How did you get your start in whistling?

[ytliek]

How did you get started?

I had heard the whistle ITM everywhere and just didn't follow up on the instrument. I had received a Walton D as a gift but never opened it and its still in the bottom of the drawer. I had been lurking on the C&F Forum for quite a long while. I was doing my Irish family genealogy and reading Irish history when I came across a heartfelt story about building the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1800s and 57 Irish men who died working on one mile of railway called Duffy's Cut. I was fascinated (obsessed) with the story. I pleaded on the C&F Forum for some help with learning the tune 'Lament for the 57' Duffy's Cut. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=86518

I researched the story of Duffy's Cut thru Immaculata University http://duffyscut.immaculata.edu/ and thru the Smithsonian Channel http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/ ... how=131088 and I even attended the burial ceremony in PA where I heard the 'Lament for the 57' on the bagpipes and by the man who wrote it (Francis Watson). Did I say obsessed, now more than ever I was determined to learn that tune.

The help came readily and was well received as I was determined to learn the tune. I didn't read music (still don't) and didn't have a whistle as far as I was concerned so the first whistle I purchased was a Jerry Freeman Bluebird D (still my daily practice whistle). I struggled thru all the help and resources offered by Chiffers. I eventually learned to play the tune somewhat ok. I still don't know how to record and that's on the bucket list.

Then like you Angelic Beaver I searched YouTube for anything about whistles, good, bad, or ugly. Chiffers were constantly talking about Low D whistles but I knew I wasn't ready for them. Still not with that Piper's grip thing. But one of the earliest YouTube Low whistle videos was this one here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxn_sNjJbRI and I said whoa! Let me learn some ITM tunes on the high D whistle first and then consider giving the Low D a go. Its now a year or so later and I may consider the low whistle.

So I emailed John the next day and order the first of the 9 Sindt's I now own, which I received three weeks later . This was probably the wisest musical choice I ever made. In 2009 I ordered a silver tube for it, and though I now have 117 whistles (Cayden and Ytliek, you've still got room for expansion), I still carry this Sindt with me everywhere I go.

I will be buried with this Sindt and my birds-eye maple Busman d+ in my top left jacket pocket - where they always are.

ecohawk

I can't speak for Cayden, he has daughters off to college, but me own whistle whoad has expanded quite nicely... matter factly, I'm not THAT far behind 117 at the moment. Can't play'em well but they sure are purrtteee to look at. Some are shiny nickel, some brass, some wood, some aluminum, some copper, and some delrin. Colorful!

I don't have nine Sindts and wouldn't mention them in public if I did as people will be kicking in yer doors to get at them. You read the forum everybody is looking for at least one Sindt.

I will admit to taking one Sindt D whistle to grave with me as well ecohawk... it's the only family jewel. And its sacrilege to dig up a grave.

[maki]

Nothing wrong with recorders.
I own a decent one, and have owned a couple cheap ones.
They just don't do it for me....

[Cayden]

In 2009 I ordered a silver tube for it, and though I now have 117 whistles (Cayden and Ytliek, you've still got room for expansion), I still carry this Sindt with me everywhere I go.

I will be buried with this Sindt and my birds-eye maple Busman d+ in my top left jacket pocket - where they always are.

ecohawk

Ecohawk,

You my friend, are a Grandmaster Of Whistle Pigs!!! I am truly in awe.

Slainte,
Cayden

[AngelicBeaver]

I read a lot about Davy Spillane getting people interested in low whistle in Riverdance, or Titanic increasing whistle popularity, but I've never seen Riverdance, and I didn't even know there were low (or high) whistles in Titanic until after my Personal Whistling Revolution.

My parent's purchased my a Walton's Soprano D that came in a bundle with a Mel Bay beginner's whistle book while we were in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia (Summer of 2012). I guess I thought it was whatever they were playing in the reenactment army drills (probably a fife) or had something to do with that time period. I played it a bit on the trip and then put it down until around late 2010, after I'd gotten married and had a house with a garage to hold my junk. It had been kicking around on the garage floor for two or three years, and one day, I found the book, searched and found the whistle, and decided to take another stab at it. I got my first low whistle in February of 2012. I suppose I came across low whistles on Youtube while looking at other whistle videos. I give a lot of credit to PJ Tin Whistler for really showing me how cool they could be. This was probably one of the first times I heard low whistle:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qWmeGfJX3w
How did you get started?

