A while ago, I posted a photo on one of my fediverse accounts which got some attention. The photo showed the jar in which I keep my tin whistles – currently 12 whistles of various keys and makes. And then I said I would make a video to introduce all of them.
This video has now been recorded and since I didn’t want to talk too much but still give some additional information on the instruments, I decided to write a blog post.
The first tin whistle (also known as penny whistle or Irish [high] whistle) I ever bought was a brass one by Feadóg in the mid 1990s at Dublin airport. It came with an instruction booklet and song book and I still have that song book somewhere and I also still have the whistle. It’s in D major, the most common key for this kind of instrument.
While you can, in theory (and depending on your skill level), play a chromatic scale on the whistle, it is actually a diatonic instrument which means that you will need more than one whistle if you want to play in other keys than, for example, D.
Which is a wonderful reason to add more instruments to the jar 🙂
At the moment, I have five whistles in D. The already mentioned Feadóg.
Two Clarkes: one Clarke Sweetone with plastic head/mouthpiece and one Clarke „Original“ with a very warm and rather breathy sound. Both Clarkes have a conical bore which is different to the cylindrical bore of the other whistles in my collection.
Then there’s my tunable TWZ Folk tin whistle, a very fine instrument. A lot more expensive than the Clarkes or the Feadóg, but you also get a lot of sound for your money.
And I have a McNeela AerFlo which is rather easy to play and has a nice sound, too.
I have two whistles in C: one by Clarke and the other is an Oak whistle (you can get these at McNeela’s and at other music stores). Both a tad different in sound since the Clarke has the conical bore and the Oak is cylindric, and the Oak is also a bit more pervasive in volume, but not piercing at all.
Then I have several Generation whistles: one brass in G (my highest whistle), one nickel in F, one nickel in E flat and one in B flat – and with this one we leave the „high whistle“ family and go to the altos or mezzos. The B flat has a very pleasant sound but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to absolute beginners due to the length of the instrument and the position of the finger holes. If you’re already playing alto recorder, a B flat whistle will be a good start nonetheless.
Last one in the collection and also the latest addition is my alto in A major, a Mac Nic in brass. The sound is warm and it’s quite a versatile instrument.
I said to myself that I wouldn’t get any more whistles for the jar, but I think my low whistle in D might need more friends, and who knows, I might come across other whistles that I find interesting and want to add to the collection, so stay tuned – it’s not impossible that this blog post gets a sequel 😉