I'm so excited! Yay! Except I didnt learn any new tunes so I'll still be watching and listening and chatting and coveting (dont forget coveting, thats an important one) Oh well, see you guys there
While I'm thinking of it, bring a recording device if you want. If you like a tune, someone can play it slowly for you so you can take it home and work it out. I'm bringing a minidisc player. Hopefully, we'll have something to post on Clips to remember ourselves by. heh, heh.
Tony
http://tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/newspage.htm Officially, the government uses the term “flap,” describing it as “a condition, a situation or a state of being, of a group of persons, characterized by an advanced degree of confusion that has not quite reached panic proportions.”
I'll be bringing mostly weird whistles that I don't think anyone else will have, so hopefully there won't be issues with getting them mixed up. Are whistles like sheep? You know your own flock even though they look exactly the same to everyone else?
Some of the things I'll bring include:
Reyburn "just intonation" D/C set
Erik the flutemaker "double" Susato whistle (which lately seems out of tune, maybe someone will have a good idea to help me fix this)
A Blues whistle
Tweaked Shaw A & C
My NAF's (why not?)
My Dixon A/Bb/G flute head to hear how it sounds when someone who can actually plays the flute plays on it
My Klezmer scale Daniel Binghamton whistle
Last minute notice:
I'm making non-veg chili (cow and turkey parts included) and cornbread muffins. My mom is making soda bread. A couple of people said they'd bring beer, so, I'm bringing a cooler and ice. Murph is bringing strudel. Norcal, I believe, is bringing a homemade pizza. I don't remember what anyone else said. (I hate to reread posts, books, or look at most movies more than once.)
I'll have a nice party-favor for everyone. No, you have to show up to find out what. Hint: it's not a tin whistle.
And, if you've lost the directions, swallow your pride and email me again. I'll have them to you this eve. :roll:
Tony
http://tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/newspage.htm Officially, the government uses the term “flap,” describing it as “a condition, a situation or a state of being, of a group of persons, characterized by an advanced degree of confusion that has not quite reached panic proportions.”
Tell us something.: A long time chatty Chiffer but have been absent for almost two decades. Returned in 2022 and still recognize some names! I also play anglo concertina now.
Kar wrote:Are whistles like sheep? You know your own flock even though they look exactly the same to everyone else?
Nope. Every major whistler get together I've been to results in someone accidentally getting someone else's sheep in their flock. Usually it gets resolved, though.
I've taken to making discrete marking on my common whistles (megs etc) so I can identify them if there is question. A permanent marker on the black plastic headpieces doesn't show up until you tilt it to the light to check.
Damn! Not only unemployed, but unable to make it to the big party across the bay tomorrow. Where's that rope . . .?
Y'all have fun; I'll strain to hear the high-pitched tunes (and screams of horror) while we celebrate my brother's birthday over here. Prior commitments can be such a bother.
The Weekenders wrote:Im gonna bring chicken wings and beer. If enough kids, I can bring milk as neighbor gave me an extra gallon. But they usually only want soda.
Looks like the family will be staying home - daughter #1 has a research paper to finish. But I'll bring spinach dip or Brie, some good crusty bread, and some sort of dark beer.
And I can show off my new Brassy Polly - it arrived last night.
herbivore12 wrote:
Y'all have fun; I'll strain to hear the high-pitched tunes (and screams of horror) while we celebrate my brother's birthday over here. Prior commitments can be such a bother.
Hey, Herbi, we could do the traveling minstrel thing and come play a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" in every key for him. Maybe they would give in and let you come out and play for a while!
Steven - IDAwHOa - Wood Rocks
"If you keep asking questions.... You keep getting answers." - Miss Frizzle - The Magic School Bus
Agh! Last night I missed the meet, because of the storm. I left the house around 4:00pm--usually takes about 20 min to get to Berkeley, if there's no traffic. I was prepared to do up to an hour. But....the traffic in SF was TERRIBLE! I sat on the road for over an hour and got only marginally closer to the Bay Bridge....I attemped some side roads and sat for more time. When I finally decideded that y'all might be gone by the time I got there, I headed toward home which only took about 45 minutes (usually it takes about 15).
I am so bummed to have missed the gathering. I think I owed NorCal a whistle, too. I just couldn't stick it out, not with my little '88 BMW stickshift--I just couldn't CLUTCH one more time!
