Chiff and Fipple Forums

Someone just reminded me of mack hoover whitecaps as well. This might be a good solution for me since I already have 3 brass cheap whistles, a generation, a faedog and a clare two piece; non of which I can get a good sound out of at stock levels, maybe they just need a nice cap to make them sing, o...

Nanohedron wrote: largely bowdlerized mythos.

So true. And we can't blame students if they find this sanitized pablum so boring or forgettable.

But all this changed once child abductions started increasing, which, IIRC, really started gaining steam around the 1980s. I thought it was a shame for the kids to have to now be so closely monitored, but there really wasn't anything else to be done about it. Even when allowing kids a measure of in...

Many thanks for this post, Bob. Somehow I missed it first time around. Wonderful story.

Northerners often had little or no sympathy for African Americans but they were deeply concerned about what they called "the slave power," which they saw as a sinister conspiracy to control their own governments. Politics and power. Most wars come down to that, don't they? An 18 year old ...

It's one of the many phrases used to turn the violent struggle to uphold white supremacy and the institution of slavery into a cute tiff between neighbors. I don't think anyone using the phrase "War of Northern Aggression" is trying to portray the bloodiest war in U.S. history as a "...

I'd be homesick, too. That's some beautiful country, there. Looked as if it was practically all rhododendrons, too. Is that right? Exactly right. Rhododendrons are a classic plant of the Blue Ridge (Southern Appalachian) Mountains. Rhododendron should be coming into in bloom about now, although it ...

One of my favorite movies and soundtracks. But I get homesick whenever I watch it. I grew up in the western North Carolina mountains where it was filmed. Have hiked to several of the waterfalls featured.

Guess there is not enough wilderness left in New York where the story was originally set.

I have to defer to Richard (pancelticpiper) on the topic of air efficiency. I doubt that you will ever run into anyone who has played a wider variety of low whistles. My Syn recommendation was based more around the budget estimate in the original post. Retail on a Syn low D is around $200 while a Re...

Like Trill, I find the Reyburn low D (at least the current aluminum version) to be relatively air efficient. It has a lot of nice playing characteristics and a unique tone or timbre that I really like. However, the Syn low D is also very air efficient. If that's a major factor, the Syn is worth cons...

As you might guess, this question has come up before:

viewtopic.php?t=100154

I use a simple O ring between the 4th and 5th holes for my right thumb.

I am very pleased with my own Syn low D. It's the most air efficient low D I have ever played which I find very useful for slower tunes.

Surprised that you don't see any special clogging issues, but I suspect I don't always warm the head enough before playing in the colder months.

The leather is great for physical protection, but it may be adding to the problem. The brass could be reacting with tanning chemicals in the leather. And I know that in more humid climates, leather has a tendency to attract moisture. For example, cowboy reenactors -- we have several in this part of ...

If you are looking for something cheaper than custom earplugs, take a look at Etymotic ER20xs plugs. A very flat response - no particular frequencies are filtered more unlike common foam earplugs. The older ER20 version is still around and cheaper, but that version seems to block the higher frequenc...

Keep in mind that it's a matter of velocity and not really volume. Although I am sure it seems that way at first. Blowing more air through the mouthpiece does increase the air speed, but that's only one way. If you play with the end of the mouthpiece between your lips and not actually in your mouth,...