Should a flute player double on penny whistle?

[emmdee]

Is it just me, or does that pic of Patsy Hanley above look a lot like Sir Alec Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi?

m.d.

[WaltHansen]

I find that I play mostly the flute, unless I'm having a lip issue (cold sore, flu, etc)...

If anything, I think the whistle helps me with breath control for the flute, but then what the hell do I know

The weird part is that just recently, I had to put down the flute for about 2 weeks (cold sore)... and had alot of people say that they liked the tone of the whistle, but then when a couple of thousand people hear you on any given day, you never know what kinda comments you're going to get.

Walt

[Gordon]

It's funny, but I do agree with MT Guru's comment that most flute players (self-identifiers as primarily fluters) sound like flute players playing whistle. The same is true in reverse. While similar, there is just a slightly different approach to the two instruments.

Eric

Let's say we agree on this. What - exactly - does that mean, in terms of whether they are more (or less) good flute players? If a person plays the flute well, but approaches it more as they do a whistle (and by that I assume we're talking finger use, cuts and rolls, etc., as embouchure is still uniquely a flute issue, and one that varies a bit from player to player, too) are they not still, in fact, playing flute, and well? Do all whistle players play whistle with the same approach?
And what of the fluters that approach flute more like pipes? Or took their settings and ornaments more from fiddling, etc.? And aren't these little variations in one's approach what separates stylistic differences from one player to another in all cases?

Just not sure where any of this is going, or why.

[Clover]

Is it just me, or does that pic of Patsy Hanley above look a lot like Sir Alec Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi?

m.d.

[/quote]

Patsy/Sir Alec/Ben Kenobi: I haven't gone by the name of Obi-Wan since... oh, before you were born.

[Jumbuk]

I started on flute and took up whistle as well about a year ago. Actually, I am really a guitarist (with modesty, a reasonably good guitarist) who wanted a portable melody instrument.

Since I am not particularly good at either, I don't think I would sound like a "fluter playing whistle". I just sound like a beginner on either!

One advantage in playing both is that a tune learned on one is not hard to adapt to the other. Whilst I prefer the sound of the flute when I am playing on my own, my tone is not strong enough to carry a tune in a large session yet, so I often play the whistle in sessions.

On a slightly different note (?) has anyone ever seen Matt Molloy play a whistle?

[Jayhawk]

It's funny, but I do agree with MT Guru's comment that most flute players (self-identifiers as primarily fluters) sound like flute players playing whistle. The same is true in reverse. While similar, there is just a slightly different approach to the two instruments.

Eric

Let's say we agree on this. What - exactly - does that mean, in terms of whether they are more (or less) good flute players? If a person plays the flute well, but approaches it more as they do a whistle (and by that I assume we're talking finger use, cuts and rolls, etc., as embouchure is still uniquely a flute issue, and one that varies a bit from player to player, too) are they not still, in fact, playing flute, and well? Do all whistle players play whistle with the same approach?
And what of the fluters that approach flute more like pipes? Or took their settings and ornaments more from fiddling, etc.? And aren't these little variations in one's approach what separates stylistic differences from one player to another in all cases?

Just not sure where any of this is going, or why.

Gordon - not sure we were actually going anywhere...just musing a bit on an interesting phenomena I've noted in the past that matched what MT Guru posted. While I hate to agree with whistle players, it does occur from time to time, so I feel obligated to make them feel better by noting such occurrences.

Eric

[Gordon]

Yes... I see...

[LorenzoFlute]

On a slightly different note (?) has anyone ever seen Matt Molloy play a whistle?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnhwIv4-d-Q

[I.D.10-t]

So in that clip, does the piper play the whistle like the pipes or the pipes like a whistle?

[LorenzoFlute]

The whistle like the pipes.
But in a way the pipes are closer to the whistle than the flute to the whistle. It's not a matter of fingering, but the control you have on the air stream that makes all the difference. Also Paddy's style of pipes is open rather than tight, so the transition is close.

[Mr.Gumby]

But in a way the pipes are closer to the whistle than the flute to the whistle

I don't suspect many pipers would agree with that statement.

[LorenzoFlute]

But in a way the pipes are closer to the whistle than the flute to the whistle

I don't suspect many pipers would agree with that statement.

I'm not a piper so I could well be wrong, it's just something that popped in my mind, maybe someone will find it interesting...

[Mr.Gumby]

I have taught the pipes a lot of (very nice) whistleplayers who had made an easy and natural transition to the flute but found it very hard to come to grips with different aspects of chanter playing.

FWIW It used to be considered quite an insult to pipers to say they played the chanter like a flute (or whistle) player.

[LorenzoFlute]

I have taught the pipes a lot of (very nice) whistleplayers who had made an easy and natural transition to the flute but found it very hard to come to grips with different aspects of chanter playing.

FWIW It used to be considered quite an insult to pipers to say they played the chanter like a flute (or whistle) player.

This is missing the point though, of course the fingering on the pipes is different, and on the keyless flute is identical, and there's the bellow and bag. But get through the whole getting accustomed with the instrument thing, and go to what you can and cannot do on each one (take apart keys and regulators for the moment). Both pipes and whistles control the tune through the fingers, flutes have the whole blowing techiques, it can be a very different approach. What is really different with pipes is the character of the C note, and what you can do with lifting the chanter. I think...

[NicoMoreno]

Funny, I have to blow air through my whistles. What kind of whistles do you have that don't require air?

Whistle controls the tune through fingers and blowing technique, just like the flute. There is some control over the air even on uilleann pipes, but of course stoppages in the sound are completely through the fingers (whereas this can be done only by stopping the air on the whistle and flute).

What is really different with pipes is the character of the C note, and what you can do with lifting the chanter. I think...

And the whole tight playing thing... Well and the fact that there are drones and regulators. Oh, and there's the whole thing about how the physical attributes of the reed affect what you can actually achieve in terms of octave jumps, intervals, tightness in different areas of the range, and basically all of the other things that make pipes very different from whistle and flute.