Cathal McConnell's double whistle feats...

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 11:18 am

Brian Lee wrote:I figured tape was involved somewhere...just curious to know which holes I guess. The three top on the bottom handed whistle I can see, but the top handed whistle... I suppose taping the two bottom holes would make the most sense. I'll just have to try it I guess.

Thanks

Whether or not you use tape depends entirely on which whistles you choose and which harmonies you are looking for. With some choices you might even choose to tape over half a hole. It's something you need to figure out on a song by song basis.

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 11:20 am

ErikT wrote:A guy named David Brewer also plays two whistles at once quite well.

Btw, Erik,

do you still make a drone whistle?

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 11:21 am

Zub, I do. I've actually sent out a few and have a number of orders for them coming up. Seems like I got about 4 within a couple weeks of each other.

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 11:27 am

ErikT wrote:Zub, I do. I've actually sent out a few and have a number of orders for them coming up. Seems like I got about 4 within a couple weeks of each other.

Ever thought of drilling a hole for the left pinkie, so you could also drone the dominant (A)?

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 12:54 pm

I haven't tried that one; I should give it a shot. I have played around with a couple of combos: holes for thumbs, two playable bodies, one fully playable body, one with only the bottom three holes.

fluter_d · Post by **fluter_d** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 1:01 pm

Actually, being slightly obsessive on occasion, I just discovered that it's possible to play (using piper's fingering) 2 whistles at the same time, no tape required. I will be torturing myself and others over the forthcoming weekend... Thanks!

Deirdre

jim_mc · Post by **jim_mc** » Sat Nov 08, 2003 12:59 am

I've seen Bill Ochs do this up close. He uses two whistles in the same key and tapes the three bottom holes of one. He did teach the method to Cathal, but Cathal took it to another level. Cathal uses two different whistles, one of which is a high F (I think). That would mean the other should be a C? The amazing thing about Cathal is that all of this seems to just be intuitive to him. Him playing two different whistles in harmony looks about as difficult as me brushing my teeth does.

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sat Nov 08, 2003 1:19 am

Brian, I've got a MD recording of Cathal doing this, from this summer. Remind me and I'll pull it off the disc, and maybe we can figure out what he's done by what notes are being played.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sat Nov 08, 2003 1:29 am

jim_mc wrote:I've seen Bill Ochs do this up close. He uses two whistles in the same key and tapes the three bottom holes of one. He did teach the method to Cathal, but Cathal took it to another level. Cathal uses two different whistles, one of which is a high F (I think). That would mean the other should be a C? The amazing thing about Cathal is that all of this seems to just be intuitive to him. Him playing two different whistles in harmony looks about as difficult as me brushing my teeth does.

Jim, it's not as hard as it sounds in theory. So long as you are careful to avoid a couple of jarring combinations, just about any pair of notes you hit will be acceptable so long as you are headed for a couple of chord tones to finish a phrase. Playing concertina, you very quickly learn how to improvise double and tripple stops that harmonise with the melody line you are playing.

Kevin L. Rietmann · Post by **Kevin L. Rietmann** » Sat Nov 08, 2003 3:04 am

Maybe you could tape a whistle to another whistle so its holes face down, and play it with your pinkies and thumbs?
Food for thought.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Sat Nov 08, 2003 6:43 am

If any of you play around with taping the top three holes of your whistle, try this..
You can play a whole scale with one hand on a taped whistle. Ignore the first octave and jump right up to the second.. Uncover the holes one at a time from bottom to top to play D,E,F#, G. Then cover them back up and blow harder. Instead of a D, you will get an overtone A and you can play the notes up:A, B,C# D. With a little practice you can play tunes one handed. When I used to juggle for my nursing home patients, I would sometimes play a tune with one hand, and juggle two balls with the other.
This is how a tabor pipe works-- back in the mideval days, they would play the pipe with one hand and a little neck slung drum with the other ( Bodhran would work if you're sitting down). On a tabor pipe, the top of the three holes is on the back, and is covered with the thumb. One of my customers in Germany ( and Chiff board member) asked me if I could make a tabor pipe for him, which I did ( I voiced it a bit differently to favor the upper registers). He liked it so much that he ordered another, as well as another whistle, giving him the largest collection of Busman Whistles on the planet.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sat Nov 08, 2003 7:41 am

brewerpaul wrote:If any of you play around with taping the top three holes of your whistle, try this..
You can play a whole scale with one hand on a taped whistle. Ignore the first octave and jump right up to the second.. Uncover the holes one at a time from bottom to top to play D,E,F#, G. Then cover them back up and blow harder. Instead of a D, you will get an overtone A and you can play the notes up:A, B,C# D. With a little practice you can play tunes one handed.

Paul, does this work by essentially the same principle that allows for the playing of high harmonics on saxophones using false fingerings? With a lot of practice I was able to add about an octave and a half to the range of my tenor saxophone when I played it regularly. (Intonation wasn't always perfect.) A virtuoso would be able to add perhaps a further octave again and with perfect intonation. I've wondered about how high I could go on whistle using false fingerings but have been hesitant to experiment on a high D. (I like dogs.)

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Sun Nov 09, 2003 6:44 am

[quote="Wombat Paul, does this work by essentially the same principle that allows for the playing of high harmonics on saxophones using false fingerings? )[/quote]

I think so-- it's also the same principle that lets you get varying notes from a bugle which has no holes or keys at all. The old "natural horn"-- precursor to the French horn, was used to play entire concertos. I once heard a recording of some well known horn player ( perhaps Dennis Brain) playing a concerto by Mozart's father on a length of garden hose.
I have a friend named Eric Marczak who I've mentioned here before as a maker and player of Native American style flutes. Eric made himself a pair of overtone flutes in different pitches, which are basically long, thin whistles with no fingerholes. The very long thin configuration makes the overtones easier to play, and if you cover the bottom hole with your finger you get another set of overtones. Eric perfoms a Polish polka on these that you wouldn't believe.

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 8:22 am

Brian, only one of the whistles is taped. That way he can play G, A, B and C (and C#) on the untaped whistle. And Cathal tapes the TOP three holes, not the bottom three. He did learn the idea from Bill Ochs, but perhaps he has modified it. I had recalled, incorrectly, that the whistles were in the same key, but now I remember that one was a different (untaped) party trick that Cathal does.

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 8:54 am

On all occasions I saw him do his, and that would be around two dozen times within the past two or three years, he did use two different keys so there must be more way than one he approaches this.