Don't know, walrii. Could be you, or the whistle. Do T2 and T3 cuts the same? If you substitute a ~g3 roll, is it clean? Maybe post a clip for diagnosis?


Not bad form at all. Tongue, cut, tap, roll. Mix it up, be creative. Whatever fits and sounds good.

The whistle is a Mellow Dog that sounds great in all other respects, so I doubt it's the whistle. T1, T2 and T3 cuts going from high D to high G all sound about the same. When I roll the high G, the cut sounds OK but I'm already at the higher breath pressure for the high G.

Where is a good, free place to host pictures and sound files? I've been meaning to figure out how to do that but keep putting it off.

For audio, the Box.net free service is good, and popular here on the board. Friendly interface, nice features (folders, tracking, security), no spam hassles or intrusive ads. A big thumbs up from me.

Box.net free doesn't allow hot-linking, though. So for embedding pix in posts, people use Imageshack.us or similar sites.

I get the strange feeling you've answered a really important question before I'd worked out it needed asking.
As a recently converted recorder player who learned to play at school a depressing number of years ago I was taught to tongue every note (unless the music specifies not to), and until finding this site less than a week ago had never heard of a cut or a roll. I think I've gathered what it means sort of - it's like what I do accidently sometimes when I go to the wrong note but don't play it just in time, but it makes the tune sound better not worse. It must be what gives irish jigs and reels that quality that I love so much but can't define or replicate. Is it written into the music or do you ad-lib it. Is there anywhere I can learn more about it and how to do it (like in my dreams!)
P.S you are a fantastic player - not sure whether I feel inspired or depressed!!
TraceyX

You should look at Brother Steve's site and Ryan Duns' videos for help with the ornaments. Good timing and snappy execution are everything!

Application is a different story. In written transcriptions, rolls are often written in, and sometimes cuts. But there's a good deal of improvisation in Irish trad music. And knowing how to apply different articulations is part of that aspect. Lots of listening and close imitation are important. And books such as Grey Larsen's "Essential Guide" whistle/flute method devote much space to using ornaments in melodic context.

Also - and not to be discouraging - there's much more to ornaments and articulation than the basic cuts, taps and rolls. And I don't think I've ever seen a comprehensive treatment of all the possibilities gathered together in one place. But you have to start somewhere.

Me ... I'm just a whistle duffer. Though I "played" whistle for many years, I came late to a serious effort at Irish whistle style. And for years I also wondered why I didn't sound like Mary Bergin, even though I have a good ear and could "play all the notes". The degree of micro-detail required to achieve "the sound" is mind-boggling at first, but becomes easier with time and effort.

Brother Steve: http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/
Ryan Duns: http://www.youtube.com/user/RyanDunsSJ
Grey Larsen: http://www.greylarsen.com/store/catalog ... ucts_id=25

I think I know what the problem is here because I've just been through it myself going from high D to a cut high G. The funny thing was that when I played it in a session it always came out perfect but at home sometimes I was getting that yelp, so that had me really confused as you can imagine. I believe that the main difference was that at home I wasn't pushing the high D (and the notes leading up to them) enough, so then there was a bigger increase in breath pressure required to get to the G. I think you'll find that if you push those notes before G a bit more you'll get a cleaner cut. I find that this transition really requires a VERY crisp cut too (quicker than what you'd normally get away with) so you might need to work on that as well. There are some cheats you can do but I'd rather not get into them as they are just cover ups for poor execution, you may as well work on doing it properly as it sounds much better.

[As flagged by user - thread revival - Mod]

Sorry to resurrect an old post - but a big thanks for this