"Lamb of God" YouTube video

[liams dad]

Many of you have probably watched the YouTube video posted by FluteMark titled "Lamb of God" on Irish Whistle - Abell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uLDuiAz ... 6&index=28

While I am fairly certain this is a genuine beautiful sounding performance, there remains a bit of doubt in the back of my mind. I performed a post search and did not find any discussion here about this video. Can someone with more experience than I remove any doubt about the fact that this is a real performance played with an Abell whistle. (I have never heard a whistle sound so pure and sweet).

[BigDavy]

Hi liam's dad

Here is the same guy playing the Irish Washerwoman on what looks to me like an Abell whistle, so I would guess the the "Lamb of God" vid uses the same whistle.

David

[RonKiley]

Of course there is quite a lot of processing on the whistle track.

[mutepointe]

Of course there is quite a lot of processing on the whistle track.

That has my vote too.

[Denny]

It was more real before the post processing

[JTC111]

I have never heard a whistle sound so pure and sweet

Ahh... the wonders of reverb! There are a tremendous number of things that can be done to make a track sound different/better than the raw version (which is why pretty much every recording you hear is processed to some degree or another). At the very least, that track has a pretty decent amount of reverb added. I wouldn't be surprised if a bit of equalization was used as well. I'm not familiar with the sound characteristics of an Abell whistle, but it would be fairly easy to make any whistle sound more pure by eliminating the less pure elements with a parametric eq.

This shouldn't be viewed as a knock on Abell whistles. They have a great reputation and I'm sure they're outstanding instruments. However, if you buy one and expect it to sound like that video, you're probably going to be disappointed.

I suspect this video is a lot closer to how an Abell would sound as it doesn't sound like it's processed, but keep in mind that it's near impossible to get a perfect audio replication as the gear with which you make the recording (microphone, preamp, etc.) will also alter the sound somewhat.
Patch Pi - on my Abell D Whistle

[highwood]

He is standing in his living room and sounds like a big echoey space. And then then there are all those other instruments to be heard - are they just off camera? Stuff is going on and unless the player tells us how he did it (I clicked on many of the comment pages but did not see anything) we would just be guessing.

I suspect this video is a lot closer to how an Abell would sound as it doesn't sound like it's processed, but keep in mind that it's near impossible to get a perfect audio replication as the gear with which you make the recording (microphone, preamp, etc.) will also alter the sound somewhat.
Patch Pi - on my Abell D Whistle

I have played a couple Abell whistles - nice whistle though not my cup of tea - and I would say the sound in the clip mentioned in JTC111's post is much more like the sound I heard from the Abell, that is not

a whistle sound so pure and sweet

I don't want to be critical of the playing of Patch Pi but in the interest of being fair to the whistle the playing is not of the highest calibre, still the 'texture' of the sound is representative.

Now if you play a whistle in the right space and/or if you use a mic, sound processing, and a PA system your listeners could hear something completely different to what you hear in your living room without any 'help'.

To add to JTC111's comments on recording - the playback system also make a big difference to what you hear.

[highwood]

While not an Abell whistle this Lon Dubh demo video does demonstrate possible effects of adding reverb (and more?)

At the start we have the processed sound, later when he is describing the whistle he plays a little and it sounds to me that no one went back and added extra reverb to the playing - try about 3:30 on.


edited to make the link 'pretty'

[Feadoggie]

He is standing in his living room and sounds like a big echoey space. And then then there are all those other instruments to be heard - are they just off camera? Stuff is going on and unless the player tells us how he did it (I clicked on many of the comment pages but did not see anything) we would just be guessing.

I have a couple of thoughts that might prove useful to the original poster. I am assuming that the OP is trying to determine what an Abell whistle sounds like. My experience says that the sound of the Abell has changed a bit over the years from slightly chiffy to quite pure. I assume Chris Abell can voice his products somewhat to the player's preference. Don't discount the player's style and background in judging a whistle from a video. Yes, as highwood says, the space where he is playing seems very "live" and providing a natural reverberation (there could be some added processing of course). The accompaniment is coming from a CD and he is playing along with it. That revelation comes from a posting by the player on another site. Since he is recording both the accompaniment and his playing, the mic is not positioned close to the whistle and therefor picks up a lot of the sound of the room and less of what the player would hear of the whistle (breathiness particularly). I would think that the player would welcome and respond to inquiries through several of te sites where he has posted his videos. The player is Mark Richter and he is an accomplished classical (Boehm) flute player. His style seems influenced by James Galway, who also plays an Abell whistle on occaision. Here's what Sir Jimmy sounds like on his Abell. Keep in mind the space he is playing in has a large natural "cathedral" type reverb. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZIDzoTAh8I

If you listen to the entire piece you can get a sense of the sound of the whistle and much of that comes from the player, his vibrato, his attack and his proximity to the microphone.

By the way I appear have something in common with the OP, I am a "Liam's dad" too.

Feadoggie

[JTC111]

At the start we have the processed sound, later when he is describing the whistle he plays a little and it sounds to me that no one went back and added extra reverb to the playing - try about 3:30 on.

Nice catch there, Highwood. The sound of that whistle is clearly different at the 3:30 mark.

If the OP is looking for a whistle that is "pure and sweet," I'm sure there'd be no shortage of recommendations from the knowledgeable folks on this board, although first we'd have to define "pure and sweet." But if by that the OP means less chiffy, I'd say my Burkes are the least chiffy whistles I own; however, there are others here who know far more than I do on that subject. I chimed in about the processing only because that's something with which I have quite a bit of experience.

[Mr.Nate]

Liams dad,

If you want to hear what an Abell whistle sounds like with no reverb then go to the Chiff and Fipple clips and snips tune archive where you will find countless recordings of Tony Higgins playing his Abell blackwood D.

I borrowed an Abell D for a couple of weeks and I think Tony's recordings are a good representation of the one I had.

Liking the tone of a whistle on a recording is one thing but you won't really know what a whistle is like until you get to play it yourself. Over the years I have spent a lot of money and tried a lot of whistles to find a handful that I like. It is just a part of the process if you are partial to the instrument.

Just my 2c!
Nate

[mutepointe]

And if you really, really want to know what a whistle sounds like, find someone who plays the whistle the exact same way that you do and get that person to play the whistle while you listen because how you hear a whistle as the player and how the audience hears the whistle are a bit different. Don't forget to take weather conditions and altitude and distance and the setting into account.

Frustrating isn't it?

[Aanvil]

Is there a "Mint Jelly of God"?

[Denny]

one can only hope

[Arch_Angel]

Does that come with Mashpotatoes, greenbean casorol, and pie (al mode) of God.
Obviously wine, and bread on the side. That's just a given.

Just having fun.