Chiff and Fipple Forums

If you are interested in buying a decent set of GHB, talk to your instructor first. He may know of someone locally selling a good set. He may have some ideas of what to look for. He will probably tell you that any Scottish make (and most Canadian or US) will be fine. It is sometimes possible to make...

Kinda funny. I was just discussing the "how" of bagpipe instruction with my teacher on Friday. She related one year when she taught a high school group to play the bagpipes. They had to go from about half of them being able to play a scale on the practice chanter to all of them being able ...

I read a book once in which a mad scientist was making rectangular goldfish. The idea was to eventually use the same methods to make sardine packing more economical of space... The method ought to amuse everyone here. Essentially, he discovered that goldfish don't just grow to suit the size of tank ...

Here we have the fingering chart AND a note-by-note walk-through on Amazing Grace. http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/bp-text.htm When I found this, I was already familiar with the GHB fingering and could play several tunes, so I can't really vouch for the teaching method. I personally urge anyone ...

For Cranberry: Well, you and I don't always agree, but I happen to be with you on this one. I have heard of message boards where blatant self-promotion by a few drove away so many of the more valuable posters (defined as the ones who consistently put in good information on the intended topics of the...

I have not tried the Jerry whistles nor the Serpents, so I can't compare them, here, but I'll give you my advice as a fairly low-skill player who like Clarkes and Sweetones. I advise a Dixon for the cheaper, louder option and a Whitecap for the spendier (not much, though) option. I have both and the...

Are you sure you want to use steel strings on a hurdy gurdy? My understanding was that gut or a gut replacement was the way to go. Seems like the steel would really be taking a chance at wearing into the wheel. Of course, the cotton on the strings might be enough to keep them from doing any damage. ...

Anyone here ever tried playing a fiddle that's strung with mandolin strings?

Just curious.

-Patrick

If there is a shop you can find that will let you try out low whistles, go there. Be sure you know what you can spend on one. Try them out. You might be a rare person who can make the finger stretch work easily. Any shop that carries low whistles ought to also stock tutor books. I second the suggest...

One thing I will note, I have a Chieftain Low D and love it. No offense to Overton devotees, but I liked it better than the Overton Low D I played more recently. On the other hand, I also got a chance to compare Chieftain high D and Overton high D side-by-side and the Overton was the hands-down supe...

When I was a kid, I read that The Canary Islands were so named because of the whistled language used by the indiginous people who lived there. I always thought that was a pretty cool thing. Canary Islanders also have a really distinctive form of knife that I think is just lovely. I hope this is pres...

I own and have played both the tinplate and wooden Cooperman whistles. I think that if anyone could figure out how to tweak the wooden one into decent playability for less than a $15 markup, he'd really have a saleable product. The original costs about $15 and I suspect a lot of folks would buy a $3...

I have not tried one of his ski pole C whistles, but I have a Whitecap D that is now my absolute favorite whistle. I had actually stopped buying D whistles, as I was perfectly satisfied with what I had. Then, I got this one from Mack and everything else had to take a back seat. I cannot say enough g...

Once worked with a supervisor named Patricia, who went by Pat. There was a co-worker who was also a Patricia. We had Pat, Patrick, and Patty. I really miss working there, to tell the truth... Those either-or names can be a really entertaining source of mistakes. Like when I talk about Ms. Kim Fulton...

Of the assorted "Violin Uke" instruments, the Ukelin is probably best known. They go on ebay for around $50 in playable condition. I've wanted one for about 2 years, but can't justify the cost when I doubt it would be anything better than a dust collector... For how to play, see http://www...