How I got the itch is a strange tale indeed. Youtube seems to have a knack for making odd topics appear for no apparent reason. I have been playing/practicing Native American Flute for about 6 months. The usual stuff was appearing that I had already watched. Then one of the topics was "Tossing the Feathers" being played by the Corrs. So I watched that. Then a few more. This lead me to seek out other Penny Whistle topics. But the fella who really perked my interest was Micho/Miko? Russell. Anything Micho played had me tapping my foot and grinning from ear to ear. I'm thinking there is something Very Happy about this whistle business. It might be something I need to know.
So I bought an Ossian Publishing "How To" book written by Tom Maguire on the basics of whistle play that came with a Feadog whistle in the key of D. It was the only instruction book they had that came with a whistle. After playing quite badly for about a week I decided it wasn't me that was stinking up the place, it was the whistle.
After a bit of research I bought a Tony Dixon DX005. Tunable whistle. Key of D. Reasonable price. Didn't have to be shipped. It seemed to help a bit. It didn't have the sound I was looking for. Good practice whistle though.
Not satisfied yet I go to Google some more. I see this Jerry Freeman fella making good whistles great. So I bought a Blackbird Tweaked Whistle in the Key of D also. It arrived a few days ago. It's a Dandy. I don't sound like I'm swinging a bag of cats over my head now, when I play in the second octave. A real weakness with the Feadog. Especially G and A. That was just plain hurtful before. The Blackbird is a slippery lil' devil though. I always think I'm going to drop it when I'm going to play a C#. Something else to learn I suppose.
I have watched quite a few Youtube videos where people will be comparing a number of whistles. I see the Sindt is highly regarded. So now I think I will be needing one of those. They are hard to come by it seems. I go looking for one on Ebay. One had just sold for $454.00! I'm not sure I need one at this stage of the game for that sort of coin.
I had read that the Killarney Whistle has a number of similarities to the Sindt. They are reasonable and much easier to get. So I ponied up the dough and purchased a brass one in the Key of D too. So many D's. So little time. They (Killarney) are fast. I put up an order yesterday and they had it shipped the same day. Free postage too. Impressive stuff. I can hardly wait! Christmas comes early this year!!
This is the last one though. No more penny whistles. I mean how many does one need? Okay. Maybe some in other keys. Other materials. Low Whistles down the road maybe. One or two. Maybe more. A lot more. Ugh. When I croak all I'll have left to give in my estate will be musical instruments. I have to get the music out some how....Don't I!?
Nuff said. See you in the forums.
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