Old Time Whistle ?

[Bretton]

Does anyone play old time music on whistle? Anyone know of recordings of old time music with lot's of whistle?

Thanks for any info.

-Brett

[Walden]

Does anyone play old time music on whistle? Anyone know of recordings of old time music with lot's of whistle?

Thanks for any info.

-Brett

Clip 1: harmonica, D whistle, and bouzouki
Clip 2: harmonica, D whistle, and bouzouki
Clip 3: harmonica, low D whistle, and mandolin
Clip 4 (this link is to a page): whistle and Autoharp

[Jerry Freeman]

Walden, those are wonderful!

(Now tell me more about the Chet Atkins diet.)

Best wishes,
Jerry

[janice]

I do. It's great.

[fancypiper]

This area is well known for old time (and bluegrass) and I have only met a couple others that do old time on whistle.

I like to alternate whistle with bones as it seems the aim is to play the tune to death (and see how close toghther they can get their heads without getting poked in the eye by the fiddler) and only one tune at a time and always in the same key.

I do a few in D and G but I don't know a whole lot in A, I don't think. Of course I know tunes, not keys.

I do tunes like:

Soldier's Joy
Over the Waterfall (great tune on uilleann pipes)
Liberty
Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine
Old Joe Clarke
Cluck Old Hen
Hop High Ladies (Miss McLeod's Reel)
Red Haired Boy
Golden Slippers
Fisherman's Hornpipe

Sometimes something will just pop out that I have no idea of the name, but I do mostly Irish except for a few fiddlers conventions I attend.

Fun at the Appalachian String Band Festival, Clifftop, WV

[cowtime]

This area is well known for old time (and bluegrass) and I have only met a couple others that do old time on whistle.

I like to alternate whistle with bones as it seems the aim is to play the tune to death (and see how close toghther they can get their heads without getting poked in the eye by the fiddler) and only one tune at a time and always in the same key.

I do a few in D and G but I don't know a whole lot in A, I don't think. Of course I know tunes, not keys.

I do tunes like:

Soldier's Joy
Over the Waterfall (great tune on uilleann pipes)
Liberty
Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine
Old Joe Clarke
Cluck Old Hen
Hop High Ladies (Miss McLeod's Reel)
Red Haired Boy
Golden Slippers
Fisherman's Hornpipe

Sometimes something will just pop out that I have no idea of the name, but I do mostly Irish except for a few fiddlers conventions I attend.

Fun at the Appalachian String Band Festival, Clifftop, WV

I'll second the above and add-

The Banks of the Ohio
Sourwood Mountain
Down in the Willow Garden
Cripple Creek
John Hardin
Black Eyed Suzy
Gotta See your Momma every Saturday Night
Pig in a Pen
Pretty Polly
and my very favorite-
Billy in the Lowground

[Ridseard]

Does anyone play old time music on whistle? Anyone know of recordings of old time music with lot's of whistle?

The only old time I've heard is strictly string band - usually fiddle, guitar, and banjo. (There is some controversy about whether acoustic bass is proper in old time. It's not 100% traditional, but I think it adds a nice touch.)
I wouldn't presume to play whistle in a pure old time band, but I have played around with several of the tunes mentioned by fancypiper and cowtime.

[fluter_d]

I actually was wondering about this also. I was at a really great old time session a couple of weeks ago (3 banjo players - not all playing at the same time though - and guitar, bass, and fiddle) and although I could figure some of the tunes out (they were playing in C), I didn't want to just jump in, because the whistle has such a different sound to the stringed instruments there - I figured that it'd be really obvious, especially since I wasn't entirely sure of the tunes. How common is whistle in old time?

[SteveK]

On some early tapes of Helicon, Chris Norman plays a few old time tunes on whistle but mostly on flute. He plays Liberty on whistle. Sandy River Belle and Kitchen Girl are also on the tape but I can't recall how much of those he plays. He also plays Bitter Creek and Leather Britches. The latter is really Lord McDonald's Reel and I think both of those are on flute. On his man with a wooden flute he plays several old time tunes including Chinquapin Hunting, Frosty Morning and Dry ond Dusty but those are all on flute. I have a tape of Bruce Green who plays some tunes along with a fifer playing a C fife. Frankly, it's not very good although Bruce is a very fine fiddler ordinarily. One of the most interesting pieces I've heard with whistle is on a Mike Seeger album called Fresh Old Time music. The tune is Boatman played with a fretless gut-strung banjo whistle and some sort of percussion. The percussion sounds like an empty wooden box. It's really quite nice. The album notes speculate that the banjo and whistle might not be without precedent in the 19th C but no real evidence of that is given.

