Laughing Whistle / Noah Herbison

[Azathoth]

Anyone know if Noah still making his Laughing Whistles -- which I'm interested in more for the purity of tone than the ultra-neato telescoping doodah

Ta,


Az

P.S. And if not, anyone got a high D to sell?

[glauber]

Email him. I think he still makes them, but it takes a while now (like 2 or 3 months), because he's busier in college. The Hoover whitecaps have a similar kind of sound (pure and soft), without the clogging problems (at least my Laughing whistle clogs a lot).

g

[Nanohedron]

Sorry, 'tis OT, but I dug up a bit of background on our friend Az, here:

http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/cthulh ... thoth.html

Reminds me of some sessions I've been to.

[chas]

I was going to comment on the moniker, but I see the ever-sharp Nano beat me to it.

Anyone know of any good sessions in Arkham? I'm thinking of making the trip there from Ulthar one of these days, maybe show the kid Miskatonic U.

[emmline]

maybe show the kid Miskatonic U.

I dunno, I hear that ever since they made Nyarlathotep the new president, that place has gone to the foodogs. Megalomania 101 is required freshman fare, unless you've already had it AP.

[chas]

maybe show the kid Miskatonic U.

I dunno, I hear that ever since they made Nyarlathotep the new president, that place has gone to the foodogs. Megalomania 101 is required freshman fare, unless you've already had it AP.

Ah, so THAT's why they renamed the sports teams The Crawling Chaos. AP Megalomania? Impossible to find in Maryland, though I guess you're aware of that. What are our tax dollars going toward??

[Azathoth]

... well, he would do, if I had chosen that nick (one of my other 'net monikers).

Lovecraft was a whiz with names, must admit -- all that Shub-Niggurat, Yog-Sothoth, etc., etc. Great stuff The role-playing stuff was also good, one of the few RPs where one had to make sure one's Sanity Points didn't go over a certain limit, otherwise it was la-la-land . Much more fun than simply being beaten to death by orcs.

Anyway, back to whistles + Noah: thanks for the info, and regarding Hoover as well. I've emailed Noah -- does he also check the boards here? If so, what is his nick?

Bye for now,


Az

[Loren]

I can only recall seeing a couple of posts by Noah over the years, and I may even be hallucinating those. I think he just used his name.

I'm curious: Anyone ever buy or play one of his high F whistles?

Loren

[avanutria]

Loren, I've never heard of anyone besides myself to have a non-D Laughing whistle. But I'd be very interested in trying out a high F.

Noah has posted to the board but not often - twice that I have seen, and a year apart in posting.

Laughing whistles would have to be my favourite whistle brand. I'm a junkie here - I currently own two high D's and a low D. I have owned a total of one low D, one soprano C, and (I believe) five high D's. I also got to try livethe question's personal high D last summer.

The only problem I have with laughing whistles is that since they are entirely handmade (to my knowledge) there is a bit of variation in tone. Each one has its own voice and personality. I have sent several back to Noah for revoicing, and if it weren't for this fact I'd probably have ordered a whole set by now... well, that and the cost. His website is out of date and his prices are higher than stated - I think $80 for a high D was the last I heard. Also I don't believe he's making Low D's anymore, but that was something I heard from a board member rather than from Noah.

Of the five D's I have owned, the very first one (from December 2001) is fantastic and wandered around Ireland with me this summer. The fipple block has come loose, though, and I need to get around to supergluing that in place. The clay used to narrow the windway had to be re-epoxied once as well - so there's a bit of maintainance to these whistles if you use them a lot. In the fall of 2002 I received an order from Noah consisting of two D's and a C; one of the D's was nearly as good as my first one. After much soul-searching I decided to give it to a whistler friend of mine, who better not get rid of it without giving me dibs! Then I got two more used Ds, swapped the heads on two of the three spares, and sold two resulting (both improved) whistles. So now I have two. I told you I'm a junkie.

So everyone keep this in mind....no matter my financial situation I'll always be willing to buy your used laughing whistles!

[Loren]

Loren, I've never heard of anyone besides myself to have a non-D Laughing whistle. But I'd be very interested in trying out a high F.

So everyone keep this in mind....no matter my financial situation I'll always be willing to buy your used laughing whistles!

Hey now, I've got dibs on any pitched higher than soprano D since I brought it up! I'd be interested in finding a good Soprano D laughing as well.

I have known of a couple of Soprano C's out there (besides the one I got from you) and only a very few Low D's (non-telescoping), one of which I used to own and had to sell.

Loren

[avanutria]

How about whoever has the money gets dibs? With our situations, any whistle will go unsold for months...

I think your low D is the one I have, actually. I got it from Doc Jones. Whistles sure get around on this board...!

[Loren]

How about whoever has the money gets dibs? With our situations, any whistle will go unsold for months...

I think your low D is the one I have, actually. I got it from Doc Jones. Whistles sure get around on this board...!

Ha! Very funny, and you're probably right....which isn't so funny, come to think of it.....

Yeah, I think that is the Low D I had, which by the way I bought from....Jim Stone! Incestuous little group, aren't we C&Fer's?

Loren

[blackhawk]

Laughing whistles would have to be my favourite whistle brand. I'm a junkie here - I currently own two high D's and a low D. I have owned a total of one low D, one soprano C, and (I believe) five high D's. I also got to try livethe question's personal high D last summer.

Beth, I seem to remember that you owned a Copeland low D, too. How does the Laughing Whistle low D compare to the Copeland?

[avanutria]

Entirely different animals, blackhawk. I have both the copeland brass and the laughing low D's. Together they are all I will ever need in a low D. I've played many (not all) other brands - Dixon, Howard, Reyburn, Overton, Chieftain, Alba, come to mind at the moment. I have no desire to get any more low D's, which is good because these two cost me about $400 (both used).

The Copeland has a reverberating "flutelike" sound, you can really push it in terms of air flow and it sounds all the better, it's heavy and solid in your hands, can be played in small to medium sized groups (not a large session instrument). Last year's recording of <a href="http://www.rit.edu/~eeg6662/storage/Dal ... p3">Dallas Skies</a> was played on this whistle.

The Laughing can be played in an apartment and not bother anyone, certainly the first octave at least. It's thin walled and super light - If I stepped on it i'd probably break it. Pretty responsive, doesn't take much air, but can clog occasionally. I use OXXXOX for cnat but that might be my own habit, because that's typically what is needed for a laughing high D. The reach on the right hand takes a little getting used to - the copeland seems easier (because of the conical bore?) but the hole spacing on the copeland and laughing are pretty much identical. The tone isn't as "full" as the copeland but it still sounds great.

Edited 'cus I can't speel.

[blackhawk]

Thanks, Beth, that was very informative. It's exactly what I wanted to know, as well as reminding me to listen to Dallas Skies again (great job on that).