You travelled back in time to learn it?

My parents purchased me a whistle and book in the summer of 2002, not 2012. I try to avoid time travel whenever possible (excepting the standard forward variety). Sorry to confuse and/or excite.

[Sirchronique]

Add me to the list of people who played the recorder for some years before starting whistle, as well!

[sackbut]

At age 47, I could play no musical instrument, and had never seriously applied myself to learning one. I sang, sometimes in choirs, and sometimes in traditional English folk clubs where singing was more often unaccompanied. My wife plays fiddle, mostly Scottish, and my role was to hunt through books and folders for the tunes she wanted to play.
At the Tiree Feis I used to ferry her to a fiddle workshop, and go for a stroll on the beach until it was time to head for home. In 1997 I finally decided to sign up for a beginner whistle workshop, borrowing my father-in-law's Gen D (which he didn't play). Originally my only target was to play second parts to my wife's lead, hence I started out playing nearly all Scottish harmonies. That led to a small group with 2 friends, playing largely Playford music, since we found a couple of books with 3 parts + chords, which fitted our instrumentation. Later still I joined a couple of English sessions.

I've never seen 'Titanic', and Irish music formed no part of my background, and is only a small proportion of my current repertoire.

[MeMyselfandI]

Add me to the list of people who played the recorder for some years before starting whistle, as well!

Ugh! Me too... However, it was only a couple months for me, and I put a couple more twists in there. When I was probably about 8, my mom started me on the viola (primarily classical). A couple years later, my brother introduced me to the band called The Irish Experience, which is a terrible band (my opinion), in case you don't know who they are. Anyway, a while later, my sister introduced me to Bill Whelan's music, which I absolutely fell in love with. Admittedly, I still like a lot of it. Anyway, I got my mom to get a fiddling book. A couple days later, she got me Fiddling For the Viola, which I "devoured".

After searching through tons of youtube videos, I found the high and low whistles from - guess who? TinWhistler I also found the Irish flute, which I liked about as much as the low whistle. Due to already playing viola and piano heavily, my parents weren't about to just get me a low whistle or a flute (I hated the high whistles at the time). Luckily, exercising my ingenuity, I found some Japanese Knotweed (kind of like really soft bamboo) in my backyard, and decided to try and start making flutes from that. Having no idea what I was doing, I eventually figured out how to make a sound out of a hole in the side of the stuff, and then I started trying to make working flutes out of it, which trashed several very good tubes. Eventually, I made some out of PVC, then when I ruined those and was out of materials, I found the only remaining tube in the house that I could use - a cardboard tube (I have pictures if you're interested ). Surprisingly, I made it work, and played on that for a couple months, until more material was gotten. During that entire time, I learned on the recorder.

Eventually, I decided to buy a flute, so I found a $30 flute on eBay, made by TunesOfWood. It actually wasn't a really bad flute. It played fairly easily (at least compared to what I had been struggling with) and had a full 2 1/2 octaves, in tune, with few weak spots. A couple weeks later, i was invited to a session nearby, which really got me going. There, I met a couple people who helped me along in both flute making and playing, including Dave Copley and Cathy Wilde. Right around that time, I got a Clarke Meg, which I "studied" on for a while, until I lost it. Still don't know where it is.

After months of that, I came upon the horrible to truth that if I was to get much better, I needed a better flute. I scraped up $350 and landed myself with a used Copley. That was about when I really got into whistles. I got myself a Feadog, and started making my own whistles. Now, I own about 3 good working whistles, and at least 15 crapschite whistles. That's not even thinking about the hundreds of even worse flutes I have that I should probably throw away, but only keep for memory's sake.

[Nanohedron]

What is it with this board, recorders and this tired little faux taboo?

Does anyone seriously think it's (still) either clever or funny?

Oh no, Peter. It's Chiff Tradition.

And a matter of time and place. This is the Whistle Forum. And not only that, but it's the original face of C&F, thus was the die cast.

