Lol. You're not entirely wrong. If you knew the Sweetone was $10, and you listened to the Carbony and guessed the price, your guess would probably be inaccurate. I like my Carbony for its handling, and how the tone feels warm and woody while the Sweetone feels thin and "tinny", but the breathiness of the Carbony can be jarring when directly compared to the purer whistles.
I've long held the Sweetones in very high regard. I personally found that a good Sweetone, for the money, is tough to beat, and while one might pay ten or twenty times the price for a high end whistle, you definitely aren't getting ten to twenty times the performance.
The thing about Sweetone for me is that I enjoy others playing it, but when I play it, the tone is annoying in the low to mid notes, not the high notes. I have no idea why.
I really enjoy my carbony high D, but it is the most breathy sounding whistle I own, I feel it is almost too much. I love the sound of the McManus, most of my playing is at home so I'd probably at away from playing it. Is it really that loud?
The McManus is significantly louder at the bottom end than most whistles, but only slightly louder at the top. It's very well balanced. I don't think it's unpleasantly loud, but I still need earplugs to play it comfortably (like most high Ds).
This is amazing! I’m reading a book, Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles and Simon gets conscripted into the tale end of the civil war and is made to play for his regiment. I wanted to know what the instrument was that was described in the story and what it may have sounded like. Thanks!
@@NathanielDowellThanks! no sooner did I ask the question that I realized it sounded familiar. I went over to my new Joanie Madden CD and yep, first song. Beautiful!
I jabe wanted a Carbomy whistle for so long. I mostly play D, C, Bb, A and F. What would you recommend for my first buy? I do like the solo with 7 holes a bit, so I'm thinking of that, High D. What makes tje cleanest tones of the Bb, A and F, suggestion?🙏😊. Thankyou for sharing. 💖🙏👍
I don't have a Carbony A, though I played one. The wide-bore Bb I have is really crisp sounding, but the F is my favorite of the Carbony whistles I own. That's just me though, and I tend to prefer low F whistles in general.
@@NathanielDowell , I do need an F, so I guess I go for one, thankyou. The best whistle in F I had was made by a Swedish maler you might heard of, Marc Lofgren. I urge you to "try" and contact him. He makes some of the best whistles ever. But man is he hard to come by. Anyway, if you want something special, rare, amazing, fantastic,,,you should dig deep and find this guy honestly. My F was in thick aluminum and I never heard an F better than this. Sadly, regrettably I trade it for a Sindt(I member do that again if I find one). But I'm left with my first Lofgren whistle in High D. It has a Brass tube, some brass to the fipple and Blackwood for mouthpiece. It's the nicest whistle I've seen and I will NEVER trade it, ok, maybe if someone offered me a Silkstone Ace or Silkstone Alloy D, preferable both. I even throw in a John Sindt Whistle in C. I do want those Silkstone's so very much. I had the pleasure to try one, and since that I never forgot it and my longing and desire grows every day, like a sickness, unbearable.🙏💖
@@taazen74 I've heard of Marc Lofgren, and of his reputation for being difficult to contact. Some day, I'd love to order something from him, but I'm not sure I have the will to pursue a maker like that. It's hard enough to contact Colin Goldie.
It looks like you don't need a lot of push / air for the wide bore Bflat? Maybe it's because I came to the whistle from the recorder, but I favour whistles that don't require a lot of breath to play, just greater breath control. Would you say this is a standard for carbony whistles?
Most of the Carbony whistles are very easy blowing, meaning they don't require much breath force to play, but the soprano D is an exception to that, requiring a firmer breath in the second octave than most high D whistles. The Bb is pretty easy blowing.
@@NathanielDowell I think if I do buy a carbony it'll be in high D. I assume the C nat is the same fingering on the D? P.S. I splashed out a bit of cash on a Syn high D ( Great sounding whistles by the way ) a while back only to find I needed 0XXX00 for a C nat. I was not a happy man LOL
Can you pick two of your favorite carbony whistles? And some people say this whistle is thick and some people say it's clear. Which one is real? Also, is the volume higher or lower than Burke session or goldie?
My two favorite Carbony whistles are the low F and low E. The Goldie soprano D was one of the loudest whistles I've played, but it's been a while since I played one, but the one I had was probably louder than the Burke Session D, and maybe even louder than my McManus. Neither my Burke Session D nor my Carbony leading tone D strike me as being particularly loud. They both get lost in a noisy session. My Carbony leading tone soprano D has a breathy tone that makes it softer sounding, but I played two others at a festival (the "quiet" model and the "session" model), and both of them had a louder high B, so mine might be a bit unusual.
@@어쿠스틱데이 the G is great. My only complaint, and it's more a preference than a true complaint, is that it plays like an excellent high whistle, rather than a low whistle. The F is a larger head, and a fuller sound. The G just sounds smaller, though again, it's still an awesome whistle. It might be my third favorite of the Carbony whistles. I've asked Rob about making a wide bore G for me, and I may see if I can get him to send me one at some point.
Low D - 1:54
E - 3:41
F - 5:24
G - 7:10
Bb - 9:05 (Wide Bore)
High D - 11:35
I’m 3 years late, but thanks for the detailed review! I think I’m going with the Bb for my next whistle :)
I'm 7 months late, but I think I'll buy a Bb whistle too.
When you realise that your Sweetone sounds better than all these Carbonies;) Stay healthy, Nathaniel, regards from infected Poland!
Lol. You're not entirely wrong. If you knew the Sweetone was $10, and you listened to the Carbony and guessed the price, your guess would probably be inaccurate. I like my Carbony for its handling, and how the tone feels warm and woody while the Sweetone feels thin and "tinny", but the breathiness of the Carbony can be jarring when directly compared to the purer whistles.
