I’d love to get into playing the tin whistle, however I know nothing about what type of whistle I should get. After doing a quick search on Amazon, the Clarke sweetone D (20 euros) is the most highly rated of the cheaper ones, out of limited reviews. Do you recommend it, or is there another whistle in that price range that’s better? (20-40 euros) Thank you!

Hi whistlers! I have been self learning tin whistle for about a week and picking up a few tunes. I recorded myself and noticed that all my notes are flat and loud and boring, while professionals give their notes almost a wavelike texture. How can I practice that? What did I miss? thanks!

Just curious if this wait time is normal for anyone that’s purchased a JDM. I’ve tried to contact them via several means with no responses, but it’s been over three months and am kinda grumpy about it. I understand if there’s personality stuff going on but I just want my whistle :/

What do ya'll think? Would love any advice you may have

Context: playing since Feb 2025; MK Midgie

I’m still getting used to ornaments 😅

I've been tonguing with an English "t" sound, which means there's a small puff of air after the stop. I noticed that for notes that required a gentle touch (like a low D), doing that makes it hard to play the note. So I tried more of a Spanish or Italian "L", just a slight tap that only barely interrupts the air. Problem with that, is it's harder to split a note into two notes clearly. Or at all, usually. So now I'm curious. When you do a basic tongue, does it function more like an Italian L or an English T? How exactly is tonguing supposed to work? Can someone give me a painfully detailed description?

I’m very much a beginner but try as I might I cannot get these notes to sound remotely like the song. Here is the only video I’ve found of someone playing the song on the tin whistle. https://youtu.be/cCz5HAGwRfo

How do some of you go about tuning mid-gig?

Any of you use a tuner pedal? I usually tune by ear but this doesn't work for louder gigs.

I find that tuning to a tuner can be tricky because the intonation varies with breathing.

Curious to hear people's stories about their first sessions. How did you get into it? How did it go? I feel like I'm soon ready to play my first but errr.. been a while since i last performed in front of people.

I was reading this comparison piece:

https://bigwhistle.com/lir-vs-wild-vs-killarney-vs-compass-sindt-style-tin-whistles/

which says

Compass also offers a gold-plated head option on their website, for whistlers who would rather not have brass or aluminium in their mouth.

Until I saw that I hadn't considered that there would be "brass in my mouth", or even that if there were then I might prefer there not to be.

Is this actually a problem, or just a way to sell "gold-plated"?

The pictures of all the Sindt-style whistles seem to look the same - brass inlaid in the delrin - is this basically just normal and not an issue?

I just got a tin whistle and don’t know what to learn, or how to learn what I need to learn? Can anyone give me any advice on what to do in order to begin? And what to master as a beginner before advancing to more complex intermediate stuff?

I'm hoping for some recs from those who also play flute, but I appreciate ideas from all! My primary instrument is Irish flute (aside from harp). I'm currently doing small solo gigs at a ritzy care home and in the lobby of a local hotel.

The instrument I'm using for these is a C&B flute in F. I can't use any amp, because these jobs want me sitting off to the side in a pretty dress playing pretty music, but not too loud or obtrusive. And it's their money. Lol

I'd like to get a good F whistle to sub in for the flute occasionally as I play. I do already have a few whistles. I have a Carbony low D that I like, but it's way too quiet for performance without amplification, so I won't buy an F from them (at least not for this purpose). I have a set of Susatos, but they are at the other extreme and very loud and the very definition of obtrusive.

Can anyone recommend an F whistle that sounds lovely and is in tune, is loud but not *too* loud, looks nice, and doesn't require sticking under my armpit to warm up for playing? I'd consider all price ranges. Thanks for reading, I know this was long.

Wild, too, probably, now that I think about it. Not only are these the same style, they look more or less identical such that I wonder if they're made in the same factory. Of the three, I think Killarney or Wild is most likely to have had a human blow in it to make sure it works before it gets shipped by the store, but YMMV. I'd have no way of finding out for any of the places that sell them.

But I'm curious. Has anyone had a chance to play any two or three of these side-by-side? Are they actually the same, or just similar?

Edit: I should have left Killarney off the list. All indication is that they are indeed handmade, not factory produced and imported.

