Dixon Low D Whistle 1 Piece nontunable

i already owned a kerry chieftain thunderbird low D and bought this one mostly as a practice whistle. it took a while to arrive - mine shipped from Northern Ireland. this is not a problem - i was just super impatient to get it - and it did arrive well within the estimated window.in my thoroughly amateur opinion, this is a superb low whistle for practicing or for those new to playing the low whistle. as with my thunderbird, this low D requires the same piper's grip which i find a good deal more chalanging than the standard fingering used for soprano whistles. the tone of the dixon is very nice but not quite as rich or mellow as my thunderbird - especially in the very lowest notes.HOWEVER, because of the tapered bore, the dixon requires a LOT less air and is MUCH easier to play in the upper octave without squealing or dropping the octave - or passing out from lack of breath, for that matter. it's also a hell of a lot quieter than my thunderbird which i find a good deal more comfortable when simply practicing various fingering techniques or simply improvising.the dixon is also much less expensive than the thunderbird.in terms of manufacture, the metal thunderbird is obviously a good deal sturdier and i'd think virtually indestrctable. you could certainly knock someone out with it (which of course is not the point but still)but i have ZERO complaints about the plastic dixon - it's still perfectly sturdy and mine at least is totally in tune when i play it. and mine arrived scuff and scratch free but when closely looked at i could see the marks made by turning and tapering the bore.so overall, i think the dixon low D is an excellent instrument in terms of price, quality, tone, volume and ease of playing. and i think it an excellent choice for practice or a first time low whistle player. and it's also beautiful if you just wanna play quietly to yourself.

This was my first low d whistle that I purchased. I wanted a low price one to try out before I spent more on a better quality one, because I had heard and read so much about how difficult it can be for people with smaller hands to play them. I decided to get this one after watching several YouTube review videos that had good things to say about this one and the sound was exactly what I was wanting; and I don’t regret it a bit! I have had this one and played it for about 5 months now pretty regularly, and I love it! I did and still do sometimes struggle with finger placement, piper grip is a must and even when I think I have them all placed perfectly, I’ll get the wrong pitch or squeaks from air leaking; which brings me to my only gripe. The second and especially the 5th holes are large, and as my fingers are narrow, I sometimes really struggle with actually getting them sealed off, especially with the way my hands are my knuckle is near the edge of the hole; which means sometimes I can’t get it sealed as well when I’m in the middle of playing and get squeaky notes. I don’t know all of the mechanics of how to create these instruments to get the right notes, but I feel that a small adjustment to the placement or size of the hole might correct this issue. Lastly, though I haven’t had any issues, I feel like it might actually break if I fell on it or if it accidentally was stepped on. It’s odd because it’s a sturdy instrument for essentially being plastic, but I feel like there’s a weak spot in it that makes me really baby it. Overall, I love this instrument and will likely be playing it for years to come, and it has served it’s purpose well as I am currently waiting for my more expensive low d to come in the mail any day now! Thank you for making a quality instrument, I will definitely be buying more tony Dixon whistles in the future!

Bought this for our daughter's birthday. It was delivered WAY before predicted (which was good for us) It looks great and sounds awesome. Even though she has long fingers and hands compared to my own, she still struggles to hit the holes. I would say it's a perfect whistle for a medium to large man. She is determined to play it despite the discomfort, but be warned about the size between the holes. That is the only reason I did not give it 5-stars.

I’ve heard this whistle get recommended as a great “first” low whistle quite often. After buying it, I can see why.One of the first things that jumped out at me was the fact that this whistle is a low breather. This is quite a benefit for a new player who hasn’t built their lungs up. Also, the whistle performs well for music that has almost no pauses or rests.The tuning was surprisingly better than I thought it would be. The only thing that stuck out at me was that the A note on the lower octave. It seemed to always be a bit sharp and barely passable. This was regardless of the amount breath I gave. I tried numerous times to back down as far as possible and it always seemed a tad sharp (About 15 cents to be exact). Perhaps some sort of factory error?? As for the rest of the notes. Both octaves seemed intonated and tuned very well. The whistle could be comfortably blown into tune (with the exception of the A). The C natural was really easy to attain with oxxooo. In addition, the C# was also very easy to attain without going wildly out of tune.The whistle pretty much remained clog free for me.The tone of this whistle is great! It sounds, at least to me, much more like a whistle than a flute. I can’t say this about all of the Dixon whistles.The whistle does break octaves quite easily. You may struggle with this if you are new to the instrument. Overtones also get inadvertently added at times.. But, that could be ornamentation.. Right? As for the ornaments.. Expect a full arsenal right at your fingertips!I’m really happy with the purchase. This is a fantastic second whistle.