Chiff and Fipple Forums

By all means look at the whistle making pictures on my website, but they won't be of any help if you actually want to make a whistle or two. The outlay for making wooden in terms of equipment and materials is very substantial and not at all worth it for anyone with a casual interest. The Guido Gonza...

How long have you been playing? You may find that your current whistles meet those demands with more experience.
Any Jerry Freeman would be a good choice.

Any G will feel cramped. The Generation is shrill on the higher notes, but just about any high G would be.
I happen to own one of the few high G whistles that Glenn Schultz ever made and it's the only non shrill one I've ever heard. It's very birdlike in tone and is a marvel of craftsmanship.

The first rule of ITM is you can't learn it by reading the notes, just like you can't learn French from a book. That said, the Session.org has a very extensive collection of tunes with both ABC and Staff notation. Go to the Tune Search page at TheSession.org , and hit the search button. The tunes w...

Selling a Fullerton Gloucester? How could you?

Black nail polish should do the trick but if you want to try something super fast and easy, try using a black permanent Sharpie. If you don't like the results you can always try the nail polish. I have a dark navy blue car and I've used a black sharpie on small scratches in it's finish. From a coupl...

I like to think I speak my mind, but occasionally it turns into me blurting something out that would be better phrased differently. Today was one of those occasions :oops: As a new whistle player/owner my mind is consumed by everything whistle. And so, as I mooched around town I was keeping an eye ...

I use that top breathing technique a lot when my wife is sleeping. I've literally stood ten feet away from her and played a tune without waking her. Our basement stairs are at the other end of the house, and whistles sound terrific in there. I test all of the whistles I make in that stairway. Just e...

Welcome-- you're in for a world of fun and satisfaction,especially when you get to the point where you can play at sessions. It'll take time so be patient with yourself. In the meantime, keep listening to as much Irish music as you can,any instruments, and try to go to some sessions even if you can'...

I wouldn't use toothpaste. Many/most of them are abrasive. If any of it gets into a tuning slide it could really muck things up. It helps clogging since it has surfactants in it which prevent little droplets of water from forming. A simple solution of a drop or two of Dawn dishwashing liquid in a co...

Thomaston wrote:I’ve gone as high as 46 by using octave mandolin strings. Another alternative is to tune it up to an A. I believe I read about someone well known doing this but can’t remember who.

Enda Scahill plays his tenor banjos tuned ADAE. Maybe other players do too.

Do you use tongueing when you play? I find that those highest notes benefit from a little bit of that. The tongueing gives a little extra burst of air which helps get the note to speak. Instead of leaving your tongue flat in your mouth, try using your tongue as if you're saying the letter "T&qu...

I used to have a Tully silver D and liked it a lot. The eBay description of the sound, construction etc are pretty accurate. It's definitely not a session whistle, but then again I've never seen ANY Eb at a session. Unless the price of silver, and the collectible rarity are taken into account (if th...

Don't use huge amounts of oil. You only need a thin film.Do your oiling when the whistle is completely dry, not right after playing. Don't oil the windway, and don't oil the blade very much at all. After oiling, be sure to wipe ALL oil off of the mating surfaces of tuning slides. The oil can attract...

Look very closely at all areas where your breath passes through or over any part of the mouthpiece. The plastic molding process often leaves little bits of plastic where they shouldn't be. These cause turbulence in the airflow which can account for extraneous sounds.