I've long held the Sweetones in very high regard. I personally found that a good Sweetone, for the money, is tough to beat, and while one might pay ten or twenty times the price for a high end whistle, you definitely aren't getting ten to twenty times the performance.
The thing about Sweetone for me is that I enjoy others playing it, but when I play it, the tone is annoying in the low to mid notes, not the high notes. I have no idea why.
I really enjoy my carbony high D, but it is the most breathy sounding whistle I own, I feel it is almost too much. I love the sound of the McManus, most of my playing is at home so I'd probably at away from playing it. Is it really that loud?
The McManus is significantly louder at the bottom end than most whistles, but only slightly louder at the top. It's very well balanced. I don't think it's unpleasantly loud, but I still need earplugs to play it comfortably (like most high Ds).
This is amazing! I’m reading a book, Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles and Simon gets conscripted into the tale end of the civil war and is made to play for his regiment. I wanted to know what the instrument was that was described in the story and what it may have sounded like. Thanks!
Great review! Could you tell me what is the name of first tune you play on the low D please?
The Immigrant
@@NathanielDowellThanks! no sooner did I ask the question that I realized it sounded familiar. I went over to my new Joanie Madden CD and yep, first song. Beautiful!
I jabe wanted a Carbomy whistle for so long. I mostly play D, C, Bb, A and F. What would you recommend for my first buy? I do like the solo with 7 holes a bit, so I'm thinking of that, High D. What makes tje cleanest tones of the Bb, A and F, suggestion?🙏😊. Thankyou for sharing. 💖🙏👍
I don't have a Carbony A, though I played one. The wide-bore Bb I have is really crisp sounding, but the F is my favorite of the Carbony whistles I own. That's just me though, and I tend to prefer low F whistles in general.
@@NathanielDowell , I do need an F, so I guess I go for one, thankyou. The best whistle in F I had was made by a Swedish maler you might heard of, Marc Lofgren. I urge you to "try" and contact him. He makes some of the best whistles ever. But man is he hard to come by. Anyway, if you want something special, rare, amazing, fantastic,,,you should dig deep and find this guy honestly. My F was in thick aluminum and I never heard an F better than this. Sadly, regrettably I trade it for a Sindt(I member do that again if I find one). But I'm left with my first Lofgren whistle in High D. It has a Brass tube, some brass to the fipple and Blackwood for mouthpiece. It's the nicest whistle I've seen and I will NEVER trade it, ok, maybe if someone offered me a Silkstone Ace or Silkstone Alloy D, preferable both. I even throw in a John Sindt Whistle in C. I do want those Silkstone's so very much. I had the pleasure to try one, and since that I never forgot it and my longing and desire grows every day, like a sickness, unbearable.🙏💖
@@taazen74 I've heard of Marc Lofgren, and of his reputation for being difficult to contact. Some day, I'd love to order something from him, but I'm not sure I have the will to pursue a maker like that. It's hard enough to contact Colin Goldie.
It looks like you don't need a lot of push / air for the wide bore Bflat? Maybe it's because I came to the whistle from the recorder, but I favour whistles that don't require a lot of breath to play, just greater breath control. Would you say this is a standard for carbony whistles?
Most of the Carbony whistles are very easy blowing, meaning they don't require much breath force to play, but the soprano D is an exception to that, requiring a firmer breath in the second octave than most high D whistles. The Bb is pretty easy blowing.
@@NathanielDowell Cheers. Thanks for the info. P.S. Can you get a decent C Nat using 0XX000 ?
@@fatheroblivion45 For the wide bore Bb? OXXOOO is the way to go. I play one at about 11:01.
Also, if you're interested in the Carbony Bb, I play it against several other Bb whistles here: th-cam.com/video/WRAs2k_sbm0/w-d-xo.html
@@NathanielDowell I think if I do buy a carbony it'll be in high D. I assume the C nat is the same fingering on the D?
P.S. I splashed out a bit of cash on a Syn high D ( Great sounding whistles by the way ) a while back only to find I needed
0XXX00 for a C nat. I was not a happy man LOL
Can you pick two of your favorite carbony whistles?
And some people say this whistle is thick and some people say it's clear. Which one is real?
Also, is the volume higher or lower than Burke session or goldie?
My two favorite Carbony whistles are the low F and low E.
The Goldie soprano D was one of the loudest whistles I've played, but it's been a while since I played one, but the one I had was probably louder than the Burke Session D, and maybe even louder than my McManus. Neither my Burke Session D nor my Carbony leading tone D strike me as being particularly loud. They both get lost in a noisy session.
My Carbony leading tone soprano D has a breathy tone that makes it softer sounding, but I played two others at a festival (the "quiet" model and the "session" model), and both of them had a louder high B, so mine might be a bit unusual.
What did you think of carbony G?
tone, sound size, low-pitched stability, overall balance
@@어쿠스틱데이 the G is great. My only complaint, and it's more a preference than a true complaint, is that it plays like an excellent high whistle, rather than a low whistle. The F is a larger head, and a fuller sound. The G just sounds smaller, though again, it's still an awesome whistle. It might be my third favorite of the Carbony whistles.
I've asked Rob about making a wide bore G for me, and I may see if I can get him to send me one at some point.
Thank you^^
Thanks for making this video! What's the name of the tune are you playing at 3:51?
'Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór' by O'Carolan
@@NathanielDowell Thanks! :)
I'm pretty sure the low E will be my next one. I'll give you $160 for it. 😁
I'll certainly take $160, but I'll keep the whistle :)
You have a couple of $ in that rack.
I got four of them used at very good prices, but yes.
@@NathanielDowell As a matter of fact, a used high D Carbony would sooth me well.