http://www.tinwhistler.com
The new site is located (temporarily) at http://wandering-whistler.com
That's an old domain that I never let go of, and I'm using it as a staging ground to test the new site. In a few days, once I have any bugs out and the site polished, I will move it over to tinwhistler.com
I started the site back in '95 or '96. Back then, there wasn't much on the internet in the way of whistle info, or sheet music. Now, of course, you can't throw a stick without hitting an irish music website.
When I first wrote the site, the entire site was static HTML, and every new tune required me to make a new page. This wasn't a problem when I had a few dozen tunes. A few years later, I re-developed the site with a database back end (Microsoft Access) in ASP so that adding new tunes mostly required making some database changes. Then I redesigned it again in 2007 or 2008 in ASP.NET, reusing the same MSAccess database, but developing it in .NET.
Anyway, it's time for me to update again and move things to a more modern era. I have moved the database to a SQL Server, and taken the opportunity to add new features, namely:
Tune features
- The tune index page is searchable, sortable, and filterable on tune name and type. You can also sort the columns labeled MIDI,MP3 and Low MP3 if you're looking for tunes with recordings. No longer will you need to click "search by name" or "search by type" and then know the first letter of the tune you want to play.
- The tune index page has on-demand loading of HTML5 audio players. Say you search for "Road to Lisdoonvarna", get 2 results, and don't know which you think you want? Select one, and click the play button on the audio players that appear.
- The tunes details page also has all the audio in on-demand streaming players, and also now allows for me to post video.
- If I've made a recording of a tune on the tunes page, I can link to the review of the whistle that I played the tune on (this is a work in progress for some of the old recordings, since I don't always remember what whistle I might've used 15 years ago!)
- Tunes are directly linkable. For example you can link to The Butterfly directly. This feature was lost when I redid the site in the mid 2000's.
- The review index page is searchable, filterable and sortable on the maker's name and the model name of the whistle. I'll soon add a column for the price at time of review (so you can search by least expensive, for instance) once I clean up the data in the database a bit.
- The review detail page has html5 streaming audio and video, and if the tune being played is in the archive, you can click the tune name to go directly to the sheet music.
- Reviews are directly linkable. For example, you can link directly to my review of the snakewood Thin Weasel.
- Since I've moved it to a SQL server back end, I can write tools to help me update and maintain the site. One of the reasons I don't add many tunes or reviews is because I'd have to download the MSAccess database, make a bunch of changes directly into the database (keeping in mind all the index numbers and stuff from the various tables), and then upload the database back to the site. I can write some editors to simplify the entire process and make live changes instantly. (I've already written and tested the FAQ editor and added a couple of FAQ questions).