Clarke WHISTLE, black (SBDC)

I taught myself to play recorder at an early age (12) and played in group with adults playing good recorders (theirs were of wood, mine was plastic). I also now play the Boehm flute (silver flute). I also bought from Amazon another brand of tin whistle.The Clarke Original (painted black) is the real deal. I had trouble adjusting to the cedar block in my mouth. Recorder wood is finished and leaves no taste. The unfinished cedar has a strange taste, but I'm used to it now. I do not consider it a deal breaker.The instrument is conical - wide at the top (where the block is) and narrower at the bottom. This is similar to the bore of recorder & unlike the Boehm flute which is cylindrical. I believe baroque fultes also had a conical bore. There is a seam at the back of the Clarke. Cylindrical whistles have a seamless ture. I recall reading that the Boehm flute "caught on" in France & the rest of Europe didn't much care for it. Some of the early French makers used a seamed tube for their early product line because it was cheaper that a seamless tube. I think the reason it is a feature of the Clarke design is that it is easer and cheaper to create a folded and seamed cone than one that has no seam. Again, I do not find this to be a deal breaker. I adjust.The tin whistle is classed as a duct flute. The block is used to create a narrow windway tdirected at the lip which will vibrate in the stream of air the player controls. As with wind instruments generally, the player is the most important element in tone production. I had to learn to reduce the wind stream. I try to control it so I get a pure tone. The tone is the result of the air volume within the flute itself. There is a magic moment when you are playing and the sweet and pure sound of the note comes through. I had to learn not to push the note. The upper octave dpends on a stronger pressue of air than the first octave. I still cannot get the full effect I want above high g. I need to practice more.But I can do so much more with the Boehm flute so much more easily that I find myself drifting in that direction rather than working of the more delicate sound of the Irish tin whistle. Also, from my long history (over 70 years) of recorder playing, I find it easy just to play one of my plastic Alto or Soprano recorders.However, tin whistle is fascinating in its own right. I found out about tin whistle jive, a 1950's influence on African music. Even Harry Belafonte has a song about it that used tin whistle - Kwela. Amazon music has it & so does YouTube. YouTube has a great video of tin whistle players on a street in South Africa. It changed my image of tin whistle music forever.

Got this for my 12 year old. Sounded good at first and then it would not hardly play. Went online and found a common modification to the mouthpiece which got it sounding better. We also bought a Clarke Sweetone, which worked well out of the box, but I like the tone of the Clarke Original better after the modification. That said, the Sweetone is probably better for a beginner who doesn't want to make any mofications.

This whistle is a bit different from most. It's not cut from a cylindrical tube, it's a conical deign. It has to have that little ridge because of this, it's barely noticeable and it actually gives a better positioning grip when playing. I love this. The sound is impressive. It's just a tad bit warmer than most tin whistles I have. I don't know if that's a by-product of the conical design, or the wooden fipple insert, or both, but it's clearly a remarkable whistle.The tin whistle is such a fun instrument because you can collect quite a few of them while it still being inexpensive to do so. This one was a bit more than some cheaper ones (which most still sound & play well) and it truly sounds good enough to record with. Clear in both registers. When you think of all the great whistle melodies from prolific artists of classic folk songs, this Clarke sounds like the real thing.I would imagine most experienced players would have at least one of these Clarke's in their arsenal. If you're reading reviews to decide; this is clearly not a toy, I doubt anyone that can play these would be disappointed in any way by this quality instrument for such an affordable price.~JSV

I had one of these for along time and then left it on the porch of a friend in Okoboji Iowa (you know who you are) the night before leaving for Alaska. I always wanted another one. I tried another brand with a plastic fipple but it sounded so... tooty.. in a plasticy, tooty way. The Clarke has a beautiful antique-like appearance and a sound. The wooden fipple gets even better the more you soak it in your saliva. Beautiful little instrument. I highly recommend it as anyone's first little whistle! Get a key of D version for the traditional sound.

The very first surprise was the smell of the cedar wooden block in the mouthpiece.The second was the sound and the ease to reach the next octave.I love this whistle, it is well worth the price.As for the seam that many complain about, it’s really not that bad at all.

Arrived before I expected it to.It does have a very breathy sound, more so than I thought it would have. I haven't quite gotten used to the "overblowing" part of playing it, as I usually play the recorder, but the high notes that I manage to get still sound good.When I first played it, I could really taste the wood block. I'm sure it will fade as I play more though.Overall, a good whistle. Looking forward to my Clarke Original C Pennywhistle. Hope it arrives soon.

The Clarke is the original and best tin whistle. I bought 3, from different vendors because I wanted different colors (no confusing who’s is who’s). One was tin color, one black, and one blue and gold for Ukraine. This one was poorly packaged (envelope and bubble wrap) and the box was crunched. The whistle seems to play ok, though I was concerned about the mouthpiece when I saw the box.

The wooden bit on the tip makes all the difference for penny whistles. The sound is nicer and the technique is smoother than the plastic tips. I got a few so I could play some music with my kids. We've had a lot of fun with them.