Interesting (?) - Killarney Whistles/Órlaith McAuliffe demo

[Steve Bliven]

It would be useful in the volume comparisons to describe how the comparison was measured; per the player's ear, by a listener somewhat removed from the player, by some sort of electronic volume meter, etc.

Best wishes.

Steve

[MTGuru]

There you go, I have a number of these, all quite nice:

That must be a Mark II ? The Mark I had a very square-ish head (beak) with beveled top corners, and the labels were clear plastic wrapped around the tube, not paper ovals.

[ecohawk]

I have waited to post on this but have had one in my possession for about three weeks.

First of all, to my knowledge, there were two different versions of the Sindt head, at least I have two different versions and John confirmed that this was true. The older Sindt head was shorter and had a narrower window than the current Sindt head, making the original quieter and requiring some measure of breath control to establish a consistently solid bell note. Not a big deal. The Killarney head is a dead match for the original Sindt head and sounds the same too. The tube Killarney uses is identical to the Feadog Pro in nickel. I have one of those also. The Feadog Pro body fits on the Killarney head with the same tension and vice-versa. I see no sign of alteration at all on the tube and the tuning of each note on the Killarney is accurate enough and matches exactly my Feadog Pro on a Korg tuner. However the Feadog Pro is on the louder side with a solid bell note and is IMHO, maybe the best inexpensive, out of the box factory produced whistles one can buy today. The Killarney is a very decent whistle but could use some final detail work as has been mentioned before.

The modern Sindt has a longer head with a wider window, a far more solid bell note and a stronger tone throughout. I consider it to have average volume. Yes the Killarney will play the highly over-emphasized, cross-fingered Cnat without any extra fiddling. I'll likely make someone a very good deal on this one if anyone is interested.

ecohawk

[Sirchronique]

I have waited to post on this but have had one in my possession for about three weeks.

First of all, to my knowledge, there were two different versions of the Sindt head

Three versions, actually! One with the smaller length head, one with a long length head, and one in the middle. The Killarney whistle is the same size as the medium sindt head. I'll post a picture later perhaps of all 4.


Edit: Actually, you are right, it's the same size as the smallest. There are, however, three different sizes.


Are feadog pro bodies the same size as the regular green top feadog brass bodies ? Because my Killarney body is not the same as the brass feadog body in size, on either end.

[jemtheflute]

Well, my Killarney turned up on Friday (3rd Jan, posted 30th Dec, so pretty delivery speed good given NY bank holiday etc.) and I've now had a chance to give it a couple of test runs. I like it.

Picking up on points others have raised, mine is tidily finished - the stepping/layering and non-flushness of the beak tube and plug ends at the windway is clearly deliberate and is tidily done, not crude or unfinished. The lower end of the finger tube is a bit sharp, but not dangerously so. The upper end is a snug but fairly easily moved fit in the brass head and came greased. It is quite easy to tune but not over-free. I like the tidily peened but not flush fipple rivet ends.

I would describe it as medium in volume in the low register and free blowing. You can push the low register a fair bit, but it can't approach my Swayne high D for low register volume - not that I expected it to. It is well balanced through the octaves and not at all shrill (beyond the basic nature of those pitches!) in the upper 2nd 8ve and right up the 3rd (I can even get a high C nat out of it!). It remains sweet and clear well into the 3rd octave - I can actually get a tolerable chromatic scale on it from the 3rd (normal "high") D up to top C nat (fingerings below) - something I've never achieved on any other whistle. It switches octaves easily and quite responsively, though the L hand 2nd 8ve G, A and B tend flat if you're not careful.

For me/the way I blow, as on a Gen, the only viable 1st 8ve C nat fingering is oxx xox. oxx ooo is, as usual, poor-toned and IMO unusably sharp. oxx xoo is better but add R3 and the tone comes much stronger and cleaner as well as taking the pitch nearly (and breath controllably) down to in-tune. oxo xxx and oxo xxo are far too sharp and oxx xoo would be the best option in an E minor arpeggio type combination where oxx xox is too awkward. oxx xxo is unusably flat and muffled. In the 2nd 8ve oxo xxx is the best available C natural though oxo ooo, oxo xoo (both good), oxo xxo (rather sharp) and xox xox are also usable. High D is perhaps a tad flat with oxx ooo and may be preferable with oxx xxx, depending on context. Top of 2nd 8ve C# is flat with the open fingering ooo ooo but good with oxx xoo. As on most whistles, there is a sharp but usable G# in the bottom 8ve with xxo xxx and a good one in the 2nd with xxo xxo, similarly with Bb - xox xxx in the bottom (sharp), xoxooo or xox oxo or xox xoo in the 2nd (varying in pitch, use as need....).

