The Howard Low D whistle - my full review...

Hello and welcome back to my blog!

I’m excited to be reviewing the Howard low D whistle, kindly sent to me by Big Whistle.

I took the Howard low D whistle out into the forest and played a little of ‘Outlawed Tunes on Outlawed Pipes’ (from Braveheart) to test out the sound…

I absolutely love this whistle, below is my full review and in depth details about this wonderful instrument...

Specs -

Howard low D whistle, black diamond edition with balanced M3 head.

You can customise this whistle - different heads and bodies are available which each have different qualities and change the sound. I will also be reviewing this whistle with the ‘reed head’ in a separate review.

Appearance -

First of all I’d like to mention how amazing this whistle looks, this is a high-end instrument and it really is a thing of beauty! It has a black silk finish over a gold brass body, and this edition (black diamond) has the black removed around the finger holes revealing the gold underneath. This not only looks so sleek, but also gives a lovely contoured feel when

playing and lets your fingers sit very comfortably on the whistle and glide very easily for sliding notes.

It has an incredible look and feel, and that gold and black gives fantasy/magical vibes. I also love the contoured shape of the head which is very comfortable to play.

Sound and tone -

When I first picked up and played this whistle, I was really struck by the sound - it has a

lovely open tone whilst being mellow at the same time, with a bell-like quality which really resonates. In fact you can really feel the vibration of the air when playing which I love, as you feel very connected to the sound.

I find the sound of this low D particularly relaxing and meditative - you could sit for hours playing long, slow melodies as it is so soothing. When changing notes the sound is very smooth, it has a gliding quality.

The volume is very good, you get a very resonant, loud sound from the low notes to

the high, but you can also play it softly in the lower register and achieve a quiet,

subtle sound. I was surprised by how loud you can make this whistle go, especially in the second octave - you definitely won’t lose the sound amidst other instruments.

You can also really change the tone of this whistle with your air pressure, a steady air-stream gives a lovely resonant and open tone, but increasing your air-stream produces more frequencies in the tone from the different harmonics that come into play.

I love the control that this whistle gives you, you can really push through with your vibrato, and bend the pitch of the notes with breath control to give some nice vocal qualities to the melody you’re playing.

I feel the way you can over-blow the low notes means you get a real spectrum of harmonic qualities, and for me this gives the sound a mystical quality.

The smooth tone makes this whistle perfect for recording with, and I recently played the Howard low D on many of my recent singles and music videos including ‘Morrison’s Jig / Swallowtail Jig’ -

Playability -

This whistle is quite comfortable to play in terms of air pressure, you’ll need to push a little bit to get the high notes, but developing good lung strength is key if you want to be able to play low whistles and high-end pro whistles in general.

The spacing of the finger holes on this whistle is quite similar to other low D's I have played, it’s relatively comfortable if you are used to the piper’s grip - however I have noticed that some of the holes are a little bigger comparatively to my other low whistles. I normally use the piper’s grip on my right hand only, but for this whistle I find that the bigger size of the holes means that using the piper’s grip on both hands is more necessary. This is just something you have to adapt to with playing low whistles, and the slightly bigger size of the holes is well worth it for the tone that this whistle gives you!

I would highly recommend the Howard low D whistle! If you’ve never played a low D before then the bigger size and wider spacing of the finger holes means that you may find this one tricky at first, and perhaps you would want to try a slightly more beginner friendly whistle before upgrading to this one - there are other whistles on the market that are manufactured with closer finger spacing. But if you want to upgrade and get a top quality advanced whistle, then you won’t go wrong with this one.

If you like the sound of this whistle you can find them on the Big Whistle website where you'll also find a wide range of whistles to suit every level of player - https://bigwhistle.co.uk/product/howard-low-d-whistle/?ref=Leyna

See the Howard low D in action in my 'How To Train Your Dragon' music video below, and stay tuned for more whistle reviews and insights into my music to come! Don't forget, if you want to learn any of the songs featured in this post then you can sign up to my Patreon channel and get access to my tin whistle tabs and much more exclusive content!

Sone of the links included in my blog are affiliate links, which means if you click on one and go on to purchase an instrument, I will earn a small commission and you will also be supporting me! I only endorse instruments that I play and love ☺️