There has been so much selling and trading of whistles as well as exciting new makers’ products that I thought we might see whether we remain steady as a group in the everyday whistles we play over say the last year or so?
I generally play every day (between 15 minutes and an hour and a half, depending on schedule), unless I’m on a vacation that just doesn’t allow for it.
The whistles I’ve played daily have remained fairly constant - Copeland high D, Burke black tip high D, C, Sindt D, C. I’ve added to these the recently acquired Copeland C (at last a really fine one, thanks to Jim Durdin), the Busman green delrin D (yes, it must be green; they play a bit nicer than the black or yellow ), and the Black Diamond C.
I find I stick to the D, C whistles when working on new (to me) tunes or new presentations of the old tunes I already “know,” with an occasional foray down to Bflat, G, Low D when in the mood.
Hiya PhilO (can you smell the leather treatment in the background?.. mmm… )
I have been keeping my WW and my BSBT Ds close to me at most times since I got them, and playing the Burke or my Howard low D at session.
I still love my Gen Bb, and I haven’t lost love fror my O’Brien’s, but I just seem to want to play the two new ones right now.
Since I’ve gotten to the point where I am finally practicing a lot, I am improving more quickly, of course, but I am also wanting to do justice to the whistle as much as my self, so I am sticking with my very favorites.
When I can, I still do a round of playing every one I own that is actually playable, to help keep flexibility and humility, !
I pretty much play every day also, whatever time’s available.
When I’m not reviewing a whistle, I play all kinds of different whistles for fun…sometimes my Hoover, sometimes the SZBE, often the Chieftain low D, many times a Sweetone, Feadog, or other cheapie. I’ll play stuff based upon mood and really just what sound I want to hear.
At session, where I need consistency and volume, my whistles of choice have been Silkstone, Abell, and Copeland. Nothing else really quite cuts the mustard for me.
Total pratice time is about one hour or more. Around twenty minutes each time. I play my Greenwood high d and Overton low d most of the time. Then for backpacking or camping I have some cpvc whistles I made.
I play every day, generally one from about five or six whistles, depending on what is on my desk at any given moment. Over the last year (at least) the choices have been consistent: my main practice whistles are my O’Riordan Eb, Water Weasel Bb, and WW A; also my O’Riordan D if it is out of my backpack (it is the whistle I always play in sessions, but as a result, it’s not always the first whistle at hand when I am home practising). In the last month (ie ever since I’ve gotten it) I’ve also added my new O’Riordan low E to the mix.
Actually, not counting the new low E, I think those have more or less been my usual practice and performance whistles since late 2002 (which was when I got the O’Riordan Eb).
Oh my Annie, if my wife reads the first part of your post, she could get the wrong idea You are prohibited from further playing…back to the leather works with ye…
LOL! it’s the facing for your whistle roll tubes… I finally figured how to do that… nothing nearly so untwoard as enquiring minds might wish they knew…
I play just about everyday. Sometime for a solid hour, sometimes just a few tunes. I just play my nickel feadog with hoover cap. I’m also splitting time with learning flute…
I play nearly every day, anywhere from a few minutes to an hour (not counting session night where it’s two-plus hours).
I mainly play my Oak or my Burke Session D, but also pick up my White Cap Oak or White Cap Gen or the O’Briain Feadog sometimes if they’re closer. I also doodle on the Sweetone C and the Gen Bb White Cap and once a month or so I play the Dixon low D.
I probably average about an hour of practice on weekdays and more on the weekends. I currently start with my Burke high D aluminum or composite or a Burke C aluminum narrow bore. Eventually I move on to a Burke Bb composite and Overton high D or mezzo A. I like practicing on a variety of whistles and hearing how a tune sounds in another key and through a different material. I have a couple of low whistles but haven’t played them much; I’m not quite ready to enter that realm in earnest.
I have become like a lot of people here: I have a whistle in my car, one in my truck, one in my briefcase, some at my desk and in the living room, and a couple next to my bed. At the end of each day, I get into bed and play a couple of tunes before turning off the light. My cat, Odin, listens intently and when I finish playing, he claps his paws, and I give him a few treats for being such a good audience. (OK, maybe he doesn’t actually clap his paws.)
I play everyday. I’ve been playing for at least an hour everyday, but within the last two or so days I’ve decided I need to take a bit of a break. So I’ve calmed down a bit with this whole wistle/ITM thing a bit.
When I do play…I usually play either my soprano D Acorn whistle or soprano D plastic Dixon whistle. I also play a Generation C whistle occasionally and once in a blue moon I play my Bb Genration whistle.
I try to play at least a little everyday. I play a Feadog brass D more than any other. I also play my Humphreys Eb almost everyday. I love the Eb even more than the D. When the neighbors are upstairs I play my Alba Q1. Others are played from time to time but these are the most consistently played. The other day I took a notion and played my Clarke original, Sweetone and Meg. That is something I don’t do very often.
