Irish Whistles
Irish Whistles
Irish Whistles
This page is dedicated to the Irish wooden whistle.
The tin whistle / penny whistle is probably the instrument I have the most
played, since my childhood, and I must say that I have a particular passion
for it.
This led me to collect it a lot, at one time I bought all the models that I
could find in the trade, I even spent one of my first salary to buy a handmade
model manufactured in the USA by Michael Copeland.
Now, I make myself, with great pleasure, my own whistles, preferably from wood.
I thank particularly Didier Jaffredo who owns the forum “FFIAC - Forum des facteurs de Flûtes Irlandaises et Autres Consœurs” on which we can find quantities of useful informations about the making of wooden flutes (for French speakers).
Here are different models I have built :
Tunable High D Whistle, Boxwood and brass
This model is inspired friom the flutes built by Tyron Head, which I also
warmly thank for the lot of informations he provides on his Website
www.theflutemaker.com
This is a two parts model, featuring a tuning slide.
The plug is made of black nylon.
The cape and rings are made of brass.
Here is a demonstration video :
The technical drawing for this whistle is available in the download
section.
High D Whistle, Macassar ebony and Boxwood
This model is more personal. The mouthpiece is made out of Boxwood, and the
channel has been slightly modified compared to the model above. It does not
feature any tuning slide, but it gets lighter and more vibrating.
The sides of the window are raised up thanks to the boxwood mouthpiece, which
projects more and gives a more precise sound.
The end ring is made out of Boxwood. The finish is simply polished.
This flute has a warm and powerful sound, here is a couple of videos that will let you ear it :
Older readers comments
Hello from marcel
Hello from jean-marie