Should a flute player double on penny whistle?

[LorenzoFlute]

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

Are you saying you can control the air on the whistle just as much as on the flute?

And the whole tight playing thing... Well and the fact that there are drones and regulators.

Did you read my previous post at all? It was about Paddy Keenan, and his style in not very tight. And we're talking about the chanter. Also, I can't find the part were I said that pipes and whistles are the same instrument...

I don't like your tone, I didn't insult anyone so please lets be respectful of each other's opinion. Thanks.

[FascinatedWanderer]

You can certainly control the air on a whistle much more than you can on the pipes. Whistles are quite certainly much closer to flutes than pipes. But I've only just taken up the pipes so they seem closer to an octopus-like monstrosity to me.

[Clover]

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

Are you saying you can control the air on the whistle just as much as on the flute?

And the whole tight playing thing... Well and the fact that there are drones and regulators.

Did you read my previous post at all? It was about Paddy Keenan, and his style in not very tight. And we're talking about the chanter. Also, I can't find the part were I said that pipes and whistles are the same instrument...

I don't like your tone, I didn't insult anyone so please lets be respectful of each other's opinion. Thanks.

I see a lot of guys here picking on Lorenzo. And maybe it's because of his past history as his AKA. He seems regretful and atoned of whatever sins he committed. I say give him break. Who am I to say so? Just a regular joe who's made a mistake or two of my own.

[Mr.Gumby]

I see a lot of guys here picking on Lorenzo.

I can't speak for anyone else but I have no issues with Lorenzo. But I strongly disagree with his chanter is more like the whistle than the flute train of thought. He's very much on the wrong track there, even when repeating the old chestnut of Keenan's open style.

[JohnB]

I see a lot of guys here picking on Lorenzo

I don't think anyone is picking on Lorenzo but I think that he's been making a few controversial remarks - if I'd made those I would have expected a bit of flak.

But he seems to be a sensitive lad so I appologise to him and others for my derogatory references that I made in another thread.

[LorenzoFlute]

he's been making a few controversial remarks - if I'd made those I would have expected a bit of flak.

Sure I did expect some reaction and that's fine with me, but I also expect people to be polite, and more so in a forum.

maybe it's because of his past history as his AKA.

I tend to be more careful with my statements, lately not so much though

But I strongly disagree with his chanter is more like the whistle than the flute train of thought. He's very much on the wrong track there, even when repeating the old chestnut of Keenan's open style.

I did mention that I'm not strongly agreeing with myself:
"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..."

[JohnB]

but I also expect people to be polite, and more so in a forum

"To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect"
Oscar Wilde

[NicoMoreno]

I have no problem with Lorenzo, and in case it wasn't clear, I'm picking on his statements, not him. Yes it was a bit sarcastic, but that was deliberately to make the point that the statements he made are rather absurd.

@Lorenzo: Sorry that the tone didn't come off well! I didn't mean to offend (just provoke).

I did read your post, and it certainly seems that you are trying to focus on what the whistle can and can't do, and although you didn't explicitly say it, it definitely seemed that you were trying to imply that you couldn't control the sound of the whistle through breath control, only through fingers, which is of course absurd.

That said, I did see your caveat, but it's well to remember all of the other features mentioned, which are as much a part of the pipes as breathing is of the whistle. It all just goes to show that whistle is much, much, much closer to flute.

Also, you need to listen more to Paddy Keenan. He is "open", I suppose, but still does plenty of tight piping. He doesn't play the chanter like a flute or whistle. So it is still very relevant. The equivalent on whistle would be tonguing or glottal stopping, but even that doesn't sound quite the same.

[monkeymonk]

Are you a better player if you learn the high D whistle along with the low D side blown?

Like many folk, i played the whistle before picking up the flute. I prefer the sound and the challenge and, ah, shall we say, mistique of the flute so i stopped playing the whistle but i still found the whistle really helpful in the beginning. My fingers and embouchure would get tired playing the flute and it was really easy (on the fingers) to figure out tunes on the whistle and then because the fingering is the same traspose that to the flute. That saved me a lot of frustration as the flute has so many challenges of it's own let alone mixing all those challenges with trying to learn a tune. Eventually, i got comfortable enough with the finger spacing etc, and dropped the whistle altogether.

Don't get me wrong, the whistle is an amazing and challenging instrument as well. In the end i just prefer condensation over drool

[jim stone]

If you are wanting to learn the flute, concentrate on the flute. But it's OK to play the whistle sometimes, too; will
do no harm, though it probably won't make you a better fluter. Might help a little. That's pretty much the answer to the OP's question.

[daiv]

i have been playing the flute for so long that practicing the whistle is pretty much like practicing the flute for me, but i'm probably the exception. 15 year old me was pretty smart, ditching class and spending 3-5 hours a day on flute embouchure and tone, . nowadays i only play flute on saturdays when i teach music, but my technique keeps getting better. i suppose when i put down the cash to get a new 8-key, i'll probably start practicing again, but until then my concertina and i will continue spending quality time together, .

[Clover]

If you are wanting to learn the flute, concentrate on the flute.

I agree, and though I like whistle a lot I'm not that serious about it anymore. I started there but my goal turned to learning flute.

And I don't mean to say I think whistle is to be taken lightly. On the contrary, I know it is in the category of instruments that are easy to play but difficult to play well (like the recorder - sorry for that dreaded reference ), and the masters of the whistle are truly amazing musicians.

But I think after all is said and done the fipple is hard pressed to match the versatility of the embouchure and blow hole. The very first time I got a pure low D out of a flute I understood I wasn't in Kansas anymore.

Since then I've been mainly about the flute learning.

[megapop]

like the recorder - sorry for that dreaded reference

What's wrong with the recorder?

[monkeymonk]

like the recorder - sorry for that dreaded reference

What's wrong with the recorder?

I miss my old maple Moeck *sigh*
Actually, i prefer the recorder to the penny whistle myself. do any of the wooden whistles out there have the same qualities (deep woody sound, playability) that make the recorder so lovely? You recorder players know what i am talking about - where a soft breath gives you the warmest, loveliest of sounds.

[Steve Bliven]

like the recorder - sorry for that dreaded reference

What's wrong with the recorder?

Over on the whistle forum folks tend to dismiss recorders as inappropriate for Irish Traditional Music and consequently it's considered an undesirable term.

do any of the wooden whistles out there have the same qualities (deep woody sound, playability) that make the recorder so lovely? You recorder players know what i am talking about - where a soft breath gives you the warmest, loveliest of sounds.

At the risk of heresy, Jon Swayne's boxwood whistles are woody, warm and lovely. Also expensive and hard to get—he doesn't make all that many.

Best wishes.

Steve