On-Topic and not a poll: practice whistles

[Tyghress]

I practice on the same whistle I play in public, the Abell D. I've found that because each whistle has its own peculiarities I need to practice on what I will be playing.

I'll do some playing with all the other whistles, especially the Water Weasel in the car, or the Burke (my fallback whistle if I don't want to take wood out of the house), but real practice. . .scales, exercises, whatever tunes I'm trying to make presentable. . .I play on the instrument that I play 'seriously'.

Oh, I'll do some practice on lower keys to try and get my breath control.

[glauber]

I find that when breaking in a new whistle, i have better results if i play that whistle almost exclusively. So right now i'm playing almost only the Hoover whitecap. Before this, the Village Smithy, before that the Water Weasel. It usually takes me about 2 weeks of this concentrated treatment to really be able to play a new whistle the way it deserves to be played.

[RonKiley]

Practice is all do.

Feadan D
Gen Nickel D
Sweetone D

Ron

[LeeMarsh]

Two types of practice: In house and elsewhere.

Elsewhere is most of my practices includes parking lots waiting each day for my wife to pick me up from the train, a lunch break a couple times each week spent in one of the local parks, and other opportunities as they present themselves. I generally carry my back pack and the following whistles (and flute) have a home there:

• Burke Narrow Bore composite - Soprano D
• Burke Session Bore Composite - Soprano D
• Dixon 3 piece conical bore flute

At home I add: in order of preference.

• Overton - Low D
• Overton - Low F
• Dixon tunable - Soprano C.
• Overton - Mezzo-Soprano A

[jonharl]

I've been playing my Sindt D exclusively.

[Wombat]

I keep a Sindt D at work and Burke AlPro D and C ready for action at home at all times. Other whistles that see quite a lot of action are Busman, Abell and Thin Weasel high Ds, Abell and Overton high Eb, Sindt Bb, Burke AlPro low G, Grinter low F and Copeland low D. Every so often I play Overtons a lot. If I'm going to play a whistle I haven't been practising on recently on a recording or in public I'll put in about a week's practice on it to get fully at home with it. I find that I can move from one Overton to another without much trouble if I have been practicing just two or three of them recently. A Daniel Bingamon high D Ahava Rabba whistle gets a lot of work too.

[Monster]

Blue sweetone D with funny looking jasper dancing on the front.

[spittin_in_the_wind]

The whistle that hangs out on my desk all the time is my Clark tweaked by the Whistleshop. *Great* whistle! The only other whistles that see any action at present are my Busman, which doesn't get nearly the play of the Clark only due to the relatively long time it takes to decide it wants to play with me on a given day--not a whistle I can whip out and bang out a few tunes while stirring the spaghetti sauce; and the Dixon tunable D--much more seldom than the Busman, although I'm not sure why. The one I am notably *not* playing is my O'Briain Improved Feadog, whose screechiness just really rubs me the wrong way. I may have to Whitecap it.

I need a Burke.

Robin

[ScottStewart]

I practice a lot with my Hoover, but I play and practice with a Burke brass pro C, a Shaw A, an Eyer G and a Howard low D brass. I used to have WhOA, but not now. Now I have LToad (lutherie tool obsessive acquisition disorder) and GAS (guitar acquisition syndrome).

[spittin_in_the_wind]

I used to have WhOA, but not now. Now I have LToad (lutherie tool obsessive acquisition disorder) and GAS (guitar acquisition syndrome).

I may come back with HarDAS after I come back from the Hammered Dulcimer Festival....

R.