Out of the thousands of nice instruments, why did you choose to whistle? And if you play other instruments, how do you rank the whistle among them?
I started because I needed some music in my life and whistles are cheap. I just intended to doodle, and absolutely certainly did not expect what happened after I chose this “modest” little instrument. The first time I got a good bellnote on my brass Walton, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Then I started listening to whistle music and seriously listening to Irish music (a long-time love but never really considered playing), and found the really great people at this site. Now I have a terminal case of WhOA and 9 whistles, a few of which are extremely bad, and a few of which are extremely good.
I’ve played several instruments during my long lifetime, but nothing has opened up the world of “personal” music like the whistle - all the others I played pretty straight and uncreatively, but the whistle I play like I “feel.”
So a very serendipity-based choice turned into a bit of a lifestyle change. How about you?
I went into a music store intending to buy a recorder and came out with a brass Generation C (the good old kind), which to this day is still the best cheap whistle I’ve ever played.
I played sax for years in school so I didn’t really have to learn new fingerings (with the exception of C natural and venting the high D).
My main requirement was that I wanted an musical isntrument that was portable, that I could easily carry with me everywhere.
We’ve had a couple of C&F discussions on this aspect in the past few months, but my experience is this:
I’ve played violin (not fiddle), clarinet, guitar and mandolin (still playing the last) over the past thirty odd years, and with varying degrees of success. Then I got a whistle for a friend, and it seemed such a handy dandy little instrument that I soon got one for myself too, plus tape & book (The Clarke Original Package).
As my interests are primarily Irish music & songs, this fitted my needs well.
The reason I am now playing the whistle more than anything else is that:
a) it is the most portable instrument
b) it takes no preparation, setting up, assembly, tuning etc, just whistle & go
c) low maintainance & cost - a new set of guitar stings costs more than a cheap whistle
and perhaps most importantly
d) a remarkable range of feelings can be expressed or invoked, i.e if conveys slow airs and jigs and reels (and of course polkas) with equal ease, in a way not possible on the Mandolin (at least, not for one of my calibre).
The only “instrument” I use even more than the whistle is my own voice, which of course fits all the above criteria, and can be used in tht shower too!
My mom was very big on singing and instruments, and played piano and guitar. Started me on piano but due to my learning by ear ability (and therefore once I knew the tune I’d ignore the sheet music) and several moves to different areas (and thus different piano teachers) when I was younger, I never really got any good. Recorder was introduced in third grade, and I liked playing simple tunes on that. When I discovered how much more portable and convenient it was versus a piano (we were still moving to different places), I was sold. Later on I discovered irish whistle music in the infamous Star Trek episodes, started mimicking it, and found generations in some music shop. Bad ones, I think, though, and I didn;t use them much. Eventually I got to go to the Sterling Renaissance festival where I found out about susatos and Lark In The Morning, and the rest is history…=)
Hey Martin, you could probably try the PVC whistles in the shower!
I met someone who was into whistles and decided I too must have one. And, like Martin, I love the variety of expression possible on such a simple instrument. Like Kendra, I love the portability and low cost as well.
I play other instruments too–guitar, flute, mandolin, piano, and I sing. Each instrument or voice his its unique personality and sound possibilities. I’m not a great player of any of them, but am still amazed at what can come out of them to stir the soul, even if played or sung simply. For example, you can plunk a 1-4-5 chord progression on a guitar and sing thousands of songs, and new songs are still being written every day with this same progression. And you can add different voices, instruments, riffs, harmonies etc. to the simplest of songs and just marvel at the different textures of sounds.
But I digress. The whistle can show so many emotions–a wildly fast reel, a merry jig, or a mournful air. So much music in a piece of sheet metal or PVC . . . Amazing!
first at all I was playin accordion 120 as a 5 years old child so also playin piano thats all because of my mother she loves music.!!!. it was hard and ‘heavy’ but nice ) then i found fancy a quitar for long long time… fireplaces with my quitar and all my freinds singin irt was NICE! fortunately was singing for last 10 years with my little band… it happens accidentaly at high school.. thats how I start here in poland.