There are now some books out from which you can get some of the more unusual tunes. I've tried a very nice one called Grand Picnic but haven't really learned it yet.

Steve

[SteveK]

Over the Waterfall (great tune on uilleann pipes)

That reminds me of 5-string banjo player Stephen Wade's album called Dancing Home. There are some tunes there with Keiran O'Hare on UP and flute. They play an interesting old time tune called Rye Straw. The banjo and pipes work well together. There is a picture on Mick Moloney's banjo history site of a piper and banjo player together. If you look closely at the banjo you can see the fifth string peg. It's higher on the neck that normal-close to the seam on the shoulder of the guy's jacket. I don't think it's known what style the banjo player played but his hand position resembles the clawhammer position.

http://www.standingstones.com/banjo.html

Steve

[slowair]

Not sure if this will help.

My dad showed me a couple of CDs he recently picked up. His taste in music is usually not mine, but I think you might find this artist of interest.

David Kincaid
1. The Irish Volunteer
2. The Irish-American Song

These albums contain I-A songs, mostly ballads from Civil Wars times.

My dad doesn't know how much whistle is there, but why would he, he doesn't pay attention to whistle. My guess is there's plenty.

Mike

[The Weekenders]

Works fine. When I joined the band I am in, last October, the playlist included some of the tunes SteveK mentioned above like Sandy Boys, Kitchen Girls, Cold Frosty Morn, Salmon Tails up the Water etc. I didn't even know any OldTimey so I didn't recognize them as such until we started playing them. I guess the main thing is to have a strong fiddler, which we did, then you fit right in.

[livethe question]

What I've found in the little I've done in the style and is that the choice in whiistle contributed to it working as well as using the whistle in moderation and in in some counter melodies and harmony. I like my Burke Composites for this, even better than some of my wooden whisltes....but that may just be an excuse to keep more whistles.

I'm certainly no expert but thats been the result of my little experience.

jim

[LeeMarsh]

There is a lot of flute and whistle in some old time music; but perhaps not strict Old Time. Contra Dance music is a mixture of old time, english, blue grass, and irish dance music. Many of the songs mentioned above are played at contra dances.

My first real exposure to Irish jigs and reels was through playing in the <a href=http://www.bfms.org>Baltimore Folk Music Society</a>'s Open Band that played for area contra dances. If you pick up the Fiddler's Fake Book, or the Portland Collection, both are filled with a mix of these tunes. One of the major flute players in our area is Marty Taylor. She gave me my first flute lesson one of <a href=http://www.smart.net/~mjb/bfms/catoctin.html> The Catoctin Music and Dance Weekend</a>. and also was the first to explain what separated irish style playing with it lack of tonguing and use of ornamentation. Her love of playing for dancers is infectious.

So if you want to hear a mix of old time, irish, scottish, and other dance tunes try your local contra dances. Most dances have 'beginners' lessons to learn the basic steps a 30-60 minutes before the main dance starts.
Seeing and feeling the music set feet to moving if worth a visit.

Here's a link to start with if your looking for Contra in your area.
<a href=http://www.cdss.org/grp_addr_list.html>Country Dance and Song Society's List of Group Affiliates and Related Links.</a>
The list is sorted by state and includes for example:

Bloomington Old Time Music & Dance Group
Bill Hayden, PO Box 3238, Bloomington, IN, 47402
(812) 332-3073; botmdg@bloomington.in.us
<a href=http://www.bloomington.in.us/~botmdg/>Bloomington Old Time Music & Dance Group</a> which lists dances every Wednesday and some Saturdays.

[cowtime]

Does anyone play old time music on whistle? Anyone know of recordings of old time music with lot's of whistle?

The only old time I've heard is strictly string band - usually fiddle, guitar, and banjo. (There is some controversy about whether acoustic bass is proper in old time. It's not 100% traditional, but I think it adds a nice touch.)
I wouldn't presume to play whistle in a pure old time band, but I have played around with several of the tunes mentioned by fancypiper and cowtime.

The only true old time music I've heard had fiddle, guitar and banjo - either singularly or together. Now you could add a little mandolin and a spoon player if available but that was pretty much it.

I think whether or not someone jumped in with a whistle nowdays would depend on where you were. I know, when I get together with my brother and whoever is playing with him, anything that can carry the tune or add to it is welcome. That's when we are "makin' music". But, if we wanted to play one of the tunes and actually have it sound traditional, then the whistle, or anyother odd instruments, would have to be put down.

But, for the most part, anyone I know is glad to have another player- regardless of the instrument.