Low Whistle - The Modern Low Whistle

The Modern Low Whistle

English flute maker and jazz musician Bernard Overton is credited with producing the first modern low whistle in late 1971, which he made for Finbar Furey after Furey's prized Indian bamboo whistle was destroyed while on tour. Unable to repair it, Overton attempted to produce a metal replica and Finbar and himself spent many hours in the shed at the back of Bernard's house in Rugby, designing, testing and ultimately perfecting the flute. The first few were named the Furey/Overton flute but when Bernard gave up his job to hand make them full time, they decided to market them as The Overton Flute. The first resulting instrument was essentially an oversized tin whistle made of copper pipe with a wooden plug but was quickly replaced by the aluminium one. While Overton was unsatisfied with its performance, he subsequently refined the design with an all-aluminium construction, producing a whistle in A. Impressed, Finbar requested a G version for his trademark Lonesome Boatman performances. Later, according to Overton,

"He then asked for a whistle in low D, the same pitch as for the concert flute; this I called a "Tenor D Flageolet", but most musicians came to call it the "Low D". He took them on tour and used them extensively. I was soon getting calls from Ireland, Scotland, Europe and the USA, asking for the instruments, so I started to make them to order."

While before long several notable instrument makers were producing low whistles, it is usually the Riverdance tour of the 1990s that is credited with giving the low whistle commercial exposure and recognition outside traditional music circles. Of particular note is Davy Spillane, whose work in fusing the sound of traditional instruments such as the low whistle with modern jazz or RnB, for example, has done much for the instrument's visibility.