Interesting (?) - Killarney Whistles/Órlaith McAuliffe demo

[MadmanWithaWhistle]

Had an interesting experience today with the Killarney. It's a great whistle, to be sure, but it kept coming a little bit short of really wowing me. By accident I pushed the headjoint in, tuning quite sharp. What a difference! I know that fiddle players and some whistle players purposely tune sharp, but this almost felt like an entirely different instrument. Absolutely fantastic, bright tone and response. Any thoughts as to why that is?

[Mr.Gumby]

For solo playing many whistle players prefer to have the pitch a little sharper than D for a sweeter tone

In addition I'd add I really love the brightness and agility of the e flat.

[deisman]

I'll second that. The eb is my favorite between the two. Not just because it is brighter but it is sweeter too.

[sindtman84]

Me playing D Killarney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4bU4cCsxWo

and Eb Killarney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0INVyzzf-cY

[psychih]

I just received delivery of this whistle. They said 3-4 weeks but it arrived in less time than that. It's a pretty good whistle imho. I like the tone it is clear and uncluttered and doesn't squeek . I thought it sounded a bit quiet on my end but some friends i was playing with said it totally wasn't. Pretty pleased for €65!

[ytliek]

Received Eb Killarney whistle to accompany my Killarney D. Only took ten days for the Eb from purchase date until delivery in CT.

Eb is a sweet little tweeter

I was jonesings to keep up with the Joneses... now if they made a key of C

[pancelticpiper]

we know from experience that the inside bore of the Sindt head is slightly too small to allow a standard Gen or Feadóg to to be substituted

That implies that the Sindt tube is a hair smaller than a Feadog tube. However I recently got a Sindt D (my first) and the Sindt tube is very tight, but a Feadog tube is almost too loose.

[pancelticpiper]

If you take the body out and slide the bottom end into the head

How is the crossfingered C natural, like that?

[pancelticpiper]

I still don't understand why one is mass produced and the other isn't.

It's a bit absurd when arguments rage over terms which are so vague as to be meaningless.

Only after a precise meaning of "mass produced" has been established can one say that Whistle A is mass produced, and Whistle B isn't.

"Mass" implies a large number but says nothing about manufacturing technique: a maker using a CNC machine could produce a single example; a maker not using a CNC machine could produce thousands.

The photos posted clearly showed more crude workmanship on the Killarney. They did not show whether or not CNC machines were used, or how many of each was made, or how each whistle sounds.

Obviously I'm coming very late to this thread and to the existence of Killarney whistles and my order has been sent! I'm looking forward to a whistle that has an 'old school' sound and performance.

[pancelticpiper]

First impression out of the packet.... definitely a total copy of a Sindt ...the rivet is proud instead of flush.

Breath... takes a lighter breath than my Sindt... you use less air on the Killarney.

Tone... much more metallic tone, more upper harmonics rather than the Sindt's almost woody sound with lower harmonics (in comparison).

My Killarney arrived today!

I didn't recall much about Free Feet's post above so it's interesting that the bits I quote above were precisely my experience.

I found the Killarney a bit louder overall than the Sindt, yet having an even easier 2nd octave. It's quite remarkable, how facile it is! (The Sindt, in turn, having a far more easy 2nd octave than my Freeman Generation and Burke Session.)

The Killarney is amazingly efficient, getting a nice volume from very little air.

Examining the two whistle heads side by side, the quality seems identical. The little gaps between the brass and plastic at the tip of the mouthpiece, on either side of the windway, which Free Feet provided closeup photos of, are greater on my Sindt than on this Killarney. The heads are finished/polished to equal pristine smoothness.

I do note that the Killarney head is shorter at both ends (having a shorter mouthpiece beak and a shorter tuning chamber).

When I go back and forth between three D's, the Killarney, the Sindt, and my prized Feadog MK1, the metallic overtones of the Killarney become quite apparent. Not quite a hiss but a synthetic-sounding bright edge. (My Freeman Generation has it too.) The Sindt by comparison is butter-smooth and dark and round. I do notice a weak spot in the Sindt's tone, E in the 2nd octave, which sounds thinner than any other note on the whistle.

Darker, more woody, more organic-sounding even than the Sindt is the tone of my old Feadog MK1. The overall performance is quite similar to the Sindt, having a very easy 2nd octave (though not as easy as the Killarney) and a round full low octave.

[Sirchronique]

I do note that the Killarney head is shorter at both ends (having a shorter mouthpiece beak and a shorter tuning chamber).

It's identical to the smaller-headed sindt D's in external dimensions (at least as visible to the eye), but it does have shorter head than the medium or large headed sindt D's. They are all close in size, but a bit different. I'm assuming the one you are comparing the Killarney to is one of the latter two.

John Sindt made at least 3 different head sizes for his D whistles, and I've even seen an unusual one that is yet a fourth different head. I've noted variations in different attributes of the whistle between each of these sindt heads that are consistent with others of the same size. I am assuming the killarney was modeled after the smaller headed one, as that is the one it looks identical to, and also plays closest to (out of the three).

