price range.
It's well balanced and has a comfortable weight. Look at the pic of the underside of the fipple and you can see the thick wall of the whistle - which seems to improve bothe the feel and the voice. Tone hole spacing and finish is good. It feels quite comfortable and is an easy player.
The voice is quite nice as well. I thought it may have a low volume like a Hoover, but that's not the case. The volume is a touch above average but not loud. I thought it may have the growl of a Gen or a Black Diamond, but that also is not the case. It's got a little touch of the O'Brien husky/trad sound and a purified Gen tone - surprisingly open for such a narrow bore.
I'm going to classify this (in my mind) as a Generation style whistle. That's a metal bore on a plastic/Delrin head with trad sound in the voice. I'll rank it in my favorites from the stye.
Freeman tweaked = Generation Style Tamed
O'Brien Narrow Bore Brass = Generation + purity in the voice + very nice overall playability
Reyburn = Generation Style Perfected
If this whistle wasn't given away, I'd love to keep it. Now if only I could twist David's arm into making this whistle with similar voice and playability in a Low A and Low G....... sweet!
The Pics:
About the sound clip. I played the whistle about 5 minutes before I recorded - a couple scales and a couple tunes to get a feel for it. Then I recorded a bit of Spanish Lady - in the wrong key, but the tune swings pretty good in D on this whistle. I'm not a great whistle player by any means, which is why I post my clips. Someone who noodles around on a whistle for relaxation and fun (like me) can see what they might sound like. With only 5 minutes of acclimatization, you can see this is a very easy playing whistle.
http://www.beancurdturtle.com/Whistle/O ... rass-D.mp3
Here's the O'Brien website:
http://www.obrienwhistles.com/OBPWbrass.html
Sound clip from the O'Brien website:
http://www.obrienwhistles.com/NAR.mp3
Do you have one? What are your thoughts? Comments are welcome!
edit: Better Pics