Anyway, I hope it was fun and maybe I can make it to the next one.
Kar, sorry we missed you. Traffic in Sacramento was abnormally weird even before the storm hit. I think it had something to do with the full moon/eclipse, or the solar winds.
I just wanted to say how great it was to meet all of you who attended last night and thank you all for a wonderful time. Special thanks to Jerry's Mom for putting up with all the racket. I really learned a lot about what these little tubes with holes drilled in them are capable of!
For those of you who weren't able to attend, you missed quite the gala. I've never seen so many exotic whistles gathered in one place...very crude estimate would be 150, or so.
The highlight of the evening was, of course, Jack's stunning 15-minute interpretation of 'The Girl From Ipanema' on the accordion.
Kar wrote:Agh! Last night I missed the meet, because of the storm. I left the house around 4:00pm--usually takes about 20 min to get to Berkeley, if there's no traffic. I was prepared to do up to an hour. But....the traffic in SF was TERRIBLE! I sat on the road for over an hour and got only marginally closer to the Bay Bridge....I attemped some side roads and sat for more time. When I finally decideded that y'all might be gone by the time I got there, I headed toward home which only took about 45 minutes (usually it takes about 15).
I am so bummed to have missed the gathering. I think I owed NorCal a whistle, too. I just couldn't stick it out, not with my little '88 BMW stickshift--I just couldn't CLUTCH one more time!
Anyway, I hope it was fun and maybe I can make it to the next one.
Wondered where you were, but since I needed to leave early (6:30 PM) I figured you'd be there later. And yes, the traffic was pretty bad - took me an hour and a half to make the drive to San Jose.
I won't try to fill in details, but it was a lot of fun. And there were a lot of very talented people there. Very friendly folks, too - made me feel pretty inadequate by comparison. I think that (except you, and the others who cancelled online) everyone was there except Blackhawk.
We did manage to get a group photo (with MurphyStout holding the accordian, even) - I think NorCalMusician took it.
Kar, I got your message on the machine about the traffic. Real bummer. I've turned around part way to SF before for the same reason. Not to rub it in, but we did have a great time. My mom really enjoyed the gathering also. I'll post the pictures today. I recorded a bunch of playing, too. I'll post tidbits of that. We had a real international experience. Besides the requisite jigs and reels, Limuhead played a Tahitian device between a mandolin and ukelele, strung with fishing line and sang a Hawaiian song while his wife, Kay, danced a hoola dance. KC, from Taiwan, played trad Chinese tunes on Burke Bb and on harmonica and led us in Stephen Foster's 'Hard Times.' I invited my neighbor from Turkey, who played a couple of Turkish tunes on mandolin as well as a bluegrass tune with John Palmer and Weekender. MurphyStout and I played a few flute/whistle duets we had organized ahead of time. My wife's been commenting all morning about how nice everyone was. (I guess I'm her only example of a whistle player, so she was expecting weirdos.)
The first hour and a half or so was strictly everyone picking up whistles to try and comment on. I noticed my mom giving us all strange looks. I got to try an O'Riordan low d. Never seen one before. Compared the difference between an 'Easy-blow' and normal Overton low F. I think they sounded the same, but the difference in back pressure was noticeable. Less work to hit the high end. I can't think of a brand of whistle that wasn't represented. Several female conspirators decided their husbands were getting the Hoover ultra-quiet whistles for Christmas. hmph. (sound effect, not an acronym)
Good grub and whoever brought that Australian porter or stout, dude, bless you. That and the Guiness is why I didn't post any pictures last night. I'll get them up later today. I want to edit and post some sound clips with them. I'll do a web page.
Switchfoot, my apologies for thinking you were NorCal's kid. I met NorCal, his wife, his son, and Switchfoot all at once and thought they were a family unit. Obviously, I didn't look at the 'Switchfoot' printed across your tshirt. Let me get busy on the pictures and sounds now.
Tony
http://tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/newspage.htm Officially, the government uses the term “flap,” describing it as “a condition, a situation or a state of being, of a group of persons, characterized by an advanced degree of confusion that has not quite reached panic proportions.”
I think that (except you, and the others who cancelled online) everyone was there except Blackhawk. 
