Feadoga Stain Whistles

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Mikethebook
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Tell us something.: May 2022, I'm a second-time beginner to the whistle and low whistle after a three-year gap due to a chest injury brought to an end twelve years of playing. I've started on a high whistle and much is coming back quickly but it will be a while before I can manage a Low D again where my interest really lies. I chiefly love slow airs rather than dance tunes and am a fan of the likes of Davy Spillane, Eoin Duignan, Fred Morrison and Paddy Keenan.
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Feadoga Stain Whistles

Post by Mikethebook »

I was checking out the whistle keys Mary Bergin used to record the two Feadoga Stain Albums and was shocked to find her main whistle was an Eb. That was followed by an F. The standard D hardly got a look in. Is there any particular reason she might have recorded with an Eb rather than the D?
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Re: Feadoga Stain Whistles

Post by Mr.Gumby »

Not sure why you would be shocked about that. The Eb is bright, highly responsive and a joy to play. It is a favourite for solo playing of many whistleplayers. Many flute players use Eb for solo playing as well much for the same reasons.

The environment at the time, Hughes in Spiddal was MB"s local, so to speak, was much geared towards Eb as well, with Frankie Gavin and De emerging Dannan in full flight.
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kenny
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Re: Feadoga Stain Whistles

Post by kenny »

The whole Eb business is an interesting phenomenon. Many recordings in the 1980s in particular, seemed to be made with instruments pitched to Eb. I don't think it is so common these days, in fact you find many recordings going the other way, to a lower pitch of C, Bb or even B.
Again in the 1980s, sessions were occasionally pitched in Eb, the thought at the time was that in many cases it was for reasons of exclusion. I think it became less common as we went through the 1990s.
What happens on recordings and stage performance is different from what happens in real life sessions, and certainly any teaching situations. Mary held a weekend of workshops in Scotland a good few years back, D whistles, of course. On the few happy times I've heard her play in sessions, again, it's been "concert pitch" with D whistles.
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Re: Feadoga Stain Whistles

Post by Mr.Gumby »

in fact you find many recordings going the other way, to a lower pitch of C, Bb or even B.
The past few years I have seen a trend towards F flutes so pitch on the rise again. Although in fairness I saw some lovely duets of F flutes and Bb and C flutes just before Covid arrived. Different sounds being explored.
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Mikethebook
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Tell us something.: May 2022, I'm a second-time beginner to the whistle and low whistle after a three-year gap due to a chest injury brought to an end twelve years of playing. I've started on a high whistle and much is coming back quickly but it will be a while before I can manage a Low D again where my interest really lies. I chiefly love slow airs rather than dance tunes and am a fan of the likes of Davy Spillane, Eoin Duignan, Fred Morrison and Paddy Keenan.
Location: Scotland

Re: Feadoga Stain Whistles

Post by Mikethebook »

Thanks for your replies. Shocked might have been a strong word. Surprised would have been better. But I understand better now. I might check out an Eb myself!
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Re: Feadoga Stain Whistles

Post by Mr.Gumby »

kenny wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 3:49 am The whole Eb business is an interesting phenomenon. Many recordings in the 1980s in particular, seemed to be made with instruments pitched to Eb. I don't think it is so common these days..
Tommy Peoples is sometimes mentioned as inspiration for tuning up, Frankie Gavin certainly said he went to Eb after hearing Peoples. Tony Linnane is probably another one who took his cue from Peoples (there's a great story how very early on Tony Linnane's father picked up a hitchhiker on the road between Kilfenora and Corofin. Young Tommy Peoples, 'who looked like Elvis Presley' had just arrived in Clare. They ended up in the Linnane home after it emerged he was carrying a fiddle. Peoples admitted to 'playing a bit' and was coaxed into giving them a tune. The fiddle came out and he launched into a bunch of big tunes not heard in Clare until then, the Oak Tree and that sort of thing. Jaws had to be picked up off the floor, as you can imagine.)
Anyway, Linnane is still partial to tuning up. Seen him regularly with Mary B and Mick Conneely, in Eb. With others as well, saw him a week before lockdown with Danny Mahony, Eb as well. Several fiddlers influenced by him continue to play tuned up as well. It hasn't gone away just yet.
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Re: Feadoga Stain Whistles

Post by Nanohedron »

Mr.Gumby wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 2:25 am The Eb is bright, highly responsive and a joy to play. It is a favourite for solo playing of many whistleplayers. Many flute players use Eb for solo playing as well much for the same reasons.
Yes indeed. My D flute also had an Eb body, and I used that when playing solo for dancers; it seemed to cut through the battering much better. If the D was a Rolls Royce, the Eb was a Lamborghini.

The only time I ever played an Eb session was after everyone else had left, and there was just a fiddler, me, and another fluter. I suggested we switch to Eb for a few - the other fluter played mine, and I capoed the cittern up a half step - and the effect was magical; "solar" was the word that came to mind. We must have played for another couple of hours, we were so energized.

My present whistles include a C, D, and Eb. I don't think I could do without an Eb ever again.
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