Then were concerts and really beautiful time to remember. and all those people:)
it was WONDERFUL TIME OF MY LIFE!
then study, work, hard work, nothing more…no sleep… started to listen to the my best band in the world The Corrs… and I found out this beautiful sound then… what was it? tin whistle !!!
bought a fev DVD’s because I was not sure while listening and I was right it was that! In poland they call it “flageotes”!!! and since now after “The Corrs Live At Royal Albert Hall” I start to love this instrument. and the you people! you show me this what I was llokin for thanks ANNA!
I became obsessed with Irish history and culture about 5 years ago. On my first trip over there I was sitting in a pub and Eoin Duignan began playing his low whistle. At that moment I knew that one of my life’s goals was to learn to make that kind of magic. It took me a long time to find a teacher and when I did he recommended I start with a tin whistle first, as the fingering is the same. I was glad for the suggestion, as I have always loved the sound of tinwhistles in Irish music.
I love my tinwhistles because:
I carry one in my car and play it when I’m stopped at a red light.
I can keep one in my desk at work and play it outside while on coffee break (I don’t live in South Dakota, and thus don’t need a permit).
I can play it during the rolling blackouts here in California. And they don’t need batteries, either.
On 2002-05-16 11:05, blackhawk wrote:
I became obsessed with Irish history and culture about 5 years ago. On my first trip over there I was sitting in a pub and Eoin Duignan began playing his low whistle. At that moment I knew that one of my life’s goals was to learn to make that kind of magic. It took me a long time to find a teacher and when I did he recommended I start with a tin whistle first, as the fingering is the same. I was glad for the suggestion, as I have always loved the sound of tinwhistles in Irish music.
I love my tinwhistles because:
I carry one in my car and play it when I’m stopped at a red light.
I can keep one in my desk at work and play it outside while on coffee break (I don’t live in South Dakota, and thus don’t need a permit).
I can play it during the rolling blackouts here in California. And they don’t need batteries, either.
They fit in my pocket.
They make beautiful Irish music.
Eoin Duignan, that’s the Guy from the Dingle area whose name I couldn’t remember earlier, who wrote “Mimi and the New Generation Polkas”, and got me started on the whole six Polka trip.
And so my circle this week is complete, I thank you Blackhawk!
I have a friend, Joe Doyle who was getting me in touch with my inner Irishman. The whistle followed.
I like it because it is cheap and extremely portable. I also play the harmonica and have Glenn Weisser’s book on Irish and American fiddle tunes for harmonica. I wonder how the whistle and harmonica would do in a duet. It too is a cheap pocket instrument.
I did start learning the bagpipes as a teen but didn’t follow up.
We are a culture used to having things spoonfed to us by TV etc. This gives me a chance to be more interactive, lol.
The other enjoyable side effect is it annoys my wife when I practice.
I think I’ve always had one around because they were cheap (I would go into a music store for a ‘fix’, and come out with a whistle), but I played the recorder…then put the recorders away two years ago after a trip to Ireland, finding the local sessions, and begining to play with them. One guy would tease about the recorder, but the rest of the group didn’t mind at all…they were just happy to have someone new join them.
The playing really took off the October after that when I went into Song of the Sea and played a Burke, bought the Burke, and really started concentrating on the session music.
Other instruments: piano (where I learned to read music), guitar, hammered dulcimer (my primary instrument), ocarinas (I’m more of a collector than player) flutes (again, more collecting than playing) and any other instrument that crosses my path.
I’ve been playing clarinet for nearly 30 years. I also sing and dabbled a bit in a rock and roll band 15 or so years ago.
About 10 years ago my Grandma gave me a Soodlums D Whistle she bought in Ireland. My Grandpa was from Ireland so it had immediate sentimental value. My wife really liked them and bought me a Chieftain and a set of Susatos some years back, as well. However, clarinet/bass clarinet/singing were my still my primary focus.
