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Buying a low D whistle

Buying a low D whistle

I am sure there are links to this but I am not great at finding them. Does anyone know where I can get a good quality low D whistle, preferably in Belfast or the six counties, but will travel if I have to.

Thanks in advance

# Posted on July 3rd 2006 by Pól

Re: Buying a low D whistle

Cillian O'Briain the Cork (?) pipe-maker made my low D and it's the best tuneable lo-whistle I've ever played... You oughta be able to order'm online or from one of the city music-stores (I chanced to find mine in Dublin)...

Good luck!

# Posted on July 3rd 2006 by bestcraic

Re: Buying a low D whistle

Just a few thoughts. I bought - at great expense - a low D made by a local Australian maker. Terrible thing - the tuning over the register break was so bad (too large) that I never played it in a session. Sold it in a garage sale 4 years later for $5. Every so often I try out low D's wistfully, but have yet to find one that fully satisfies me in terms of performance and intonation. That said, I play low recorders, so my performance expectations are pretty high.

The best of the bunch that I tried out was a Clarke low-D. Beautiful tone in the low registers, reasonably well in tune, but I baulked in the end (gun-shy?) because the upper registers didn't play well. I'm a Clarke fan, but this seems typical of this brand - either the high notes play well at the cost of volume and fullness in the bass, or the bass plays well but the upper registers have to be so overblown they sound loud and horrible. For low D's, you can afford to buy and discard a few before getting a good balance. Not a luxury that you have with a low-D...

In the end I went out and bought a flute (which, ironically, I never learned to play).

Good luck. I'd be interested to know what you get in the end.

# Posted on July 3rd 2006 by dan

Re: Buying a low D whistle

I just got a Burke Tuneble Low D Whistle and I love it.Check his website.
http://www.burkewhistles.com/product.php?productid=16168

Good Luck.

# Posted on July 3rd 2006 by Bog_Trotter

Re: Buying a low D whistle

Hey, what do you think about the Susato Low Whistle??

# Posted on July 4th 2006 by Matt_Celta

Re: Buying a low D whistle

http://www.overton.de

leady you to the one and only Bernard Overton himself

# Posted on July 4th 2006 by swisspiper

Re: Buying a low D whistle

I tried a Susato low D a while back. Wasn't too impressed with it. Not sure exactly why, but I think that it required too much wind on the upper register. Or something. Of course - individual whistles may play quite differently: Someone else's Susato low D might be brilliant. And of course, everyone has a different way of playing so one whistle might suit one person and not another.

I like the idea of 'try before you buy', but a lot of people these days are (naturally) a bit cautious about letting someone slobber all over a whistle they might not buy.

# Posted on July 6th 2006 by dan

Re: Buying a low D whistle

Marcus Music in Belfast sell Chieftain low D's,also Matchetts in Belfast sell Susato and Howards,though I got my Kerry Songbird low D from www.kerrywhistles.com

# Posted on July 30th 2006 by banjo billy

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