I’m not sure if I’m in the right place to post this question. If it’s not, please point me in the right direction. Apparently my tin whistle is too loud for my session colleagues, so I have been forbidden to play whistle until I can find a quieter instrument (must be tunable). I started out with a Copeland, moved to a Sindt, then to a tweaked Clare 2-piece. I’m still banned (I’ve been playing for 24 years). Does anyone know of a VERY quiet tin whistle out there? Thanks …
That’s what I’m thinking as some session players just don’t like the whistle in the mix. Those are great whistles already being used and played in many sessions. I’d look for another session to play.
Further to ‘syn whistles’ recommendation, I’ve used a bit of tape covering part of the fipple window to lower the volume on some of my Gens, when first practicing/learning, & it did work for me.
I’ve put a piece of scotch tape on the mouthpiece to decrease airflow as an experiment at home. It does seem to quiet the whistle.
You are mentioning some very beloved high end whistles in your post. So it has to be something going on. Either you need to work on your technique, people in this session are being generally weird about the sound of a whistle or you are playing in a tiny space.
We all have known some players to blast away out of tune with no sense of ornamentation. That gets old pretty fast. On the other hand you may be playing like Mary Bergin but no one in the group likes whistles, period.
Most of the less expensive whistles like Oaks and Feadogs and Generatons are relatively quiet. I started my kids on Sweetones and have a number around the house to pick up and play on a whim. They seem particularly quite to me. They and most other inexpensive whistles can be made tuneable by sticking the head in hot-ish water for a couple of minutes and breaking down the glue that seals on the head. A good grip and a twist will free the head.
I had a freedman tweaked blackbird that was quieter than many. But I don’t know if it would be quiet enough for your crowd.
Carbony whistles are very mellow, play well in tune and not too loud in my limited experience.
If you can manage the stretch a low D will drop the volume and shrillness factor, but I find them hard to play at speed even though I can honk away on a flute.
I’ve never put my hands on a Sush, but the name sounds promising.
Good Luck to you. I hope you find a place to enjoy the music.
Interesting about the tape. Here’s another: try a bit of modeling clay on the blade. Tear off a piece the size of a small pea. Flatten it a bit and stick it edgewise to the blade at the edge close to the windway. It will take a bit of adjustment and can be touchy, but that trick has quieted the whistle for me.
This is silly. The whistles you’re playing are totally fine. The problem is either they–the people in the session–don’t like whistles, or more likely they don’t like your playing. Maybe they don’t like your phrasing, or you play the tunes differently, but the “problem” isn’t the whistle.
Note I mean no criticism of the OP who may be a wonderful player, but the correction here isn’t finding the right way to mute a whistle; it’s either finding a different session or listening harder to the session you’re in.
It does sound as though there is an underlying problem - banning seems to me extreme. Try just fingering a tune without making any sound and see what (if any) the response is. No response might be telling. My BW black is the quietest whistle that I own but admittedly expensive. Next would be my Freeman Blackbird (which is my car whistle). Good luck!
This is what immediately came to my mind. There is enough range in the tuning joint to play with the tone ring almost entirely closing off the windway and still have the whistle be in tune (it goes flatter as you quiet it). I have a couple of these and they are lovely whistles tone ring notwithstanding. One lives in my shirt pocket almost all the time (since, as a three-piece, it fits there nicely in its little pouch).