OK, here are the promised high/3rd 8ve fingerings for the curious/hardy/foolish/masochistic:

Code: Select all

2nd 8ve C nat oxo xxx
        C#    oxx xoo
3rd 8ve D     oxx xxx or oxx ooo
        Eb    xxo xxx
        E     xxo xxo
        F     xoo xxo
        F#    xox xxx or xxx xox
        G     xox ooo
        G#    oox oo(x)
        A     oxx xxo
        Bb    oxo xoo
        B     xoo xox (quite hard to hit!)
        C     xox oxo

Overall I'd say it plays very like my favourite old Gen high D used to in its heyday, only better, and will fit that slot in my kit (good whistle for playing high stuff or needing a very trad Gen whistle sound) which has been unfilled since said old Gen stopped working properly (head cracking up). That equates to very good indeed IMO: clear, clean, sweet, "whistle" sounding, moderately finger-poppy (chiffy?).

With the head being primarily a lump of cold brass, although the windway doesn't seem prone to blocking, it does have rather a tendency to send little streams of condensation running down the finger tube when played for a good stretch! Perhaps engraved run-off channels from the outer corners of the ramp around to the back and a little drip-bucket hanging below might be future design additions and accessories?

Value? Costing me about £54 I think that is perhaps a slightly though not objectionably high price for what it is/how it plays (as in, with patience and luck you could perhaps find a Gen which plays similarly and nearly as well for 1/10th the price), though I don't pass any judgment in ignorance on the engineering investment and work time in making it or how that equates to getting a viable economic return. If it had been c£35-40-ish I think it would be very good value at that for the reasonable certainty that you will get a whistle which plays like a very good Gen and should be considerably more durable.

I will endeavour to make a demo clip in due course. (NOT of the higher 3rd register fingerings...... unless someone really, really wants me to...... )

[Jayhawk]

Still waiting...

[narrowdog]

Still waiting...

He's a busy chap that Jem you know.
He'll get round to it..

[jemtheflute]

Yup, too busy just now. I did give it an outing at a session last night. As rather expected, couldn't hear self much in low register, though others said they could hear it ok. As a result I had a tendency to try to push it too hard - sharp in 1st 8ve/harsh or squeaky, at edge of breaking up to the 2nd........ A case of getting used to how to use it rather than anything else. 2nd 8ve was very audible and powerful enough and very sweet. A couple of folk tried it and liked it very much. It isn't going to challenge my boxwood Swayne high D for general session or large ensemble use, but it's very nice for small ensemble or solo use and I imagine will amplify or record very well.

[Jayhawk]

Jem? Jem who?

Nah, I'm still waiting for my whistle to arrive!

[Sirchronique]

I got a second one to gift to someone, and the head moves much more easily on this one.

[MTGuru]

1. I notice that the Facebook video by Órlaith McAuliffe that started this thread has now apparently been taken down ("This content is currently unavailable."). A disappointment.

2. I've invited Padraig and Tadhg Buckley of Killarney Whistles to join the Chiffboard.

[jemtheflute]

Ah. No, it hasn't been taken down, but for some reason not publicly explained, Orlaith's mum (who administrates the E. London Comhaltas FB Group it is on) yesterday changed the Group membership setting from "open" to "closed", so non-members can no longer view content or contribute. I expect they've had spamming problems or some such. A pity.

[kkrell]

1. I notice that the Facebook video by Órlaith McAuliffe that started this thread has now apparently been taken down ("This content is currently unavailable."). A disappointment.

Her mom has taken The East London Comhaltas Facebook group private/closed. The video is still there, but a member (such as I) must invite you to join (as I have done for you), subject to admin approval.

[Steve Bliven]

When I placed my order I used the message attachment to draw the makers' attention to both this thread and Orlaith's FB post which engendered it. I only received (thus far) what is obviously their standard order acknowledgment template e-mail, so have no idea if they have followed the links and perused the discussions.

Curious whether you (or others) have received any response from notes to their info@...email address. I sent a note on 2 Jan with some questions based on what we've said here but haven't had a response. Maybe they are too busy filling orders...

Best wishes.

Steve

[Jayhawk]

I got a second one to gift to someone, and the head moves much more easily on this one.

Oh, that's just cruel...still waiting on mine. Out of curiosity, when did you order the second whistle? I ordered mine on 12/28, received their confirmation/your order will arrive in 2 weeks email on 12/30, and I'm now 2 days away from 2 weeks.

My experience is post from Ireland usually comes faster, so I was curious how long it took for yours to get to you in Indiana.

Eric