Pat O’Riordan Low D Whistle

The tone is open and flute-like, with excellent intonation and immediate response across the registers. The thin-walled alloy body keeps the instrument notably light in the hands, a real asset for a Low D. The windway and fipple voicing are calibrated for easy, natural airflow without fighting for the upper octave.

The body is constructed in three sections of black anodized aluminum tubing, joined with brass ferrules. The ferrule just below the mouthpiece bears three etched decorative motifs that resemble shamrocks. Condition is excellent - it does have a few light surface marks on the headjoint. O'Riordan's name and the date are engraved near the mouthpiece, here reading 2001. The serial number is LBO-89.

About the Maker

Patrick O'Riordan was born in Exhall, Warwickshire, England. Born to Irish parents, he immigrated to Indiana in 1959 to work as a mechanical engineer. He started his instrument-building career with mountain dulcimers, then turned to whistles and flutes. He made his whistles in a small workshop in his garage, spending four to five hours a day to produce roughly 120 instruments a year. Demand far outpaced his output, and customers typically waited at least two years for an instrument. O'Riordan was regarded as the most innovative and highly respected whistle maker in the world, and his instruments appeared on multimillion-selling albums, Grammy award-winning recordings, and on the finest world stages and in symphony orchestras. Players of the stature of Joanie Madden performed on his whistles. O'Riordan held that the mouthpiece is the key to a good whistle, and the fipple work on his instruments remains a benchmark for the craft.