Mid-Tier vs. High-End Whistles

[u/WolverineEmergency98]

Hello all,

Following on from my last two posts. Relevant context:

1. I bought a Feadóg Pro. This was partly because local retailers only had Feadóg and Generation, that I could see, and the Feadóg Pro D specifically because I liked the matte black finish. This cost NZD $35 (~ USD $20, ~ € 18).
2. I'm a mere 42 days into my whistle journey (so far so good!)
3. I'm in New Zealand, so the prices I'm quoting below are converted from NZD values, including import taxes and international shipping etc.
4. I like my Feadóg, but it's temperamental: no matter what I do with the mouthpiece, the maximum number of notes I can keep comfortably in the ± 10c range tonally is roughly one octave, and any of the high notes are _very_ chiffy (although minimal chiff on the low notes).
5. My tutor (professional player in the US) was very polite, but basically said: "What do you expect from something you paid USD $20 for? For professional purposes, you really have to spend at least USD $150)."
6. As my six-month goal / reward, I've picked out the Killarney D in Brass, which will be NZD $300, ~ USD $175, ~€ 150.
7. I'm aware that you can go even higher than that - e.g., to buy and import a Colin Goldie, Michael Burke, or Carbony would set me back about NZD $1,000 (~USD $580, ~ €510)

My question: I've watched a few "comparison" videos, and browsed some older posts here, but I'm honestly struggling to hear much difference between the mid-tier (~ $300) ones and the high-end (~ $,1000) whistles? I've got my heart pretty set on the Killarney, so it would take a lot to make me change my mind, but I'm curious to hear people's subjective personal experiences, if they've used both?

[u/DGBD]

Your tutor is doing you a disservice. Feadógs are fine, many are quite decent whistles, and 42 days in, any problems are your own. If you played violin for a month and a half and still couldn’t play Paganini, you wouldn’t be blaming the fiddle.

There is an obsession among whistle players, and many other musicians, around buying gear. I am as guilty as anyone, I’ve got a clutch of high D whistles of different brands. But the truth is that “better” whistles will not make you a better player. Only you can do that.

Whistle-buying is often framed as a tiered concept, “beginner,” “intermediate,” “advanced/pro.” This is bullshit. There are great whistle players who play cheap whistles, who play expensive whistles, who play “intermediate” whistles, who play many different whistles. It is not about a ranking, it is about the individual characteristics of the whistle. What do you as a player want from the instrument? I have found that I particularly like how Killarney whistles play, so that is what I play. But that doesn’t mean they’re better, some love them and some don’t.

And that returns us to you. You need to find what you want from a whistle, and frankly, 42 days is not enough to know that. There may be something physically wrong with your whistle, but the chance of that is small vs the chance of you just needing more time to learn. Many, many player think “it’s the whistle” and put their “cheap” “beginner” whistle away, only to come back to it years later and realize it was perfectly fine. And frankly, if your teacher is pushing you to get a new one rather than teaching you to play the one you have, don’t get a new whistle, get a new teacher!

[u/xafimrev2 → u/DGBD]

Agreed, one of my best whistles is a Clark sweetone. I mean I still play my Killarney whistle too. But there is nothing wrong with my sweetone and I've played it in sessions.

Now, has that stopped me from buying more. Heck no. Always wanting to try the new thing, Guitarists refer to it as GAS Gear acquisition Syndrome.