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!

I saw an online review of this whistle and decided to give it a try. The quality of the instrument and the sound quality is much better that you would expect for the cost. It is great for a beginner, and made of durable materials. I would highly recommend this as a starter whistle.

I absolutely love this little whistle. I bought it with the intention that this would be my "cheap beginner whistle," and when I got better I would buy a higher quality one. Of course I sounded awful on it at first - that's pretty common for beginners, and I wonder how many of the one-star reviews simply hadn't played a tin whistle before. As the weeks and months rolled on, my husband noted that my playing actually sounded like music. My tone improved, and this whistle was very reliable. There was some breathiness in the lower half of the upper octave, but since it wasn't happening consistently I am guessing it's due to my playing and not the whistle itself. I didn't really treat this whistle with respect though, because it was cheap and slightly flat and untuneable even by common tin whistle "hacks," so I knew I would be getting a new one. I'd even use this as a drum on the chair when I didn't know the songs during sessions, so it has all sorts of dents in it, though I never had the mouthpiece cracking issues others have mentioned. Then, I bought my "next step up:" a Dixon Trad D. Oh wow, do I appreciate the Clarke now!!! I don't understand the excitement about it from other reviewers. The mouthpiece clogs every couple of songs, the sound is unstable when I jump between octaves, and the E in the upper octave makes an awful grating sound. Perhaps these issues are partly due to my playing technique or getting used to the whistle, but I NEVER once had the Clarke clog on me in a year of playing several times a week. Sheesh, I used the Clarke as a drumstick and it still plays reliably, and the Dixon Trad sometimes won't let me get through a full reel without locking up even though I take good care of it. The tone of the Dixon is slightly more "mature" than the Clarke, but that's the only thing I like about it so far, and I'll take a slightly recorder-like sound over obnoxiously frequent clogging anyday. I'm thinking of doing that anyway, as being almost unnoticeably off-pitch is probably less bothersome to my fellow sessioners at this point than the grating and awful noises that come with clogging. In sum, this is an excellent little whistle and VERY forgiving of beginners and all sorts of mistreatment. It's not perfect but it's a solid whistle, especially for the price. Enjoy lots!

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.

Very nice Irish whistle. Well made and sounds great. My granddaughter loves it. Well run business and perfect order delivery. Than you.

I ordered this after falling in love with the true sound of the penny whistle. I saw the reviews and thought that it would be a great deal at the offered price. I am not a seasoned whistle player, but i have dabbled in various instruments through the years. I take well into account my lack of experience with the whistle when grading this. To me and others who have heard it as well, it is VERY similar to the plastic recorder my 9 year old daughter brought home a few weeks ago. I have listened to tons and tons of whistles and this just not have the same quality in the sound. Some of the notes (like D*) are just bad. It is very difficult to get them to play at all and it has a god awful squeak if you do not play it JUST so. The whistle itself is pretty to look at and came nicely packaged. From the outside it would make a nice show piece or gift. Unfortunately though it is cheaply rolled metal leaving a seam in the back that gets uncomfortable and annoying very quickly, and the sound is not there. I am not entirely disappointing in my purchase because it was an affordable way for me to get a quick feel for the tin whistle. However, I will be purchasing another brand soon that will hopefully be able to help me produce the sound I am so looking forward to. If I could go back I would probably skip this one and start elsewhere. I will hold on to this for my kids to putter with in the future. EDIT: I have spent a good deal of time practicing with this tin whistle while I waited for 3 others I ordered to arrive. I still would not give this above 3 stars, but it has grown on me. I bought 3 other whistles of comparable price. The Feadog FW01 for $12, Waltons Mellow D for $9, and Waltons little black whistle for $6 (obviously I did not expect much of this one). Of those, for my money, the Mellow D and Feadog are better. The little black whistle still has that 'recorder' type sound I wanted to get away from. The other two feel much better to hold both because of size and lack of seam. Where as the Clark is rolled sheet metal, the other are all a solid piece. The mouth piece on the other 3 are all shaped similar, but they are different than that of the Clark whistle. The sound quality I was looking for is more present in the others as well. As similar as the pricing is, I would recommend one of the others for better sound quality and better feel.

The tone of this instrument is absolutely perfect; whimsical and clear. While I agree that this is the ideal whistle for the beginner, I must emphatically state that in the hands of the more experienced, it will produce some very sweet music. There is something magical and mystical about this instrument and you can feel it the first time it touches your lips. I promise you that with a little effort, you will be able to melt many a heart. The whistle (which as has been pointed out is merely a Sweetone with a fancy paint job) is as stated in the key of D which makes it ideal for someone with smaller hands and shorter fingers such as I am stuck with. The Key of C whistles are a bit of a stretch for me, particularly when I require fast finger movement. Now it is quite helpful if you are able to read music, but I can assure you that many of my friends who cannot, find joy in playing this little thing; as much joy as I do. The cost here is quite little to pay for something that can bring so much pleasure. This packs well in my camping gear and the sound it produces in the mountains when the mist starts flowing is enough to bring a tear to your eye and raise the hackles on the back of your neck. Do yourself a favor and spring for the few bucks this is being offered for...I promise you that you will not be sorry. Hey, I can even get my sister crying with my rendition of some of the slower Celtic pieces I am able to produce and she is a pretty hard case by any standard. Recommend you add this one to your plunder.

Clarke Sweetone is an affordable, time-honored, tin whistle with pleasurable sound, in my estimation. I have 5 Sweetone whistles (keys D and C) played and enjoyed over a 25-year span -- all still play perfectly. I found the seller, Hall Crystal Flutes, responsive, reliable and proven to be dedicated to customer satisfaction.

リーコーダーやケーナと一味違う高めの芯の通った音と吹きやすさ！誰でも手軽に演奏できると思います。 「タイタニック」のテーマ曲で流れていた憂いのある響き！私はてっきり「ケーナ」かなと思っていましたが ティンホイッスルと知って驚きました。この楽器の存在を知りませんでした。コストパフォーマンスも良く手頃です。今、タイタニックで流れていたメロディーを練習中です。私はアマチュアのオーボエ愛好家ですが、楽器の扱いやすさは比較になりません。これ１本で余暇が豊かになると思います。

El envío muy rápido, al día siguiente la tenía en casa. Estaba tan ilusionada y me gustó tanto que estuve practicando durante horas según llegó. Es la primera vez que tocaba una flauta irlandesa pero los sonidos se sacan fácilmente si tienes paciencia. Ésta además tiene una relación calidad/precio muy buena, y un diseño muy bonito. Lo único negativo es que debe tener algún pequeño defecto de fabricación, porque tras estar horas, horas y horas practicando hasta la noche el primer día, a la mañana siguiente apareció partida por la mitad. Mi novio dice que puede ser algún problema con la aleación del metal...

I thought it would be louder. But I love playing with it.

Recomendo esta whistle para iniciantes pela qualidade da marca, valor e som suave, que exige pouca pressão de sopro. A feadog também é boa mas tem sonoridade mais alta e uma segunda oitava bem difícil e estridente. Além disso essa Celtic tem uma estética muito bela e embalagem caprichosa.

Pour l'apprentissage amateur/autodidacte s'est un Grand OUI pour moi ! :)