Purchasing an Irish Whistle

When Kathleen and I were young, penny whistles (or fipple flutes) were made of surprising quality almost across the board. If by good fortune you have run across an antique Generation, Feadóg, Walton, or Clarke whistle, you likely have a beautiful piece that can carry smoothly between the octaves and has the classic tone we all fell in love with.

As times and production have changed, modern whistles from even the same companies may have inconsistencies affecting tone and pressure requirements that can make learning and mastering the whistle a challenge, particularly in their introductory affordable lines.

However, the Clarke Sweetone and Feadóg Pro have both managed to find a way to reach near the introductory price of their own base lines, while improving quality to a much more playable first instrument. While neither can be tuned without tweaking (a near necessity for playing in groups), both offer a reasonable cost below $20 while maintaining ease of play and relative intonation (how reliably the whistle stays in tune to itself as you pass through the notes). If budget is tight, or you are unsure if this is something you want to dedicate more than an introductory cost to, both of these whistles are a great starting point, with room to refine as you learn more about the instrument. As I have more personal experience tweaking the Feadóg model, these will be provided at cost during introductory level classes to allow a more easy learning period, and a great functional long term whistle if desired.

To make a jump to a professional quality instrument, I would recommend experimenting with the whistles in our collection first to determine the balance, fipple style (the mouth piece), and materials you like best in a whistle as these can affect tone, ease of breath control, moisture collection, and maintenance.

The Irish Flute is designed quite similarly to the classic Irish Whistle, with finger spacing near (and sometimes exactly) identical to the Low D Whistle. Most of the best of this instrument cost quite a pretty penny and are handmade from seasoned wood. However, the Dixon brand has come through with a polypenco option, which allows an interchangeable head to convert between fipple and classic flute style mouthpieces at one of the best prices I've found for an introductory (and playable) option. This is available as an in-lesson loaner or rental item. Again, a variety of professional options can be examined once the instrument and its nuances are better understood, but I will always encourage musicians to experiment first and only invest heavily once they know precisely what speaks to them about particular makers.