Clarke Whistle, Green (CWD)

My first whistle was the Clarke Original, and I'm still a fan of its sweet and breathy sound. I really liked playing whistles, so I indulged and picked up a few different kinds. The Clarke Celtic (which is a Sweetone with a green paint job) has a really nicely shaped mouthpiece that feels more comfortable than others I've tried. It is less breathy sounding than the Clarke Original, but still has a chiffy/airy quality. The whistles I find myself playing the most are a Freeman D Bluebird and a Freeman Tweaked C Generation. They have a purer tone, compared to the Sweetone. I go back and forth as to what I prefer. The fun thing about whistles is they are pretty inexpensive to collect.A few tips for new players - if the whistle is squeaking it's you, not the whistle. Make sure you make a good seal with the pad of your fingers (not your finger tips). If a hole is partially uncovered, you'll squeak. Put some lotion on if your skin is dry, it will help. The holes on a D whistle are pretty small, so it's really not that hard to get the hang of. I didn't have any squeaking issues, even as a beginner, but I played woodwinds for years. It seems like squeaking is something many struggle with.Keep your grip light and relaxed. This whistle, like all conical bore Clarke whistles, has a seam in the tin at the back. If you find that seam bothersome, chances are your grip is entirely too hard. Whistles are very lightweight instruments and only need a light hold to be secure. If you find yourself unable to stand the seam, look into buying a Generation or Feadog whistle instead. Both of those brands make cylindrical bore whistles, with no seams.Don't be surprised or frustrated if you have difficulty hitting the lowest notes or the highest ones. Some people have trouble sounding the low D (all fingers down), but the more common problem is that the second octave sounds like a shrill horrible dog whistle, or not even reachable. Give it a good month or two of practice. I have been playing about 2.5 months and I'm just now getting comfortable with the high A/B. Which is not to say it always sounds great, getting a nice tone in the upper octave will take even more practice.If you are used to playing a woodwind, you might be surprised by how little air is needed to hit the notes in the lower register. If you are getting shrill notes or overtones, try backing off and blowing more gently. You'll need to push a bit harder to get the higher notes. Sometimes it's helpful to think of blowing "slowly" for low notes and "fast" for high notes.I highly recommend the Bill Och's Clarke Tin Whistle book for beginners, and once you are about halfway through that, you can start on Ireland's Best Tin Whistle Tunes by Claire McKenna. I find it worthwhile to pay the extra couple bucks for the CD version, especially if you don't have access to a teacher.The whistle is an instrument that you can learn pretty quickly and yet you can spend years mastering. It's great for kids and adults. If you're curious, just order it, it's pretty inexpensive and fun!

This whistle will be compared to Clarke original, Feadog pro, feadog standard, Generation, and Sondern whistles.First, the taper design (I believe) allows for a constant air pressure over the range of notes, 2nd octave requires more air, but it requires less air than straight pipe design. The straight pipe (untapered) whistles can be a little fussy and want you to blow more softly on the lower notes, tapered design...no need to adjust your breath.Metal whistle so it has a bright sound, softer than nickel or brass, I believe this is due to the paint, but what the paint also does is make a nice grippy surface so my fingers don't slide around as much as they do on a nice shiny nickel..my fingers stay in place on this whistle. But not quite as sharp and loud as other metal whistles, but not as soft as the Clarke original.Next advantage of the constant air pressure taper design is that blowing softer still allows you to hit the notes, but with lower volume (to some extent) So I'll practice on this whistle indoors in apartment after the wood piece on my other clarke original gets moisture saturated. This whistle does not have the problem with the piece of wood getting too wet to make noise since the head is one piece plastic.Plastic head...feels comfortable on the lips, Clarke original feels terrible on the lips, but this clarke celtic is very nice.'Tweeking' The head is manufactured so that the empty cavity in the headpiece is smooth, the transition from low to high octave is not screechy and when I tweeked my generation whistles, I probed around with a shishkabob skewer to get a feel for what the geometry is of the cavity in the headpiece. From what I could tell, it has a smooth, symmetric cavity which explains why the the shift in octave is also smooth. No need to tweek in my opinion.Overall great whistle. It doesn't have the soft woody sound that the original clarke has, but the headpiece has a much nicer feel than the clarke original. Doesn't have the really really bright sea-shanty pitch as a nickel or brass. But the taper design makes it nice to not have to adjust air pressure for different notes. All around great whistle.