Think of it as something like the rivalry between Man U and Leeds. In its own territory, the World/Folk Winds Forum, a recorder may expect to roam unmolested, but the whistle that dares show its fipple there deserves what it gets.

[MadmanWithaWhistle]

My dad went to Dublin when he was my age on a school exchange program. He fell in love with irish music and brought back Chieftans and Paul Brady LPs and a blue-top Generation D. I found it some 30 years later going through some of his stuff in the attic of my grandparents' farm house in South Dakota, and he let me keep it along with an old book of tunes. It sat around in my room for a long time, and then I just picked it up and started playing it, learning songs by ear from YouTube and picking techniques out of a Gray Larson book. I think I tried to learn before that, but without YouTube there was no way I would have been able to get anywhere- I'm poor at reading music for rhythm and there's too much about Irish music that can't be written down. Now I play whistle, timber flute and scottish smallpipes.

[Viking of Kiev]

Really interesting stories here!

Being a student I began listening to trad music - of various countries. It was in 96-97 - most of the music was on cassettes in Russia (I am Russian by origin). Once I came to my friends who were listening to a cassette with what at once enchanted me - it was a very good collection of Irish Trad music, - there was The Bothy Band, Clannad, Planxty and other great bands. I suddenly understood it was my music. I began searching for Irish (and Scottish) trad music - explored music shops, cassette stalls and so on but the most of the music I copied from my friends while travelling. It was the time when there was no Internet in Russia yet, or, to be correct, there was - we had it in our university library but you had to register in a queue to have access to it, but we didn't know what it was for so we didn't.
I didn't have an intention to play then.
But, once later, in 99, I went to a music shop to buy 3 pirate CDs (which became available to that time) with trad music but the shop happened to be closed. I went to another one and suddenly bought - guess what? - a recorder which was just a flute for me then since I had no idea what ITM was usually played on or what music was to be played on a recorder. It cost me just as much as those 3 CDs I'd planned to buy. So I bought a recorder and thought I could play something cool on it at once. But - to my surprise I discovered I could play nothing! I didn't surrender and began practicing trying to pick up my favourite Irish tunes from cassettes - Maids of Michelstown was one of these, I remember.
I was too lazy to read a piece of paper which was packed together with the flute - so for about a half a year I've had no idea of overblowing and the second octave - I played all the tunes in the first. I don't mention that at that time I didn't know anything about cuts, taps, rolls or other kinds of ornamentation as I had no source to learn about it.
I then often visited Moscow to work there - it helped - there were more people with the same addiction - there were even bands that played ITM! Once the real Irish musicians(!) came to play - Roy Galvin on whistle, flute and pipes and Cormac De Barra on harp and bodhran! It was indescribable!
I soon began playing the bodhran too. Me and my friend we found a wooden barrell lid which had a wooden bar on its side which we could comfortably hold it by and we were practicing jigs and reels knocking on it. I was successful in jigs, my friend - in reels.
I started on tin whistle in 2001 when moved to Kiev, Ukraine and met a group of addicts here who could play some ITM and had "real" instruments such as tin whistles or bodhran. I was given a Feadog which actually was bad. I had to cut out the blade of its fipple and replaced it with a wooden insert. After this treatment it sounded quite well - not as harsh as it used to. A bit later I got acquainted with the Internet and found Brother Steve tin whistle pages which opened the world of Irish tinwhistle ornamentation for me. Soon we founded an ITM band here with which I've played for 5 years. I then quit but my ITM addiction and whistling still continues - I have about 20 different whistles but now play mostly low ones or the flute.
ITM addiction as well as whistling is a rare illness in this part of the world as you can imagine but I can say it really defines the ways of my life - it was one of the reasons I moved to where I live now, it's how I found my wife... and so on.

[sfmans]

Having been thoroughly put off music by the appalling high-art classical-or-nothing music teacher at my school, I got started through my younger sister when she started playing clarinet a few years later - her clarinet teacher suggested she bought a tin whistle to help with breath control, I quickly fell in love with the whistle, and started playing it far more than she was.

