I had a little smile at your surprised and positive reaction to the Generation whistle. The numerous outrageous claims and slanders aimed at Generation whistles online is both annoying and depressing.

Good old tweaked generations sound so good, Mary Bergin all the way!!

That was rather interesting. A few thoughts, if I may. The Generations are not tuned to equal temperament but are closer to just temperament (probably to sound better in tune with the Uilleann Pipes). So when you set the tuner to just temperament, they will be much better in tune. Even though they still tend to go a bit flat at the end of the 2nd octave but that can be adjusted by blowing harder or tuning the lower octave slightly sharp. And one other thought. Jerry Freeman himself once explained the differences between different Generations on Facebook. He said that they (the ones in D at least) come from 4 different molds for the injection molding and some are better than others. I have a new Generation that plays just as good as my vintage one (the ones made in the 80s). But others play much worse (louder, harsher and the notes break easier).

Great video. I have several Freeman tweaked whistles in different keys and I've been very happy with them. They always seem to have a nice smoothness and consistency.

Looking forward to the whistle smackdown!

I recently revived the brass Generations I bought in the ‘70s. But now that I play with other people I’m more concerned about being in tune. My old whistles were a little sharp, so I got the Dixon 004. Which is fine. Next step was the Killarney brass. Which is really nice. But I wanted something a little edgier for the more raucous tunes. So I ordered the Generation nickel. Tuner says D bumps up to Eb, G to G# and so on. I was almost counting on the hot water trick, but after three tries ranging from rinsing to long soaking, no luck. Refund in the works. Once my Woodis arrive (I want a tuneable C), I’ll have all the high whistles I’ll ever need (I’m 73, so I can say that with confidence). I will tell my friends that any whistle will do if you’re playing - as I had for many years - by yourself. But when you’re ready to jam, get something tuneable.

Oh God, the Freeman sounded SO MUCH BETTER then the OG! I think that sharpness problem is a reason I'm not often fond of the high, metal-bodied whistles. In the lower whistles, the pitchiness is harder to hear if it's even there, but those high whistles just blare it loud and proud, and my ears want to scream! But hearing the Freeman whistle was sooooo nice! I think I'm definitely going to have to get one of those for when I get a metal whistle!

I'd like to see you review Becker Whistles. I quite like the one's I have purchased.

Funny, I just got a Freeman tweaked Bb generation and compared it with my cheapo Bb generation, the day before this video was posted. The Freeman seems smoother and more "even", but the C and C# notes are a bit raspy and I can't get much volume on them. Maybe I need to play it for a while and work it in. I do, however, love my Freeman Blackbird in D. It's my favorite.

Nice

I'd very much like you to review the Killarney whistle. They come in both brass and nickel.

I've had a Generation Bb since the early 1990s and I got a Freeman tweaked about three years ago.Freeman trims some off the end of the barrel to help with the tuning. For me, the Freeman is a lot easier to play and I like the more "pure" sound better than the rasp of the OG.

I kinda like the raspiness. I'm all about the imperfections in music and how they improve the sound. I love Bob Dylan's voice for example. It's clearly far from perfect but that's what makes it interesting. I more about the Jack White approach to music. Give me a plastic guitar and I'll show you what I can do with it.

Looks like you need to moderate your comments :) (Of course if you do, the offending comments will disappear and folks will say “what’s he on about?” ) Great idea. I look forward to more comparisons and to the final smack-down. :) As a beginner, I find choosing a whistle that is 1) easy to play, and 2) sounds good...is very difficult. I can barely (kinda sorta) play Amazing Grace and I already own 5 D whistles and have 2 more on order. Not all cheap whistles either. :( This series should be very helpful. As a beginner I struggle with “breath control” and “popping up to the next octave.” Either the whistle is so sensitive that I have difficulty holding the low notes without them popping up (Dixon non-tunable plastic or the Sweettone)...especially if I try to tongue the note...or it takes a real push to hit the next octave (my WhistleSmith large bore...which I had to buy because it is make in Maine right up the road from me) and I don’t reliably make it. I dream of a whistle that is a happy medium. Of course, in month I may be asking “what’s he on about?” as my skills develop...anyway, great job. Keep it up.

I have a tweaked high F. I like traveling with it, but prefer my Humphrey.

A nice informative comparison. I've been searching around for whistles about 7 years now and after buying some Generations at the start, as many do (simply because local music stores supply them for cheap, and we don't yet understand what is going on in the whistle marketplace), I am off them for good, because of the total lack of quality control by Generation, the great inconsistency of quality and performance, the very thin tone, the chances being high that the whistle will only perform in the lowest 1.5 octaves before the notes go raspy. It's not the pipe (I think), it's the mouthpiece that's problematic. After practicing to record a CD with whistle on some tunes and one instrumental featuring it, I opted for a Walton's "Guinness" whistle (similar to their Little Black whistle), which was still inexpensive, but far more uniform in tone and playability than any Generation I'd played in any key (while still clearly not up to the Burke/Humphrey/Chieftain/Goldie/Killarney level of excellence, it had notes that when starting to break up or add more windiness, were manageable and still musical within the particular piece I was playing). I've heard nothing but good about the Freeman upgrades, but to pay that kind of money, means I'm going to look around A LOT for all the options. I've also heard that people have had a lot better experience with Generations in the key of Bb, VS what goes on with the other keys. That might be the accidental arriving at a "sweet spot" where the tube bore size and the mouthpiece design find their best matchup. Anyone relate to that?

Just found this one. A very easy tweak you could do on the out of the box Generation is to put some sticky tac in the hollow section inside the mouthpiece. You will find it does improve things a little. I'm a big fan of Generation whistles. If you can find a pre 1982 model before they changed the moulding process they are lovely instruments.

I know a lot of people love the Generation for nostalgic or traditional reasons but it just never cut the mustard with me. The high D one anyway, Generation's Bb is shockingly good and I really love it. I find the high D more than playable but I'm more likely to get a squeak out of them that I am other whistles and while the rough sound is endearing it's not what I personally want from a whistle.

I really like Jerry's whistles. In my opinion, most of the generations aren't quite ready for use off the shelf. Some generations, even with the head adjustment, still can't be blown into tune. I think Jerry's Mellow Dog sounds similar to your Humphrey. The bluebird has just a bit more bite. Also, most of Jerry's whistles have decent tuning. I've got quite a few of Jerry's whistles and I am very happy with them.

The Gary Humphrey is the best !!!! Strong but also smooth !!!!