I try to alternate between my whistles when I practice; I can’t stand the thought of any of them sitting around going unused! When I’m just piddling around or learning new stuff, I usually play high D’s or C’s.
It’s another story when I’m practicing music for our band. We usually fit the key of our songs to the particular singer’s voice, so besides D & C (the majority), I practice on A, F, G & low D whistles for those particular songs.
I try to play at least a few minutes every day, but my schedule doesn’t always allow it. Of my nine whistles, there are four I play regularly, though I usually don’t play all four every time I practice. Lately, the one that’s been getting the most time is my Greenwood blackwood high D. The other three that get play time are Busmans: ironwood D, ironwood C, and black delrin D. (I’ll probably eventually sell the five whistles I don’t play, but there’s been such a glut of “for sale” posts lately that I’ve decided to wait a while.)
I play when I can which is everyday the amount of time varies. I have my favorites which are my Burke DASBT, the Syn Set especcially the High E, the Cheiftan Low F, the Merlin Low D (when I neecd the Low D), but mostly I play my new Geert Lejune Flute. That is pretty much what my favorites are.
I play every day for 15 minutes to an hour, sometimes more on weekends. The whistles I play regularly are Humphrey narrow-bore D (pre-Stealth), Sindt D, Sindt C, O’Briain Improved Eb, Burke NB D, Oak D, and Sindt Bb, roughly in that order as far as time spent on them.
Most of my time is spent on the first three listed (Humphrey D, and Sindt D & C). It depends which one I pick up first, though, I’ll sometimes pick up the Oak first and be quite happy with just playing that one. I’ll probably get into the Bb more as time goes on, but for now I’m still enjoying the higher keys a lot.
I also have a Feadog that’s very playable, and some Generations I don’t care for much. Absolutely no desire for more whistles. I’m having lots of fun playing, the enjoyment just goes up as I slowly get better. Only play ITM.
Since taking up the whistle again (after an hiatus of a couple of decades ), I try to get in some playing every day. Right now, I find I am using a Sweetone D for most of my playing. I have a Freeman-tweaked Generation D that is really my all-time favorite, but is about to be sent back to the shop for service, so I’m getting used to the Sweetone. I also have an untweaked nickel GenD (nice, but a bit flaky in the Generation style, and no match for the “Jerry-ration” in any event) and a Susato low D on which I might, eventually, manage to get through a whole tune without squwaks, unintentional octave changes, or vanishing notes.
I often play about an hour a day spread out over a few periods sometimes. I often skip a day because I don’t have the time.
A recent favourite is my Burke E nat brass Black Tip. Delightful to play.
Then, I got a D sop White Cap on an Oak, which I played a lot.
The new WW D sop I got from Tyghress at the NEWG then took over a prominent role.
Now I’ve been devoting major play time on my new Humphrey Stealth narrow bore E flat sop, so as to get used to it.
The most recently acquired instrument seems to be the one that gets the most play time for me, as of late.l I’ve yet to use the new Humphrey narrow bore D and E nat tubes very much at all.
I’m probably at the point where I’ve got enough whistles.
Nah !
RamblDoc
I average 15 to 30 minutes a day. Though lately, flute has been taking half of the time. Now that I have many whistles, I consciously rotate them through, though not in an even handed manner.
I strive for an hour a day of practice, find that I hit that goal less often that I would like, variable with the demands of my ‘day job’ , family and the world in general. I am fickle–sort of a serial monogamist–in what I pick up, but in a given week will most certainly lay hands on ‘D’ whistles made by (in purely alphabetical order) Michael Burke, Tony Dixon, Colin Goldie, Mack Hoover and John Sindt. When in the mood for the sound of an E-flat, I resort to a favorite Mack Hoover whitecap or a fine John Sindt.
Special occasions call for a little Fred Rose or Ralph Sweet. I can’t bring myself to take them down to the garage on the irrational basis that I will drop them on the concrete–something I have managed not to do yet with any whistle, wood, plastic, composite, metal or otherwise. In any event, the wooden guys get played when I’ve got carpet under my feet.
), and the Black Diamond C.
!
You are prohibited from further playing…back to the leather works with ye… 
), I try to get in some playing every day. Right now, I find I am using a Sweetone D for most of my playing. I have a Freeman-tweaked Generation D that is really my all-time favorite, but is about to be sent back to the shop for service, so I’m getting used to the Sweetone. I also have an untweaked nickel GenD (nice, but a bit flaky in the Generation style, and no match for the “Jerry-ration” in any event) and a Susato low D on which I might, eventually, manage to get through a whole tune without squwaks, unintentional octave changes, or vanishing notes.