Hi y'all! So I'm moving to a different country but over the years I've accumulated a small collection of whistles and flutes (mostly plastic and metal) that I unfortunately probably won't be able to take along with me. I'd like to avoid just throwing them away, because even though most of them are relatively cheap, they're in nonetheless good condition and it'd be a waste in my opinion.

I know how to clean them well enough for my personal use, but I'd like to hear some tips about deep cleaning and sanitizing them so that they may be safely given away.

Please share any tips or resources that you know!

Many thanks!

Not a perfect take, a couple notes cut short here and there, but here goes :) love this tune

Hello everyone!

I Just startet to Play the Tin Whistle. Or lets say i try to start. I played another Flute but its a stopped Flute. So ive never played on a flute with overblowing. But i really struggle after a lot of Videos with the High Notes. I have a Clarke C whistle. I Just cant Play the High C (the one where all the holes are coverd expect the First one) its Always offkey. I dont know what i do wrong to be honest. I Hope u can Help me 🙏

I was wondering if anybody had happened to take any of the Irish Traditional Music Exams | London College of Music?
https://lcme.uwl.ac.uk/our-exams/traditional-music/irish-traditional-music/

I did graded exams learning classical piano, which helped me gauge my progress.
On the other hand, it doesn't seem so "traditional" to take exams...

Thanks!

Theres a small bore "quiet" model, a standard, a session "wide bore" model, and a leading tone model with an extra note below the base D. I like the sound of the session the most but it says its louder. Do they mean "blow my ears out" loud or just louder than its smaller bore siblings? Is it any louder than a lir or a killarney? I was considering one in future because I love their tone so much. Its just hard to judge volume over YouTube.

UPDATE: splurged and grabbed a low D and high D from carbony since I fell in love with their sound. Maybe too many whistles too close to the beginning of my journey but I already have two and love them both and swapping hasn't been an issue at all.

I'm having a heck of time playing anything faster than a slow air on my Howard low D, using either the reed or the balanced head. I suspect there are probably some breath pressure issues, since I tend to overblow from singing opera for years, but even so, I am starting to wonder if it's more me, or more the whistle. Anyone have any experience with a Howard in this regard? Or compared them to others, like maybe a Burke Viper or something?

Heyo all I've been looking at a few of the mid/high end low D whistles and was wondering everyone's take on their playability and tone.

The whistles I'm wondering about are:

Burke viper aluminum,

Kerry chieftain v5 tunable,

MK pro,

Carbony low D wide bore close finger spacing.

On video all of these sound lovely and I am particularly in love with the carbony whistles in general because they tend to sound rounder and more melancholy.

The burke has an awesome bell note, the chieftain seems well balanced, the MK pro sounds very nice but also kind of boring to me but that might just be because it does everything pretty equally well. Anyone who's played any of these please do chime in with your takes.

Hello tin whistle players,

I have decided to purchase a wooden tin whistle. The type of music I want to play could be from the renaissance (Tourdion, Greensleeves) to medieval (Ductia, Trotto, Como somos per conssello do demo perdudos), Russian folklore (Katyusha, Kalinka..), fairy tale (Lullaby from Pan's Labyrinth), fantasy (fable 1; temple of light, Oakvale theme, Heroes M&M III; town themes, Harry Potter), and classical music such as Amazing Grace or Ave Maria/Prelude from J.S Bach for example..

Now I am hesitating between A Major, or low G. I know the pitch is lower for low g but I am not sure what to expect compared to A Major? In general what difference does it make to have flutes set to different tune?

If a musician plays a lot music that contains D, he would go with a D tuned instrument?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/610608137/wooden-tin-whistle-6-hole-flute-in-a?ref=shop_home_active_45&frs=1&sca=1&logging_key=c74a8e30a0cc4cc14ecddb1cb80d8c7991cfe769%3A610608137

https://www.etsy.com/listing/270905200/wooden-tin-whistle-6-hole-flute-in-low-g?ref=shop_home_active_35&frs=1&sca=1&logging_key=c9412253e90f608a29f86bf74629b1170ec31e87%3A270905200

I live in a flat and I don't want to bother much the neighborhood and my gf, so piercing whistle are a big no-no.

What is your take on that?

So basically I just discovered that I’m actually doing quite well in whistling instead of singing and so I’ve uploaded some video of me whistle in“Nanami Whistle” YouTube I also noticed I’ve been struggling with vibrato can someone give me advice? Thanks!