Bracker Whistle Tour 2013

[hans]

Briant, it should be fine to join the tour. Just read my first post on this thread.

Currently the whistles are still in California, I think, although I have not heard confirmation of the latest stop arrival. So I hope everything is fine there.

Any other Californians out there who'd like to try these Bracker whistles, before the tour swings in a different direction?

Sorry there has been a large gap in feedbacks posted, one might think the tour has ended, but I hope it has not.

~Hans

[ytliek]

Sorry there has been a large gap in feedbacks posted, one might think the tour has ended, but I hope it has not.

Speaking of gaps... how long is your waitlist?

[maki]

I think a couple of whistlers owe us some reviews.
Its part of the commitment we make with the maker.
Gentlemen???????

[O'Briant]

So who has the whistles at this point?

[hans]

So who has the whistles at this point?

Well, I know who should have received them, but I don't know if this is the case. I am inquiring.

Speaking of gaps... how long is your waitlist?

It depends on the size of your order For a single whistle it is about a month at present. Of course that can change instantly.

[ytliek]

So who has the whistles at this point?

Well, I know who should have received them, but I don't know if this is the case. I am inquiring.

Speaking of gaps... how long is your waitlist?

It depends on the size of your order For a single whistle it is about a month at present. Of course that can change instantly.

Hmmm...

[hans]

So who has the whistles at this point?

Well, I know who should have received them, but I don't know if this is the case. I am inquiring.

Speaking of gaps... how long is your waitlist?

It depends on the size of your order For a single whistle it is about a month at present. Of course that can change instantly.

Hmmm...

Not sure what your thoughts are, care to elaborate?

Still no news about the whereabouts of the tour whistles. I am starting to get worried.

[ytliek]

I'm just wondering what's taking the whistle tour peoples so long to post reviews and respond to possession of whistles. Just seems to be a timely gap.

At this point I don't think I need anymore reviews to decide whether to order a whistle.

[hans]

I am relieved the whistle tour is still on track. I just got feedback from the latest tour participant, and his permission to quote him here.

Stephen Cull wrote to me:
"Yes the whistles arrived just fine. There's a very pleasing aesthetic to your work that I really enjoy (the head joint is particularly attractive with its swooping curves), and its been fun to spend a week playing around with such lovely kit. I like the lightness of both instruments and the smooth tuning slides are very nice; the tone holes are well finished, and both pieces play very well with quite minimal effort. Very smooth and comfortable upper register in both high and low model, with nice balance and volume. The high D is the gentlest little beast I've played thus far. Holes are in the right place, the bit at the top is correct, and when you play it, it plays, very easily in this case. Its more like thinking than playing. The tone is pleasing and unique as well, with an interesting reedy character. Very nicely done. My only salient complaints are a tendency in both models to choke a bit on transitions to or from E in either register, and the holes on the low D are a bit far apart for my hands to handle without practice, but with regular playing I doubt either problem would continue to be an issue. Kudos all around. If I order a low D I will have you reduce the air requirement a bit and and increase the resistance. With that tweak I think the whistle would be pretty close to perfect. I'll be sending the whistles off tomorrow, and thanks for doing the tour. Its been a pleasure."

[Tunborough]

Whew. That's good news for a Monday morning. I was getting worried.

[Mr.Nate]

The Bracker whistle tour is now in Colorado. Thanks to Hans for sending out these fine instruments and to Stephen Cull for posting them to me!

I am looking forward to playing them! I'll post my comments later.

Cheers!

Nate

[O'Briant]

Whistles received in Alpine, Utah. I've spent some time with them over the last couple of days, and will spend more time this weekend and put down some thoughts.

Briant

[kokopelli]

I've been remiss in posting my review. Here goes.

My first thought upon taking the whistles out of the packaging was that they couldn't possibly be so light. They really seemed to weigh as little as some high whistles. It took a while for me to get used to how they played. I think the offset body had playing characteristics that I preferred but I just couldn't get used to the hole placement. The only thing I could do to make it fit comfortably under my fingers was to switch the position of my hands, but I couldn't play properly that way. I ended up spending most of my time with the inline body because of this. That was a wonderful whistle to play. It could sing out bright and clear or it could develop a lovely breathy sort of sound that I always thought could only be attained with a flute. The jump between octaves was a bit hard to get used to for me, but I did get used to it and afterward it was easy enough to make the switch. The whistle was highly responsive which made it much more conducive to fast tunes than the low D I currently own.

The high D was just about as perfect a whistle as I've ever played. I had to constantly force myself to put it down and play the low D. I wanted to play the low whistle enough to get a good review of it because the high one was more of a bonus. Still, it had beautiful tone and played with just the amount of pressure I want to give.

All of the whistles had a wide range of dynamics before breaking the tone and could be played either with a very pure tone or a more chiffy tone depending on how they were blown. I was very impressed with these whistle and would certainly recommend them.

[hans]

Thanks for your great review, kokopelli!

You write you had to switch hands to make the body with the offset holes comfortable. So are you normally playing with the right hand at the top, i.e. left-handed, if it were a flute? Then you would have needed the opposite kind of offsets, naturally. I have not made a specific left-handed whistle as yet, but it is easy enough to do, only the testing by me would add some difficulties, as I would need to swap hands myself for that.