By the time I arrived at university I was a just-about-good-enough whistle player in search of an opportunity, and in the first week there I fell in with a bunch of people who were happy to let me learn in public whilst playing for dancing: and with that I was off and have basically never looked back. I rarely play the high whistle these days since I took up the D piccolo/fife, but tend to play low whistle rather than concert flute when the lower octave is an option.

Oh, and then of course there's the concertina which I spend a lot of my playing time on these days; but it all leads back 35+ years to my sister's D whistle ...

[kmarty]

How did you get your start in whistling?

Approx a year ago my wife asked me to buy a "real" recorder for our children, because they had a "toy" recorder which produced really terrible sound (regardless of who play on it). So I went to the shop to buy it and when I was there, I saw a cheap pennywhistle and told myself "For the price? Why not?". Bought recorder for children and whistle for me .

Whistle is my very first instrument of this type. I never play on anything like recorder or so (recorder mentioned above was just a toy replacement). I used to play diatonic button accordion (probably C/F, I already don't know) approx 20 years ago, but my level was just for home playing.

ITM I found through detour. First time I heard a Bran (czech band) approx 10-12 years ago, but they mostly plays more Breton than Irish. But it was probably first step which targeted me towards ITM.

[maxnew40]

I had a friend and co-worker years ago that played in a Irish band. He played Tin Whistle, Concertina, and Bazouki (SP?). That sort of planted a seed that would take many years to grow. Then a few years back I joined the SCA and got interested in all sorts of folk and medieval music (I discovered bands like Makem and Clancey). At some point I bought a Clarke Sweetone and a book and there it sat for almost two years. Then a few weeks ago I got motivated and started working through the book, and now I practice every night.

I have played rock music in bands for more than 20 years, so the intrument is new to me but performing music is not.

-Max

[p51baby]

Have to say I was one of those soundtrack junkies who got hooked to ITM through the Titanic soundtrack. I was a teenager whose friends were fauning after Jack Dawson while I became enamoured with the penny whistle solos on the OST. Started playing the songs on the recorder (had no idea it was a pennywhistle). One day while visiting a new age bookstore, I got myself the Original Clarke. I've not looked back since (still have it, though I should probably get a tetanus shot before putting it anywhere near my mouth!). I somehow accidentally tweaked it before ever knowing what a tweak was and developed whoad before finding out about C&F.From there I got into the Corrs, Joanie Madden, the Chieftans, Matt Molloy, Lunasa, Flook, Mike Mcgoldrick, etcetc and so forth (moving from commercialized "Celtic" music to ITM).

That was 15 years ago.

I've had a bit of a musical background but it went in this order: Recorder -> Classical Flute -> guitar/pennywhistle/bodhran -> low whistle. MKs and Sindts are my favorite to play. If it weren't for that first Clarke whistle, I don't know where I'd be today (probably a couple of grand richer! )

Cheers,

Mel

[pancelticpiper]

I really am floored by how many people played recorder before graduating onto whistle

Now, I really like recorder music! I have more CDs of Renaissance and Baroque music featuring recorder than most people, including CDs which are entirely recorder ensemble.

I have no interest in hearing recorder ensemble music performed by a tin whistle ensemble, and likewise I have no interest in hearing ITM performed on the recorder.

And that's where the negativity towards the recorder, from people raised in the ITM world, comes from: everywhere you look, at every festival, there are crappy "Irish" bands that have recorder players in them, people who can't be bothered to use appropriate instruments for the musical genre they're playing.

I was raised, initially, in Pipe Bands and it's inconceivable for anyone to take up Highland Pipe Band music and play in a Pipe Band on any instrument other than the Highland pipes (and the Scottish-style drums).

So when I got interested in Irish music it followed, naturally, that I would learn to play the instruments traditionally and ordinarily used in that music, the Irish flute, the uilleann pipes, the whistle.

But right away I ran into Americans who didn't have that notion at all: bluegrass fiddlers who would play ITM in a bluegrass style, classical recorder players and Boehm flute players who would play ITM in a classical style, Appalachian dulcimer players who would play ITM in a 'mountain music' style, and so forth. None of this sounded remotely like the ITM I was hearing on my vinyl Bothy Band, Chieftans, and Planxty albums.