Whistling inspirations?

desert_whistler · Post by **desert_whistler** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 11:13 pm

Actually, one of my favorite whistle sets is by a relatively unknown band called Amergin. I picked up their CD while in Ireland because I really liked their rendition of "Ho Ro Johnny," which doesn't have a single whistle in it! To my pleasant surprise, I found a KICKBUTT reel set hidden in the middle of that CD: Bells of Tipperary/Galway Rambler. Just a Tin Whistle, Bodhran and Bouzouki. Awesome stuff. Rolls for days

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 4:26 am

My introduction to whistling was almost 30 years ago, when I became interested in traditional music. I had the luck to attend a Texas folk music festival that featured such folks as The Boys of the Loch. I got to meet them while my then boyfriend's band hung out and they all took turns seeing who could get the drunkest and still manage to play well... it was amazing, LOL!

Meeting Cathal McConnel was inspirational. I can still see those coke-bottle lensed eyes alternating between the face talking to him and the blue silk clothed chest that face was floating over, LOL!... I'm sure he doesn't remember me, LOL!, but I will likely always have that pic in my memory. He was phenominal to listen to, and I might mention that, as I recall, he won the above mentioned competition.

Anyway, I played flute and saxaphone in high school, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to move to whistle. (couldn't locate my flute during those migratory times) I've played *with* them (flutes and whilstes)sporatically ever since. BTW, I only very rarely attempted to find out just how far into the bottle I could go and still play (note that I'm leaving off the 'well' part here), and that was usually the bass fiddle, which is much handier for leaning on than most whistles.

Hey! Then I grew up! Luckily, I also eventually outgrew that boyfriend.

Boy, am I glad there's an 'edit' feature here - LOL! I can't spell worth a *%&$#*

rbm · Post by **rbm** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 4:33 am

I don't know why I wanted to play the whistle, but when a local night school class came up it was for me.

And I quite happily blame you lot for keeping me going through my hours of darkness.

I would name names but my fingers would be worn through to the very bones with typing so thankyou all:)

Richard.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 10:32 am

brewerpaul wrote:The final nail in my musical coffin was a performance at a local community college by Patrick Ball on Celtic harp. He was accompanied by whistler and piper Tim Britton who totally blew me away. We don't hear too much about Tim which is too bad because he's as good as they come.

You probably already know this, but Tim Britton is a member of the group Chulrua, along with Paddy O'Brien and Pat Egan. I had the chance to see them a few weeks ago at the University of Hartford. They were excellent. Tim is fabulous.

Here is a link to Chulrua's site, for those interested.

http://www.chulrua.com

All the Best,

Tom

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 11:01 am

I have listened to Irish music on and off all my life. A lot of it was of the American commercial made for immigrants type. In about 1982 I became more conscious of my Irish roots while I was living in Newport, RI where ethnic background is a matter of pride. One day I was in an Irish shop down near the Brickmarket and I saw an Irish Whistle called a Feadan. It was only about $7 and was made in Ireland so I bought it. I fooled around with it for a while but put it up and didn't play it again until I returned from Ireland in May of 2002. I still didn't get serious about it until I found C&F. I have been struggling along now since the first of the year and now I hope to keep Whistling.

Ron

Colin · Post by **Colin** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 1:01 pm

I bought my first Generation's in Edinburgh a looong time ago - around '67/'68 - inspired to play by the likes of Tommy Makem, The Dubliners, Sweeney's Men, Eddie and Finbar Furey (based in Edinburgh at the time), The Corries and Hamish Bayne of The McCalmans. I was in one of the many folk groups populating the bars of Scotland in the frantic popular folk music revival of the late 60's.
It all seems so long ago.
Probably because it was!

Colin

cj · Post by cj » Tue Oct 14, 2003 1:29 pm

A friend had a whistle, I had to know what it was, then I had to have one. So I bought a Clarke and a book and started whistling. Heard and loved Joanie Madden also, as well as some local talent.

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 2:50 pm

Music was in my house when I was little, as my mom played guitar, piano, and sang. She sent me for piano lessons but I had trouble - I was horrible at reading the music, and as soon as I'd memorized the tune I stopped looking, depending on my ear instead. This works fine for one hand at a time. I never got very far in piano.

Then in third grade they had us learn recorder in school. Much more portable than piano, especially as we moved from place to place quite a bit (a trend I've been continuing, I guess!). I kept that up till I was in college, when I heard an Irish group at the Sterling renaissance festival. Got myself some susatos, hated them, dropped whistle for two years. For unrecalled reasons I gave it another shot in summer 2001, got a dixon and joined up here. But in a year I only learned about 5 tunes, and badly. Went to a few pub sessions too, but didn't play much.