[O'Briant]

The whistle tour has come to Alpine, Utah, and I have had and been thoroughly enjoying Hans’ whistles for two weeks now. My thoughts:

First, the quality of the craftsmanship in the whistles is immediately evident – these are beautiful, solid, well-machined whistles. I quite like Hans’ head design, and the fipple plug blends seamlessly into the aluminum. And I like the slightly longer beak on the high D – it feels very natural in the mouth. The hole and barrel edges are all well machined and sanded -- no burrs or sharp edges.

Re the low D: there is some slight back pressure, but the whistle takes a fair amount of air to be sure (and more than my MK low D). But the volume is good (I would put this on the louder side of low whistles I have played) and the bell note is solid – this is no lilting violet of a low D note. I also found the tone to be very pleasant – there is more “whistly chiff” in this than in others I have played. I have a Kerry Pro low d that sounds more like the traditional cosmic drainpipe and an MK low d that sounds more “metallic” (I don’t know how else to describe it). Hans’ low d sounds like a whistle, and I quite liked that. Tuning is spot-on (as has been noted by others). With the lower back pressure, I found the jump to the second register to be easy and fluid, but wasn’t too easy (i.e., I wasn’t slipping into the second register without intending to do so). Other: I was excited to try the body with the c nat and the (just slightly) offset holes, but ultimately preferred the standard low d body – the reach was better on the offset holes, but I am used to other low ds and didn’t get to the point where the offset alignment was comfortable; and the c-nat was a first as well on a low d and I found it harder to move my hold on the larger and heavier low d around to accommodate a fluid opening of the hole. I didn’t notice any difference in volume, tuning, or tone between the in-line and offset bodies. The head joint fit is very snug with no sliding. The whistle is substantial and solid, but not heavy – this is significantly lighter than my MK. As has been noted by others, the whistle seems made to be uncloggable and did not at any point while I was playing it – that was a welcome attribute that my MK and especially the Kerry Pro do not have. I also didn’t notice any big swings in playability and sound between warm and cold playing – it is a chilly fall in the Rockies, and I didn’t have any problem picking this up on a cool morning and getting the sound I wanted out of it.

Re the high D, I have to admit this is the whistle I was most excited to play. I purchased a Bracker A/Bb set that by coincidence came at about the same time as the whistle tour, and I’m inclined to compare the Bracker Bb with the D because there are some differences. The D has what I would classify as medium to medium + back pressure and, by extension, you can really lean into and pull back on the note with some nice modulation – it really allows for player expression. Perhaps not surprisingly, there was half as much back pressure on the Bb, which pressure I found a bit more comfortable. I can still lean into and out of notes on the Bb, but it didn’t require the same push. Volume is good on the D, though I found it to be quieter than I expected – it is just slightly quieter than my Freeman-tweaked Gen D. The Bracker Bb is a little louder and is 15-20% louder than my Freeman Gen Bb. On a scale of 1-10, from very sweet to very chiffy, I would categorize the Bracker D as a 5 – it has a little raspiness but is also a little sweet, but not too much so. I would categorize the Bb as a 7 – more chiffy than sweet – and the whistle sounds just lovely. Re transitions, the Brackers are both (and especially the D) as responsive as anything I’ve played – very crisp, very responsive to ornamentation, including in the second register. Speaking of registers, the tone and volume was nicely balanced – louder, of course, in the upper register, but not shrilly so. Again, these whistles are uncloggable. Again, the quality and craftsmanship are obvious and lovely. I love the head design and the somewhat longer beak – it accommodates expressiveness in my style of playing. As has been noted, the head joint is snug but slides a bit, which is a function of compressed cork tape (I can’t remember what Hans called it) and could be easily remedied with some joint grease or some tape (I just played the whistle with the head pushed all the way in). The tuning on the high D is spot-on; same with the Bb. I haven’t spent as much time with the A body, but my impression is that tuning/playing with the A body is a little tempermental; the previous owner (who is a long-time member of this forum) assures me she thought the same thing and she grew to love the A body, so I look forward to getting to know the A.

Sum-up: I really enjoyed these whistles, and recommend all of them. I was really impressed with the playability and sound of the low D; I would personally prefer the standard low d body and couldn’t get used to the c nat or the off-set holes of the other body, but I could see how these could be very useful to a small-handed player who took the time to accustom to the set-up. I like the high D – I didn’t love it as some others here have, but I would agree that it is among the better whistles out there, and Hans’ whistles are in the company of Goldies, Burkes, and other recognized makers of fine whistles. All that said – and I know this isn’t a Bracker Bb tour or review – but I have to say I do love the Bracker Bb – it is a favorite among the Bbs I have played, and has a lot of the same chiffy attributes of the Gen Bb that I love. And the fact that these whistles are uncloggable is remarkable and just adds to their utility. Well done, Hans!

Tomorrow I will send the whistle tour on to Portland. Thanks again Hans for making the whistles available and for allowing me to join in the tour.

Briant