New to these boards

joshb · Post by **joshb** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 9:57 pm

Hi my name is Josh. I am a junior in high school and i have been playing woodwinds for 6ish years now (clarinet, flute, sax, oboe) currently i am seriously studying oboe. Recently i picked up a Walton tin whistle in D and i really like playing it. I just have a few questions about tin whistling in general (because i live in small town wisconsin and i don't know anyone who plays it):
-Is a Walton tin whistle a bad whistle?
-If so, what would be a good kind to get?
-Is a whistle in D a good one to start on?
-Are there any good sites online where i can get some sheet music with some fun jigs to practice?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:16 pm

For tunes you can try
http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/FindTune.html

also Brother Steve for lots of good info/instruction
http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/b ... index.html

The Whistle Shop is a good source for Bill Och's whistle tudor book
http://www.thewhistleshop.com/

You are the judge of whether or not your Walton's is a good whistle. If it plays in tune and you like the sound then it's a good one for you.
That's the good thing about whistles. They don't have to be expensive,as whistles go, to be good.

The D whistle is a great key. Many traditional tunes are played in that key. But, I warn you , as a former oboe player to another, whistles are

addictive

You can't have just one
or two
or three
or four..........etc.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:24 pm

Welcome Josh :0)

I play an old brass D with green plastic top, I've a nice new Generation which I look at occasionaly.

PhilO · Post by **PhilO** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:43 pm

Hi Josh. Cowtime was right on. I have some old Waltons that are among my favorites, but some I know have recently gotten batches of Waltons that are near unplayable. You should be able to tell this. Also, there are so many really inexpensive whistles that you can experiment with Waltons, Generations, Faedogs, Clarkes, Susatos, etc. Welcome.

Regards,

Philo

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 11:04 pm

since everyone else has things covered, I'll just say welcome Josh! And don't buy your whistles one by one...they tend to get lonely so you really need to buy 2 (or 3...or 4....) at a time so they play right

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 11:48 pm

While JC's is a wonderful resource, it's really only good if you happen to already know the name of some tunes you'd like to look up.

At the risk of tooting my own horn, I have a list of about 260 jigs with sheet music here:
http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/songty ... songtype=7

lixnaw · Post by **lixnaw** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 6:09 am

hi josh, be sure to get a tweaked sweetone at the whistle shop
http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/w ... weaked.htm

Danner · Post by **Danner** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 5:04 pm

Hey, another high school whistler from a little town in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest! I started on a Walton my mom ordered from some Irish gift magazine. The whistle got really banged up, and by the time I was old enough to appreciate it, it was terrible. If you like the whistle, then it's fine, but you may want to get one of the ones people here suggested. You may find you like another whistle better once you have some basis for comparison. It's the old "what do you use for a yardstick?". Welcome!

peteinmn · Post by **peteinmn** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 5:49 pm

Josh

My advice is get the heck out of here as fast as you can. Once these damn whistles get a hold of you, there is little hope of turning back! You have your whole life ahead of you. If you don't stop now, pretty soon you will need another and then another and then there's tweaking and .... oh the horror. Escape now while you still have a chance!

happyturkeyman · Post by **happyturkeyman** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 7:38 pm

Third high school woodwind-come-whistler here, same story except my small backwater town is over here in Oregon.

I liked my walton's fine until I lost it. I think it's out in a car somewhere. Like the others will say, though, it's pretty much opinion as to what suits you.

(But you won't know what suits you BEST until you've tried them all!

)

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:45 pm

There are tunes on the Chiff and Fipple main website (Tune of the Month). Go waaaay down on the page for the link.

Also try www.thesession.org for another tune database. You can search or browse.

My current favorite whistles are a Burke aluminum, which arrived right before Christmas, and a Freeman Twice-Tweaked Shaw, which arrived a few days ago. The Shaw has a lovely, breathy sound . . . very Irish.

teeisblue · Post by **teeisblue** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:20 pm

Hi, josh. I'm a new whistler, too, and everyone has pretty much covered everything, so I'll just say hello. So, um, hi.

One thing I've figured out is not to bother asking which whistle to buy, because it all really is a matter of preference. Better to play them yourself, or if you're low on funds, check out some web pages where you can listen to different types being played and find one (or twenty) that you like the sound of.

Entropy · Post by **Entropy** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 3:43 pm

Hey Josh! I'm fairly new here too. I started out on a Waltons, and after trying out a few other brands, found that it was almost unplayable in comparison. Everyone has there own opinion about what whistle sounds best. But for price, ease of play, and availablity, I would recomend a Clarke SweetTone. You can order them from Thom at the Whistleshop or from Amazon.com (though I think Thom is cheaper).

As for music, I have to agree with Wanderer. He has a huge, browsable list of tunes, and most (if not all) of them have either midi or wav files to go with them. His website was one of the first that I found and continues to be one of my most visited. I would also second someone's suggestion of Brother Steve's site.

OnTheMoor · Post by **OnTheMoor** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 4:33 pm

Hiya Josh.
Jaysus, I thought I was one of the youngest on the board but there are quite a few highschool guys hm?
I'm not a Walton fan myself... the one I have. I started on mine, but progressed much more quickly with my Sweetone and MEG, I find them much less tempermental. From what I gather, these whistles don't vary too much in quality like other cheapies.
Have fun fun fun!