Whistles of Course, But What Else?

claudine · Post by **claudine** » Sun Jul 08, 2001 1:37 pm

Tom:FAPBITWOUFP = ... of United Federation of Planets! So that's really for everyone, very "politically correct".

WyoBadger · Post by **WyoBadger** » Mon Jul 09, 2001 9:51 am

Claudine--

I ain't playin' whistle with any little green space men. That's where I gotta draw the line.

(:

Tom

LeeMarsh · Post by **LeeMarsh** » Mon Jul 09, 2001 9:50 pm

On 2001-07-09 11:51, WyoBadger wrote:

I ain't playin' whistle with any little green space men. That's where I gotta draw the line.

Now Tom, me boy... Howdya be callin' yourself dedicated to da tunes of Erin, an' n'er be willin' ta play with da little folks dat be wearin' da green every day...

fiddling_tenor · Post by **fiddling_tenor** » Tue Jul 10, 2001 6:34 am

I've played violin since grade 4; and have sung since grade 6. And in high school I dabbled with recorder (bought one--still have it; parents played all but bass).

A little over a year ago, I was considering an electric violin and/or uillean pipes (always loved the sound). Both were priced much higher than I expected.

A friend of mine told me he bought a "tinwhistle" (he had to explain what that was). He had a Susato set and a Clark. He let me try the Clark. With my limited recorder experience, I actually figured out a scale. Thought "cool," and was hooked. Figured I could buy a lot of whistles for the cost of a set of pipes or an electric violin. [Oh, and Dale's site helped a LOT.]

So now I play violin/fiddle, and Irish whistle (I find I don't need to explain that name). I also play guitar (basic chords), and several percussion instruments.

Now I'm considering (for the future) a set of Irish bagpipes. Recently picked up a CD of "Scottish & Celtic pipes." I've NEVER heard such playing. It's beautiful. Don't misunderstand: I love the sound of 50 or more bagpipes and drums. It's inspiring: you know you're not dead (you can feel your blood rush). But solo pipes playing jigs and reels? Incredible!

But now I digress...

Blaine McArthur · Post by **Blaine McArthur** » Tue Jul 10, 2001 9:38 am

On 2001-07-10 08:34, fiddling_tenor wrote:
I love the sound of 50 or more bagpipes and drums. It's inspiring: you know you're not dead

I love the pipes in small doses, but 50 or more bagpies!?!?!?!?!? At once!?!?!?! At times like that I have wished I was dead.

As a proud member of the soon to be a clan again McArthurs, I have been to a fair number of Scottish highland games, and have the experience of listening to 100 or more pipers piping from sunrise to sunset. It was at one of these gatherings that I discovered another use for my whistle. Removing the head from my susato turns it into an effective bag deflater(peashooter).

Blaine

Mark_J · Post by **Mark_J** » Tue Jul 10, 2001 10:43 am

On 2001-07-08 12:18, LKtz wrote:
I played Flute (badly) but wait what could Julie play? (Saxaphone doesn't work great for celtic music)

Hold the phone! The Saxophone may not be that common these days, but they were fairly common in the golden era of ceili bands. Right now, you could go to http://www.rte.ie/radio/ceolnet and look up the Ardellis Ceili Band under artists:bands. Many of their tunes have some great alto sax. Also, if you want to hear some truely beautiful contemporary traditional music with the Saxophone, try looking for CD's from a band called "At the Rackett" Their first CD is self titled, their second CD was just released and I have yet to hear it. Their first CD has some great songs (two of which are love songs that follow tunes that you might associate with Republican ballads), a great flute reel duet with no accompanyment (just like old time recordings), and lots of dance music (including more waltz's than other bands).

It is actually a dream of mine: learning to play my Grandmothers old Conn (a 1929 "Chu") well enough to play in a ceili band here in the states somewhere. The thing played in one of the big bands with her in the 1940's; I want that thing in public again. But, thats just me.

adriancarrington · Post by **adriancarrington** » Sat Jul 14, 2001 8:09 pm

I was a bass player to start with, and even managed to scrape a living that way for some years.
The whistle...? Well,I just fancied something PORTABLE! I had it in mind to buy a tinwhistle (had seen them displayed)for a while before I remembered while I was actually AT the shops!
Had thought it would be nice to play melody more than bass players are usually allowed to do, and how right I was. It's such an easy instrument to make a start on, and I was SERIOUSLY hooked from day one.
Some of you may know what I mean............
Have fun all of you........