My inspiration wasn't a particular player, though, it was a concept - kitchen sessions. I went to the Rocky Mountain Session in July 2002 in Salt Lake to meet other Chiffers, and it was ... well, no words for it. That's what really got me started. There's something really fantastic about a bunch of regular guys coming together to someone's house, bringing along a bit of food and some instruments, and just creating audible magic for hours on end. Musicians come as complete strangers and leave as the best of friends.

What could possibly be better incentive to play?

Steven · Post by **Steven** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 4:38 pm

It's all my wife's fault. I had a couple of whistles around, but had never played them, or much of anything else for that matter. I'm not really sure where they came from, but I think maybe from my father. Anyway, once I started dating the woman I later married, I discovered that she plays the fiddle. She found out about my whistles and encouraged me to start playing them. She helped me get started and taught me enough about music and music theory that I could then start learning on my own, and I haven't stopped. I'm pretty sure that was about the beginning of 2000. Also, she had an extensive collection of trad CDs (mostly Irish and Scottish), so that helped a lot.

Now she can hardly blame me for the flutes I've had to buy since then, and I really don't understand why she's reluctant to let me try some other instruments, like button accordion or concertina or banjo. It seems to have something to do with the money. But it's all her fault!

Steven

adriancarrington · Post by **adriancarrington** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 6:23 pm

I was a bass player for many years...all backbreaking stuff, huge and heavy equipment carried up and down stairs at venues all over the country. One of my bands carried seven tons of gear around with us.
I really fancied something portable to play, which didn't require plugging in to the mains, and saw a whistle in a music store. When I took one home and bumbled through my first tune, I was hooked!
It's a nice change to be playing melody, as opposed to accompaniment, and of course, as I began to check out the repertoire of the whistle, a whole other musical world opened up...
Been having fun ever since!

Cheers, Adrian

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 7:29 pm

adriancarrington wrote:I was a bass player for many years...all backbreaking stuff, huge and heavy equipment carried up and down stairs at venues all over the country. ... Cheers, Adrian

Yes, Adrian, I've been trying for years to come up with an inflatable bass... maybe a reallllly low D whistle??...

Lawrence · Post by **Lawrence** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 1:09 pm

Captain Jean-Luc Picard. If he can do it, so can I.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 1:24 pm

Interesting thread!

John, I agree that Crowley's Reel on the Cheiftains / James Galway CD is one of the finest recordings of Irish music I've ever heard.

If you ever go looking for that reel, by the way, you'll find it's a lot easier to find under its other name, the Roscommon Reel. Together with Toss the Feathers it makes up the "Crowley's Reel" set.

As for whistle in particular, I think Mary Bergin's "Feadog Stain" albums are always an inspiration to anyone who hears them.

--James

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 2:07 pm

The first time I camped at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, I heard the Scottish small pipes and penny whistles for the first time.

Previously, I had enjoyed the bagpipe bands and would hear them for a week after going up on Sat and Sun during the day.

Naturally, I wanted some small pipes as they looked easier to play and you could play inside. The piper suggested I get a penny whistle and learn that.

I found a Fedog at a music store in Roanoke, VA and a pennywhistle book by (sombody) Williams and once I got over the first octave jumping tune, I was hooked solidly.

I found an album by L. E. McCullough and a guitar player whos name I have forgotten. I also found the McCullough tutor and his whistle discography. I found Shanachie Records and they had a lot of the albums, so I maxed out the introductory offer they had at the time and got as many whistle albums as I could.

I was really bowled over by the Moloney/Potts album, Donnacha O'Brien, Mary Bergin's first album, etc.

Of course after I learned about all that Irish music and got a few techniques down, I had heard the Uilleann pipes and found out that you could actually get them in the US.

That $15 purchase of a whistle and a tune book leads down the dark road of pipes and flutes if you're not very careful. I could only resist the urge for 14 years, then I got the UPOA dosorder as well as the WhOA.

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 2:30 pm

Hmmm....I didn't seek out pennywhistle, they were always there in a drawer it seemed, or up on a dusty shelf. But then at a session here in Hartford I heard this guy Tom play a Soodlum, and he ROCKED. So I segued from recorder to Gen/Soodlum whistle and really wasn't too happy with my sound. Then I played a Burke and fell in love with the sounds I could make on that whistle.

Continuing inspiration comes from a boatload of IrTrad musicians, none of them particularly tied to a whistle, rather their obvious love of the music... the people I play with on Wednesday.

Surprisingly, I don't find any inspiration in the recordings I listen to of top flight whistling. I find them too daunting....and so often I feel the melody is lost to the rococco ornamentation.