Welcome to O'Brien Pennywhistles

I create handcrafted copper pennywhistles. I have recently received very good reviews on the Chiff and Fipple website and on pennywhistle.co.uk

My whistles have a curved airway and are tunable. They come in the keys of D, C, E, Eb, and Bb. I also make low D whistles.

I offer a choice of fipple materials: copper, clear lucite or oak.

Whistles are finished in nickel plate or clear plastic.

Prices:(including shipping)

Head joint: C$45

Body: C$20

Please email me at davidpeterobrien@yahoo.com for more information and ordering.

Here is a copy of my latest review:

A few weeks ago, after an initial introduction on the message board that went a little crazy - having nothing to do with David (see http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=19609 ) - David asked if I would like to check out one of his whistles for review. I said sure, so he sent it and I received it yesterday.

The outside is nickel-colored and the inside is copper...so you can see red coming through the holes. Very cool.

This one doesn't have a lucite fipple plug, but rather, a copper one (nickel-plated on the outside).

The outermost tube of the mouthpiece is soldered onto the inner one, and the tuning slide is also soldered on. It is a hefty whistle with a wide bore. He has engraved his name, the number of the whistle, and its key.

The curved windway, made of two consecutively-sized tubes with a piece cut out, looks normal, but the blade isn't a blade at all. It is an almost-flat end of a tube that is about 1.5mm in thickness!

The window is also huge. When I saw it, I thought the whistle would be unbelievably breathy. I said this to my husband, Dan. I told him I was going to hate it.

Then I played it. This whistle, for me, defies physics. It should be totally breathy. It should lack tonal character. But it isn't and it doesn't. It has a sweet and focused, strong but not excessively loud (but loud enough, due to the bore thickness), round and very pleasing tone and it is unbelievably comfortable to play! The bell note is resonant and strong, without breath noise, as is the rest of the first octave. The second octave has very slightly more air sound, but still not more than my favorite Abell. In fact, this whistle, shockingly, plays very similarly to my favorite Abell, which is still my favorite whistle of all time. I am seriously impressed and pleased with this whistle and I think, for the price David charges (something like US$50), this is a wonderful mid-range choice.










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