Geoffrey Ellis Low Whistle Review

[Feadoggie]

Thanks for the video, Tommy.

Looks like we are getting to the later part of the tour.

Feadoggie

[ecohawk]

Whistles arrived safely at my office in California today. Unfortunately I was out at an event when they arrived. Will unpack tomorrow and get in some playing time before the weekend. Full report and some kind of media effort by Saturday night.

My secretary Sarah says they are beautiful FWIW. She has a lot of practice over the past few years opening packages containing whistles for me, so I trusted her to open the box for basic inspection.

I'm trying to think of some inspirational reference to stir up Cayden and ytliek but it's too noisy in this auditorium right now so I'll have to defer to others.

Thanks Tommy,

ecohawk

[ytliek]

I'm trying to think of some inspirational reference to stir up Cayden and ytliek but it's too noisy in this auditorium right now so I'll have to defer to others.

I can't speak for Cayden, but, I have been extremely inspired with the Ellis whistle(s) so far and anxiously await your additional comments. The low whistle wasn't my interest as I've only been playing just over a year now. Just learning to play the whistle was a slow process for me. The Piper's grip just scares me.

[Tommy]

The Piper's grip just scares me.

Hmmmm.......PM your address to me and I will send you a low D to practice with.

[Steve Bliven]

The Piper's grip just scares me.

Hmmmm.......PM your address to me and I will send you a low D to practice with.

I'm scared by $20 bills—and I'll send my address to anyone who wants to help cure me.

Best wishes.

Steve

[ytliek]

I'm scared by $20 bills—and I'll send my address to anyone who wants to help cure me.

Send your address to the PB gent in NJ as he can now afford to help with the cure. I'm whistle broke.

[cboody]

The Piper's grip just scares me.

Hmmmm.......PM your address to me and I will send you a low D to practice with.

I'm scared by $20 bills—and I'll send my address to anyone who wants to help cure me.

Best wishes.

Steve

There's a person in Nigeria who wants to send you money from her late husband's estate....

Tommy, that was a nice offer. Someone should thank you (I guess I just did...)

[ytliek]

There's a person in Nigeria who wants to send you money from her late husband's estate....

I too have been in contact.

Tommy, that was a nice offer. Someone should thank you (I guess I just did...)

Yes, I publically want to thank you for your kind offer. PM sent.

[Steve Bliven]

There's a person in Nigeria who wants to send you money from her late husband's estate....

Figuring that this might be a good opportunity for both social and financial interactions, I sent my mother-in-law's information. Thus far, she hasn't received the $4.5 million but it's in "exkrowe for hir so soon she be paying taxis to me." I think she'll be very happy.

Tommy, that was a nice offer. Someone should thank you (I guess I just did...)

And I hope my flights of fantasy don't take anything away from what is a kind and generous offer. I echo Chuck's comments.

Best wishes.

Steve

[ecohawk]

I like these tours a great deal as they may be the only mechanism where players at all skill levels and styles have an opportunity to play the same instrument and publicly offer their unedited opinions.

The whistles arrived at my office late Wednesday (thanks Tommy) but I didn't get my hands on them until Thursday. Though the requirement had been lifted for a 24 hour acclimation period, since they had travelled from Texas to California, I decided to wait until Friday night to play them.

I'll try to be concise. They are simply beautiful and the light weight truly surprised me. I found them very easy to hold leading me to become instantly enamored of the finish. The mouthpiece took a bit to become accustomed to. The whistles were much easier to play when held more horizontally than I normally would do. It didn't take long to get used to this though.

Though I've noted some of you seem to prefer the F, I greatly preferred the D. I found the F sort of thin sounding though I made several different adjustments in breath pressure and even tried a minor tweak to no avail. This may account for others perception of low volume. I wasn't satisfied with my recording of the F. Maybe I'm just spoiled by having three wonderful low F instruments at my disposal already.

The low D was much more robust sounding IMHO. In fact, as others have noted about the head design which seems to be inspired by MK, it sound and played a great deal like my MK did. Though it is more free flowing and needs more air volume than the MK my only real complaint is that the bell note could be stronger. It's not bad, and it's better than many others but I like a good strong bell note and a second octave B and C that can be reached without extraordinary effort. I also prefer each note to have some dynamic range so that there is some clear difference when moving from flat to sharp, then to the octave break. Yes, I'm picky and I like expressive instruments. This whistle does that and I feel like it wants to be pushed to get the most out of it. I found, like (I think it was Steve) previously noted, that when I pushed, the whole thing went sharp a little but it really brought out the best in the instrument. A tuning slide would absolutely cure this.

Earlier I mentioned a tweak. I've done this with instruments that had all the other desirable characteristics but lack that good strong bell note, such as my Reviol which I play often and have recorded with. The tweak is not my invention, but it involves building a small wall about 1/8" or so tall around the window back, extending along the window sides for an inch or so. If you find a Copeland or Bracker low whistle picture you'll get the idea. This makes a tremendous difference in the low range without making the high range unattainable. It will necessitate a little more push in that second octave B and C but it's worth it IMHO. Maybe just a slight thickening around the window could be done. I noted that the F had thicker wood around the window than the low D.

I'd buy the low D now if it had a tuning slide. If it had a tuning slide and a slightly stronger bell note it would be a favorite of mine. I don't know what to say about the F. It just isn't my cup of tea.

Thanks Geoffrey and Feadoggie for putting this together and including me in the test. I'll be shipping it off to Ted on Monday. It's almost a shame ship it since he's so close by but I'm a public transit kind of guy these days and I try to avoid driving unless I must.

ecohawk

I made one recording, without the tweak, using the low D. One take and no processing so it's a little rough. https://soundcloud.com/ecohawk-1/amhran ... llis-low-d

[Ted]

I received the whistles in good shape and set them aside, as I had to go out of town for a couple of days. Cleaned a bit of stuff from the windway on the F, which increased its volume. They look stunning and was I surprised by the light weight. Might be too fragile to survive a pub brawl, but should be fine with reasonable care. I would prefer a thinner beak. The bottom of it has some extra timber on it which, if removed, would make it thinner. Would also like a tuning slide. I found the F to play more stongly in the bottom end than the D. That is the shortcoming of the D. Perhaps a wider window would add more volume to the bottom end. The volume increases in the upper second octave, which is not suprising. The tone is very pleasing and I would order one if it came with a tuning slide and the bottom D would accept more push. Lovely woody tone. Most eye candy of any whistles out there.

[Feadoggie]

Thanks Ted.

Well, that brings the Geoffrey Ellis low whistle tour to its conclusion. I would like to thank Geoffrey Ellis once again for sending his whistles out for all of us to play.

And I would like to thank all of the participants for sharing their observations here on C&F.

Feadoggie

[Steve Bliven]

So who won the raffle for the whistles?

Jest jokin'

Steve

[Geoffrey Ellis]

I would also like to thank everyone who took part in the tour, and special thanks to Feadoggie for organizing and managing the whole thing. I received invaluable feedback and encouragement as a result and I'm now working on some modified prototypes based on this feedback. I believe the next generation of these whistles will have a more robust voice and (by popular demand) a tuning slide! I might experiment with a couple of versions, one having a brass slide and one having a wooden tenon and socket that can be used for minor adjustments.

I will also be reducing the thickness of the beak to make it a bit more comfortable.

And for those players whose interest goes beyond low whistles, I'm also about to release a high D as well!

[ytliek]

And for those players whose interest goes beyond low whistles, I'm also about to release a high D as well!

WooHooo for the high D whistle... my tax return is on its way!