The most repeated question on the Chiff and Fipple

[sfmans]

There's one important omission from the list at the top of the thread.

The fundamental answer to the question 'what will make me sound like the good whistlers I've heard' is lots of practice. Whether the absolute beginner puts a Clarke or a Copeland (*) between their lips, the sheer possession of that physical object is not going to make them sound like Micho Russell or Brian Finnegan.

(*) Other alliterative pairs are available

[Lempriere]

Cracking post

[sbfluter]

I cast my vote for other, so here's my specification:

I think this might work similar to how it works for those who would like to get a parrot. I suggest to people who want to get a parrot to save your money (and your life) and get a small, inexpensive, easy-to-care-for bird like a cockatiel or a budgie. Parade around with your cockatiel or budgie, post youtube videos, instagram the heck out of your bird, whatever it takes to get the word out into the world that you are a bird person. I promise you that people will appear out of the shrubbery begging you to take their cockatoos and amazons.

I would that it may work similarly for whistles (although you probably won't get a free whistle).

I suggest you buy an inexpensive whistle, learn to play a tune and then take it to the session. Then sit there with your whistle and ooh and ahh over the whistles the other guys have. At my session the whistle guys bring bags of whistles. Why do they have so many? We're talking different keys, different materials, whistles that come apart into two or three pieces, whistles with tape part way over the holes to correct the intonation, whistles that are taped together so one can be a drone, whistles with cracked plastic heads they can't bear to part with, low whistles, high ones, you name it. If they're a friendly bunch, they'll take out all their whistles and show them to you, demonstrate them, maybe even let you play them. You may get better insight on which ones are not in tune at all and which ones sound really good. Then you will have a way better idea what to get.

[chas]

For parrots, I'd suggest a budgie first. They only live 5-10 years, so if you discover you're not a parrot person, you haven't made a decades-long commitment. Even a cockatiel is good for a decade or two. Heck, ours was given just a few months to live 3-4 years ago and is still flying, but not really kicking with her bad leg (degenerative bone disease). Some budgies just have awesome personalities, too.

[pancelticpiper]

I think this might work similar to how it works for those who would like to get a parrot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218

[sbfluter]

For parrots, I'd suggest a budgie first. They only live 5-10 years,

I've got a budgie somebody gave me 15 years ago. Poor thing has emphysema or something but she's still going.

[Half Pint]

Little Black Whistle

Your skill level will surpass the instrument quickly, thus invoking something deeply within you to buy 3 new whistles.

[Steve Bliven]

budgie.... emphysema

Emphysema in budgies — may set a new record for thread drift.


Best wishes.

Steve

[ickabod]

I cast my vote for other, so here's my specification:

I suggest to people who want to get a parrot to save your money (and your life) and get a small, inexpensive, easy-to-care-for bird like a cockatiel or a budgie.

I suggest you buy an inexpensive whistle, learn to play a tune and then take it to the session. Then sit there with your whistle and ooh and ahh over the whistles the other guys have. At my session the whistle guys bring bags of whistles. Why do they have so many? We're talking different keys, different materials, whistles that come apart into two or three pieces, whistles with tape part way over the holes to correct the intonation, whistles that are taped together so one can be a drone, whistles with cracked plastic heads they can't bear to part with, low whistles, high ones, you name it. If they're a friendly bunch, they'll take out all their whistles and show them to you, demonstrate them, maybe even let you play them. You may get better insight on which ones are not in tune at all and which ones sound really good. Then you will have a way better idea what to get.

I like the metaphor. This point has been raised many times over the past as well.. Just like the journey to find the right whistle, there have also been many… shall we say??.. Whistling commandments that have been emphasized for the whistling neophytes searching for the perfect white whale. I will highlight a few of the most repeated and the… uhhh.. err.. commandments the whistling community seems to feel are the least subjective.

