| | |  | Childrens Instruments | Home » » Clarke Celtic Tin Whistle - D | | | | | | | Description: | | One cannot hear a slow air played with depth of feeling on a tin whistle by a true Celt without being drawn into, and sharing, the emotions expressed by the player. When Robert Clarke invented the Tin whistle in 1843, little did he know that it would become the perfect wind instrument to be played universally in all the Celtic lands. It can be heard in concert halls, broadcasts, churches and, above all, especially in Ireland, in the pubs. It is easy to play; inexpensive; and can be carried so as to be available for performances on all occasions. The Clarke Celtic Tin whistle in the Key of D comes with its own fingering chart and five traditional Celtic tunes, one each from Wales, Scotland and Brittany and two from Ireland. The whistle comes decorated with a Celtic Knot and is individually gift boxed. | | | Features: | |
• Tin Whistle - Key of D
• Includes a Fingering Chart
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 12.0 inches | | Product Width:
| 1.0 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.0 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.19 pounds | | Package Length:
| 12.7 inches | | Package Width:
| 2.1 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.7 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.15 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 36 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 36 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
127 of 127 found the following review helpful:
 The Best Whistle for Beginners!Oct 29, 2008
By Buck Bauer
I wrote to Clarke and they verified that this whistle is just their Sweetone model, with the added cost of a Celtic paint-job, a song sheet and a pretty box.
If this whistle becomes unavailable here, or if you'd like a different color, try to find a Sweetone elsewhere.
If you're a beginner, the Sweetone is the whistle for you. Music teachers have told me that there's nothing more frustrating for a beginning student than trying to make music on a poor quality instrument. This is a high quality instrument, at a relatively low price. It has three things going for it:
(1) It's in the key of D, the preferred key in traditional folk music. Also, length determines key, and the longer key-of-C whistle requires a wider stretch of the fingers to cover the holes, which players with small- to average-sized hands can find uncomfortable.
(2) Unlike other lower-priced whistles, it has a conical bore [tapered tube] rather than cylindrical bore [straight tube]. This gives it a more secure and consistent tone -- no squeaks, squawks, and honks on particular notes. I've thrown away more thin-metal straight-bore whistles than I've kept, because of "bad" notes. Buying them, it's luck-of-the draw -- you may get a good one, once in awhile. A great player can get a good sound out of a poor instrument -- master of the French horn Dennis Brain once famously got decent Mozart out of a garden hose -- but we are not at that level.
(3) Unlike its famous predecessor, the Clarke original, it has a plastic mouthpiece, so each Sweetone has the same tone quality. The Clarke original has a mouthpiece formed by hand, by wrapping tin around a wooden block, so some sound much better than others. This can be adjusted or corrected by an experienced player, by judicious bending of the metal, but we don't know how to do that successfully.
When you're a more confident player, you may want to try a Clarke original model. It has a different tone -- softer, sweeter, more "breathy." And it weighs less, making fast complex passages easier to play -- lets your fingers "fly." On the original, I can play Yankee Doodle start-to-finish in 10 seconds.
I learned to play using Bill Ochs' book "The Clarke Tin Whistle." The "Deluxe Edition," available from Amazon, comes with a CD. The excellent book begins by explaining musical notation, for the student who doesn't already read music, but that doesn't get in they way for those of us who already do. The CD follows the text step by step, including dozens of tunes, so you can actually hear the sounds that can come out of a Clarke tinwhistle in the hands of an expert. Something to aspire to!
126 of 130 found the following review helpful:
 Good Beginner Flute for a Cheap PriceOct 23, 2009
By Honest Abe
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2AN79GTY0FPMC I decided to add a video review to this page, to show how the flute sounds, rather than write it.
It has a nice tone, is a little shaky at points, but overall, a FANTASTIC buy for such a reasonable price!
I recommend to anybody who wants a new instrument. [...]
I did add reverb to this video to make it sound more... i don't know... hills of ireland-y :)
27 of 27 found the following review helpful:
Pretty, indeed.Nov 07, 2008
By Tonya J G Ross
I actually bought this tin whistle at a little roadside shop and proceded to annoy all the other passengers in the vehicle as I worked out the fingerings using the little chart provided!
As an experienced flute player I'd wanted a tin whistle for a long time, and this one is a very nice one indeed. It is of sturdy construction and is definitely prettier than those plain metal models (in my opinion anyway). I've had no problems with it: no squeaking of any kind. Overall, a very worthwhile purchase for any wind player.
13 of 13 found the following review helpful:
Great WhistleJan 28, 2009
By M. Naylor
"frog girl"
I am a beginner to the Tin Whistle, and only owned a Feadog before this one. The tone of this one is MUCH better. Easy to play, and has a pretty finish. This is the same whistle as the Clarke Sweetone, it just has a different paint job. After having looked at more reviews, the Sweetone is one of the most highly recommended whistles for beginners, as it is a high-quality, cheap instrument.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
An Instrument of seduction.Jan 31, 2010
By Wood Wren
"Wren"
The tone of this instrument is absolutely perfect; whimsical and clear. While I agree that this is the ideal whistle for the beginner, I must emphatically state that in the hands of the more experienced, it will produce some very sweet music. There is something magical and mystical about this instrument and you can feel it the first time it touches your lips.
I promise you that with a little effort, you will be able to melt many a heart.
The whistle (which as has been pointed out is merely a Sweetone with a fancy paint job) is as stated in the key of D which makes it ideal for someone with smaller hands and shorter fingers such as I am stuck with. The Key of C whistles are a bit of a stretch for me, particularly when I require fast finger movement.
Now it is quite helpful if you are able to read music, but I can assure you that many of my friends who cannot, find joy in playing this little thing; as much joy as I do.
The cost here is quite little to pay for something that can bring so much pleasure. This packs well in my camping gear and the sound it produces in the mountains when the mist starts flowing is enough to bring a tear to your eye and raise the hackles on the back of your neck.
Do yourself a favor and spring for the few bucks this is being offered for...I promise you that you will not be sorry. Hey, I can even get my sister crying with my rendition of some of the slower Celtic pieces I am able to produce and she is a pretty hard case by any standard.
Recommend you add this one to your plunder.
See all 36 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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