I tinkered with my whistles off and on, playing them in church or the odd St. Patrick’s Day outing, but only really started to get serious within the last year. I guess it was thinking about my Grandpa that got me started, my kids that motivated me to keep up and my own desire to play better that pushed me. The whistle is much easier to practice around the house than my clarinet: I can set it on a counter to comfort a crying boy, organize impromptu parades around the house, teach my boys a simple instrument, and can transport it anywhere. Plus, I don’t have the same worries when my two-year old picks up one of my $20 Susatos as I do when he goes for my $2500 clarinet.
Martin, check out Duignan’s website at http://www.duigo.com. I emailed him in March and he’s currently recording a new CD. Have you seen him play in person? He currently plays 2 nights a week in different Dingle pubs. His website has the list of current gigs.
An original composition I was recording needed a wind instrument for the solo. I decided to pull out my old clarinet after 20 years of neglect, and give it a try. However, the clarinet fingering was too difficult. I researched & built a Chalumeux (sp?) hoping it would be easier.
There were lots of web sites mentioning a home made thing called a “pennywhistle.” I made one and it sounded sweet. Searching the path of the whistle led me to here! I found I could buy a whistle for less than $10, whereas it takes me 8 hours to build one. ( I now own 4.)
I find the instrument very expressive and have found a way for my heart to speak through it.
My guitar rig consists of guitar, case, amp head, speaker cabinet, 17 cables, 2 power supplies, 6 effect pedals and 2 gig bags w/spares. My whistle rig can be carried in one hand.
My Mother’s family name is Linsley, which everyone assumed was a derivative of the Scottish clan name Lindsay. So, thinking that I was Scottish I started playing the Great Highland Pipes when I was in 3rd grade. When I got married, my wife thought that SHE was Scottish because she married a Scott…she started dragging me to every Celtic Fair and Highland Games with 100 mile radius of our home. Later I find out that Linsley is actually from Lindley…I’m not Scottish at all. My wife still thinks that she IS, however…so she STILL drags me all the wretched Celtic Fairs where everyone is dressed as either a barmaid or a highwayman.
So my wife and I are at one of these things and she’s buying “fairy wings” for our two year old daughter…and a “fairy head-dress”…and “fairy sparkles”, etc. So to poke fun at her, I declared that I was going to buy a “fairy whistle”…and I reached over and grabbed a Walton’s out of a bucket.
I guess the Walton’s really WAS magic…because it seemed to multiply and now there are a dozen, or so, whistles laying around the house.
I am a bit of a music addict with a strong bent towards things Celtic.
It is difficult for me to sit down without picking up a guitar, mandolin or fiddle.
There was, however, a great void in my life.
No music in the bathtub (nothing worse than trying to dry out a violin!).
Enter the Tin Whistle!
I find the metal-body-plastic-fipple variety of whistle to be the most suitable for bathtub whistling.
The PVC whistles are also fine.
My favorite is a little Clare-D in brass.
Although I have a generation-F in nickel plate which is also wonderful.
I think it best to avoid the low whistles below A in the tub as they are too long to be played for long periods on your back (though they could be employed with some success as a snorkel!).
I find bathroom acoustics to be haunting, rich, and resonant.
If you haven’t whistled in the tub, you haven’t whistled!
Through high school, I played clarinet, and eventually dropped it because I wasn’t that good. As a young adult I had a friend that played harmonica just for his own enjoyment. As I had never associated my school clarinet experience with enjoyment, this was a unique concept to me.
One day, my family and I were in a toy/gift store, and they had Feadog whistles. Because they were cheap, portable, Irish (as I am), and easy to play becasue of the similarity of fingering to clarinet, I thought that this was the perfect instrument for me, and I bought one.
Since then it’s been Whoa, Knee-driving, whistle-building, etc. I even took up the clarinet again, after I realized that it’s not important to be “good” by someone else’s standards, only by your own.