1. It’s not the whistle that makes you sound terrible!!
2. See commandment 1 again so you don’t forget!
3. Try before you buy or be forever stuck with the dead whistle (or dead parrot if you prefer)!! This of course was the metaphor I think sbfluter and Richard were stressing.
a. Common neophyte response to the commandment: But, I don’t live near any place that lets you try whistles.
i. Common response to that response: Then find online vendors that let you try before you buy!! (This tends to run on back and forth for a bit till one side tires of the process.)
4. To learn how to play the whistle on the cheap please see the charity work of father Ryan Duns. And may the blessings of St. Patrick behold you.

[pancelticpiper]

I suggest you buy an inexpensive whistle, learn to play a tune and then take it to the session.

Wise advice. When I first got into Irish fluteplaying I was trying a load of different flutes and pondering about makers and a wise old-school player told me "just buy a flute and learn how to play it".

At my session the whistle guys bring bags of whistles...different keys, different materials, whistles that come apart into two or three pieces, whistles with tape part-way over the holes to correct the intonation, whistles that are taped together so one can be a drone, whistles with cracked plastic heads they can't bear to part with, low whistles, high ones, you name it.

At our session the woman who plays whistle there regularly brings one whistle, the same inexpensive high D she always plays. She knows all the tunes, she plays in tune, she plays in time.

I'll bring my one Low D. If I know in advance that a certain person will be there, I might bring whistles in G, A, and C due to us having certain tunes worked out for those.

I can't remember anyone showing up at a session with piles of whistles like that. One does see that all the time at recording sessions, because you never know what sort of sound the composer wants, or what key the stuff will be in.

they'll take out all their whistles and show them to you, demonstrate them, maybe even let you play them. You may get better insight on which ones are not in tune at all and which ones sound really good. Then you will have a way better idea what to get.

Yes there's nothing like hands-on trying of various whistles to see what suits you. I always advocate, especially with Low Whistles, picking them up secondhand: you can try a whistle for as long as you please, and if it doesn't suit you can sell it for the same amount. The trial period is free.

[sbfluter]

I have to say after seeing the creative way the one whistle player in our group manages to get his cheapy whistles in tune with tape and rubber bands pretty much inspires me to try and see how well in tune I can get my own cheapy whistles.

One thing he does is he puts a paper tube at the end attached with rubber bands. When the whistle starts to get too sharp he can extend the paper tube to bring it down.

He's been known to not only put tape on the holes to shift the tone a little he has also taken a dremel to them and he has tweaked the fipples, too. I guess being cheap whistles makes it not a huge deal to do these things.

The other whistle player plays a high end whistle and boy is that thing nice. I know I would never do it justice myself, though.

[pancelticpiper]

he puts a paper tube at the end attached with rubber bands. When the whistle starts to get too sharp he can extend the paper tube to bring it down.

That extends the bore a bit and flattens the bell-note and its octave. It's a way to fix a whistle where the bell-note is sharper than the notes made with the finger-holes. The alternative is to carve out all the fingerholes to bring them up to the pitch of the bell-note, which is what I do.

He's been known to not only put tape on the holes to shift the tone a little he has also taken a dremel to them

Yes you put a bit of tape covering the edge of the fingerhole closest to the mouthpiece to flatten that note a bit.

You carve away some of the edge of the fingerhole closest to the mouthpiece, enlarging the hole a bit and making it a bit oval, to sharpen that note a bit.

This taping and carving is Standard Operating Procedure on Highland pipe chanters, and works the same on whistles.

One Highland pipemaker actually came out with a chanter on which all the tone-holes were longish ovals, the intention being to always have tape on the upper edge of each hole, so you can make micro tuning adjustments flatter and sharper on each hole. This is necessary due to each reed having a unique built-in scale, and also certain notes of the scale going sharp or flat depending on whether you're playing on a grass field, or on pavement, or what the weather is like.

These issues don't happen with whistles, so it's better (in my opinion) to carve out the flat notes to match the sharp notes so that you have a permanently in-tune whistle, rather than tape down the sharp notes to match the flat ones.

