Whistles
I am now making an Irish Whistle in the key of D. As with my Rudall flute model, I initially designed this whistle for myself. What I wanted in a whistle was something that felt a bit like a Sindt, with more volume, and better intonation on certain notes. I want to lean into the bell note, and have a clean break between octaves. I like a bit of that chiffy sound, but not too much. And I wanted the octaves to be balanced, the second octave not overly loud compared to the first, especially the high A and B. This whistle has been designed to achieve these goals.
I did some redesign work to make this whistle more production worthy, and this is the first of the new design. As such, I sent it out to a customer and friend before properly photographing it. It's seen here on a pub table with poor lighting. I hope to update these as soon as another whistle is ready. All my whistles will have a wood head and brass body. The combination of materials yields a bit of that traditional sound, like a Generation or Feadog, while the wood head helps to mellow out the second octave. The head uses delrin in the mouthpiece, which I find less conducive to moisture issues in the windway.
Though it doesn't show well in this photo, the wide band supporting the wood has an engraved design using the Rose Engine Machine. My friend Ken Cope owns this whistle, and here he is playing a couple of reels on it.
GARRET BARY _ LADY'S BONNET.wav
Unfortunately, I cannot devote a lot of time to whistle making. I have a waiting list for the whistles, and will make them as I have time, with flute production being the priority. There are days when I have a spare hour or so at the end of the day, and I will use that time to make whistles and parts for whistles. I cannot give a firm date for completion, but if you would like one, please get in touch to get on the waiting list. Price is currently $350.
Whistle_Crawford.movHere's Kevin Crawford playing a tune on one of my whistles, owned by my friend Peter Maguire up in Boston. This was posted to Facebook...