[ThomasNashJohnson]

First impression out of the packet.... definitely a total copy of a Sindt ...the rivet is proud instead of flush.

Breath... takes a lighter breath than my Sindt... you use less air on the Killarney.

Tone... much more metallic tone, more upper harmonics rather than the Sindt's almost woody sound with lower harmonics (in comparison).

My Killarney arrived today!

I didn't recall much about Free Feet's post above so it's interesting that the bits I quote above were precisely my experience.

I found the Killarney a bit louder overall than the Sindt, yet having an even easier 2nd octave. It's quite remarkable, how facile it is! (The Sindt, in turn, having a far more easy 2nd octave than my Freeman Generation and Burke Session.)

The Killarney is amazingly efficient, getting a nice volume from very little air.

Examining the two whistle heads side by side, the quality seems identical. The little gaps between the brass and plastic at the tip of the mouthpiece, on either side of the windway, which Free Feet provided closeup photos of, are greater on my Sindt than on this Killarney. The heads are finished/polished to equal pristine smoothness.

I do note that the Killarney head is shorter at both ends (having a shorter mouthpiece beak and a shorter tuning chamber).

When I go back and forth between three D's, the Killarney, the Sindt, and my prized Feadog MK1, the metallic overtones of the Killarney become quite apparent. Not quite a hiss but a synthetic-sounding bright edge. (My Freeman Generation has it too.) The Sindt by comparison is butter-smooth and dark and round. I do notice a weak spot in the Sindt's tone, E in the 2nd octave, which sounds thinner than any other note on the whistle.

Darker, more woody, more organic-sounding even than the Sindt is the tone of my old Feadog MK1. The overall performance is quite similar to the Sindt, having a very easy 2nd octave (though not as easy as the Killarney) and a round full low octave.

Had mine a week Richard and to my admittedly inexperienced ear (two years playing) it's a very expensive Generation. I've only ever seen pictures of the almost mythical Sindt but is the Killarney head really that similar, I wonder what the Sindt people think of this?

[pancelticpiper]

John Sindt made at least 3 different head sizes for his D whistles, and I've even seen an unusual one that is yet a fourth different head. I've noted variations in different attributes of the whistle between each of these sindt heads that are consistent with others of the same size. I am assuming the killarney was modeled after the smaller headed one, as that is the one it looks identical to, and also plays closest to (out of the three).

Thanks for the info!

I wonder what, if anything, changes when the windway is lengthened, as it is on my particular Sindt.

If you have all three major Sindt heads, what are the playing characteristics of each? Is the Killarney based on the shortest of the three? I wonder why they chose one of the shorter Sindts to copy.

Do each of the three major Sindt heads vary both in windway length and in tuning socket length?

[Sirchronique]

John Sindt made at least 3 different head sizes for his D whistles, and I've even seen an unusual one that is yet a fourth different head. I've noted variations in different attributes of the whistle between each of these sindt heads that are consistent with others of the same size. I am assuming the killarney was modeled after the smaller headed one, as that is the one it looks identical to, and also plays closest to (out of the three).

Thanks for the info!

I wonder what, if anything, changes when the windway is lengthened, as it is on my particular Sindt.

If you have all three major Sindt heads, what are the playing characteristics of each? Is the Killarney based on the shortest of the three? I wonder why they chose one of the shorter Sindts to copy.

Do each of the three major Sindt heads vary both in windway length and in tuning socket length?

I'll get back to you on that later, and try to upload a picture so you can see the differences. I am not sure if the windway length is actually different, but I think the window might be. I am not home to look at them and can't recall exactly. I'll put up a picture of the Sindts next to the Killarney to illustrate what I mean though. I think the majority of the difference is in the actual socket where the body plugs in, but there are definitely some minor differences elsewhere on the head as well. The main difference I notice between the different ones is sensitivity (regarding how easily it flips to the upper octave), but there is also a small difference in tonal character. I use the more sensitive heads on the Eb and E bodies, and the less sensitive ones on the D bodies, as I find it balances them out and makes the keys consistent with each other. I prefer the largest sized heads personally, as they have a bit more meat to the sound.


Ah, and to answer your other question, yes, the Killarney head has the exact same size dimensions as the smallest sindt head. It might just be that it was the sindt they had on hand. I am not sure of the age of the whistles, but I am assuming they are just the result of John evolving the design slightly over time (rather than making the different sizes at the same time). Someone was selling a C sindt on here not long ago that had a hump in the head where it plugs in, which is another unusual variance.

[pancelticpiper]

I just took some measurements.

Total head length: Killarney 58mm; Sindt 66mm

Windway length: Killarney 25mm; Sindt 27mm (the Killarney, in turn, having a slightly longer windway than a Generation and Feadog I have)

There seems to be a tiny bit more distance between the end of the windway and the blade on the Killarney, in other words a tad longer window.

The top of the windway, where you put your mouth, is wider on the Sindt. Curiously the windway at the window appears to be the same with both. Can the Sindt windway be tapered?