[ickabod]

I have to say after seeing the creative way the one whistle player in our group manages to get his cheapy whistles in tune with tape and rubber bands pretty much inspires me to try and see how well in tune I can get my own cheapy whistles.

That certainly is one way to go about getting your cheap whistles in tune.. As for me, the best way I've found to get my cheap whistles in tune is to just buy them tweaked from Jerry Freeman. Just FYI, everything I bought from Jerry has not been golden. Nor has the intonation been perfect on every whistle. But, I've gotten some really nice whistles from him at incredibly low prices.

Not only that, it is I think a misconception to go along with a prejudice that cheap whistles equate to being out of tune. Certainly, many are definitely wildly out of tune. However, I have a Waltons Mellow C whistle on Feadog body that is intonated very well. (At least that's what my ears tell and flutini confirms for me). My $12 Generation B-flat is intonated almost perfectly. I have a Burke Low G I play as comparison or benchmark if you prefer (I think most would concur that is at least a high end whistle). Flutini tells me they are both as equally accurate when it comes to intonation, for their own individual keys of course. Not to mention my Susato High C is intonated very well.

I don't mean to sound preachy or know-it-all-ish. I'm sure sbfluter probably knows this and I'm not saying anything new. But, I just thought I would mention for the benefit of those who are brand new to whistling and reading the post. My experience has been that cheap whistles do not necessarily equate to poor intonation.

[tstermitz]

Not only that, it is I think a misconception to go along with a prejudice that cheap whistles equate to being out of tune. Certainly, many are definitely wildly out of tune.

Maybe it's possible to find decent, cheap whistles, but I don't believe that is the rule. Quality control is all over the place, and beginners have a hard enough time learning music without struggling against technical shortcomings. How would a beginner even determine whether the whistle was the problem? The Freeman Tweaked Generation that I have is very easy to play and sooooo nicely in tune (nice, if not perfect), that I would heartily urge a beginner to make that extra investment. $40 is really nothing in these days of $400 sneakers.

Autobiographically: I suffered (and my fellow musicians suffered even more greatly!) for a number of years with an out-of-tune Generation. This was before tweaking was a common practice, and I even gave up the ghost of Irish music for a couple of decades. Now I'm back and every time I hit that sweet high A I feel a sense of, I don't know, warmth? satisfaction? right-ness?

The Generation isn't perfect, but very much good enough. The bell note is rich, and most importantly, the high notes don't provoke cringing.

[pancelticpiper]

Maybe it's possible to find decent, cheap whistles, but I don't believe that is the rule. Quality control is all over the place, and beginners have a hard enough time learning music without struggling against technical shortcomings. How would a beginner even determine whether the whistle was the problem? The Freeman Tweaked Generation that I have is very easy to play and sooooo nicely in tune (nice, if not perfect), that I would heartily urge a beginner to make that extra investment. $40 is really nothing in these days of $400 sneakers.

Very true! It's wonderful what Jerry does, and it's great for beginners as you say, because they know that any issue isn't the whistle's fault!

Just the other day I was playing whistle at a wedding (I had to play LOTR stuff, don't ask) and afterwards somebody came up and said how he's been trying to learn on a cheap whistle, that he's having trouble with the high notes being all scratchy and wonky. I assured him that it's just as likely the whistle as him. Sad to have to tell people that! But we're talking $10 instruments, so I suppose quality control shouldn't be expected.

I suffered for a number of years with an out-of-tune Generation. This was before tweaking was a common practice...

I think tweaking has always been a common practice. When I started playing, in the 1970s, Generations were the only D whistles around. All the famous "big" players, all the "real Irish" players, played Generation D's (brass with red top usually) because there was nothing else.

It went like this: spend a lifetime trying every Generation you can get your hands on. Always, the one you play is the best one you've ever had the chance to buy. And you modify it to correct whatever shortcomings it has: carve holes, pack the head, bind the head to prevent the inevitable splitting. I still believe that there's no whistle quite like a really good vintage Generation.