I should just stop.

[wyodeb]

I feel bad for the ones which aren't getting played.

[manu.bande]

Well, as some already said, if you are satisfied with one whistle there's no need to buy more whistles.

The best it would be to try whistles from other players, friends of yours, and then if you find something interesting you can buy one yourself !

But then of course, there are so many whistles out there and you always wondering if is there any whistle even better that the one you like ...!!!

Cheers

[wyodeb]

I don't know of anyone locally who plays whistle. Really, the only way to try them here is to get them. The thread was just sort of random musing. I have a few that I will "re-home" at some point so they get the appreciation they deserve.

Happy whistling,
Deb

[talasiga]

.......
The bee must partake of the flower to propagate the fruit.

The player buys whistles
to propagate
the whistle maker's business?

[Anyanka]

Deb, I get you. There's something odd about whistles. Perhaps it's because the size makes it so easy to have too many, or perhaps it's impossible to be completely satisfied because no single whistle can ever do everything. I'm totally a one-piano and one-accordion and one-flute woman, but the whistles do call to me time and time again. Right now I'm hankering after something heavy and silvery, because another whistler showed me her Copeland & her Albas.

It'd be nice to believe that there's The One Whistle To End Them All out there, but I doubt it. Perhaps when they invent a whistle that switches between different voices, and that can play high or low as you wish, like my beloved accordion...

[wyodeb]

Deb, I get you.

Yes, you do.

Deb

[killthemessenger]

Perhaps when they invent a whistle that switches between different voices, and that can play high or low as you wish, like my beloved accordion...

Playing as high or low as you wish might be hard to get in a whistle, but variable voicing should definitely be possible. There is an adjustable block system on some very expensive recorders (the Mollenhauer Helder alto and tenor) which allows you to raise and lower the block and adjust its angle so as to change the voicing even while playing to some extent. This would be interesting to see implemented on a low whistle.

It also has a piano key - i.e. a small key in the headjoint which, when opened, raises the pitch of the instrument, thus enabling you to play softer without going out of pitch. I think the new Eagle recorders by Adriana Breukink also have this feature.

But this is an instrument for virtuoso modern solo and orchestral music, I can't imagine it would have much application to Irish music, the charm of which after all also lies in the simplicity of the instument. As does that of early music.

[Anyanka]

Wow. I had no idea that was possible (we're well past April Foolsday, aren't we?). And - I wouldn't want one of those! I played the recorder for 10 or 12 years as a child/teenager, and never ever want to go back to it.

[killthemessenger]

Why? Just curious. After all, it's really only a more evolved whistle. And after so long playing it, you must have been damn good.

[highwood]

it's really only a more evolved whistle.

...not all evolution is good...

[highwood]

it's really only a more evolved whistle.

...not all evolution is good...

...which is not to say there is not a place for both, or that one is better than the other...
Where am I going with this?
Am I just digging a deeper hole?
Well, I for one love the whistle - but not the recorder - and one does not need to, nor perhaps is it possible to explain love.

[Denny]

[killthemessenger]

I love both, so no problems with that. I use both in recitals and people seem to enjoy the music. I know I enjoy playing it.

[NeonVomit]

Do you mean it's just going to get worse??

You did read Dale's warning before you got started. Right?

I was struck by the desire to play before I discovered the website. Quite what possessed me I'm not entirely certain, but whatever here I am!

It's actually an improvement for me. I'm a bass player first and foremost, and considering the rest of my instrument/musical equipment haul (Warwick, Washburn and Fender-knockoff electric basses, 2 upright basses (plus consider the bows are a lot more expensive than you might think!), a lovely classical guitar, a charango (traditional Andean folk instrument, something like a mandolin) and then add to that a haul of 3 amplifiers and countless effects/wireless/bits and bobs) this is probably a much cheaper way to satisfy my instrument acquisition cravings. They're dirt cheap!

[NeonVomit]

Wow. I had no idea that was possible (we're well past April Foolsday, aren't we?). And - I wouldn't want one of those! I played the recorder for 10 or 12 years as a child/teenager, and never ever want to go back to it.

It was one of those off-white/brown plastic jobs, right? I played that as a child as well (part of the school curriculum) and I agree, it's a horrible sounding thing... that thin, plasticky-sound can really ruin the instrument and probably leaves a bad association. It served me well though, helped me develop my ear for music and in the short time I've been playing the whistle some of it has come back to me.

However, if you pick up a nice carved wooden one, it can sound beautiful. It's used a lot in Renaissance and early Baroque music especially.

I always feel slightly sorry for professional recorder players... they do tend to be very under-appreciated and many of the ones that I've met, it has to be said, are somewhat odd individuals. One of the best around is Martin Feinstein, he has this ability to really make the instrument come alive and seeing him perform for the first time about 6 years ago really changed my thinking about the recorder and early music as a whole. Worth looking into.

Unless of course, you knew all that already and whatever I tell you won't change anything, in which case you probably have far better reasons to dislike the instrument!