Flute back to whistle?

[chas]

I've hardly touched whistles in the last few months (except for car whistling). I just find the flute much more rewarding and expressive, even though I barely know my way 'round it thus far. I find whistles a little wimpy right now.

That said, I suspect there will be stretches of time when I'll be fed up with the flute and turn back to whistles for a little comfort. My flute teacher is pushing me to keep up with the whistle, too, in part because it may be easier to pick up new techniques and tunes on the instrument that's just about automatic.

[Jayhawk]

On a more serious note than my prior post (the offer is still open BTW - no trades received as of this posting), I do think whistle is easier than flute to play at a passable level, but really good whistle playing is a different matter. I think they require similar, but slightly different, skills to play well.

I started with whistle for many years (close to 10), picked-up flute only in the last few years (but only about 2 years seriously - or close to that), primarily play flute, but I still play the whistle several times each week.

While flute is my love, the clare 2 piece fits in my pocket and is the PERFECT "waiting for the bus" instrument. I can play several tunes I'm working on, relax on lunch break and play it, and it's just so much more portable for a commuter like myself.

Eric

[peeplj]

On a more serious note than my prior post (the offer is still open BTW - no trades received as of this posting), I do think whistle is easier than flute to play at a passable level, but really good whistle playing is a different matter. I think they require similar, but slightly different, skills to play well.

I think this is dead-on accurate.

BTW, I also enjoy my Clare 2-piece, for the same reason...it's a good little whistle, and very portable. Unfortunately, the intonation is a bit quirky so it's not very useful as a session whistle, which is a shame, because it has the lovely tone and responsiveness of a good Generation.

--James

[markv]

Jayhawk\Eric

Sent you a PM.

Mark V.

[Paul]

Personally, I wouldn't sell off the flutes. Certainly not all of them anyway. Who knows how you'll feel in six weeks, months, years? Besides, a change is as good as a rest.

Bill, I'll have to go along with Gary here. By all means get the whistle but don't get rid of all of your flutes. At least keep your favorite(s). I guarantee you that the flute will calling out again sometime in the future. Sometimes you need to give instruments a rest. It's great that you have the desire to take up more than one.

[BillG]

Reading all of your reply posts has been fun and exciting. Zubivka, you really have me rolling with your comments - and I love your avatar! They go hand in hand.

I switched back to the Copley flute and got my flute act back together again. The one I was really trying to conquer (if we ever do with a flute) was getting me totally frustrated.

PeopleJ, your "not easier but different" comment is well taken and oh, so true. All of your posts have calmed my bones (no more arthritis - had it removed ((replaced?))). I'm back on track giving about equal time to both. (Flute and whistle, not arthritis) I'm waiting eagerly for a Hoover Low D Whitecap some time this month to go along with the Overton and the Burns Low Ds.

"I love it when a plan comes together".

BillG

[and the Casey Burns Boxwood aint goin' nowhere]

[Mongoose of Righteousness]

I abandoned the flute. I went: Whistle - Flute - Whistle. I realized that in order to play flute well I'd have to break and re-set my left arm. Not worth it.

[DCrom]

I abandoned the flute. I went: Whistle - Flute - Whistle. I realized that in order to play flute well I'd have to break and re-set my left arm. Not worth it.

Don't worry - participate in some of the OT political threads and you'll have lots of folks willing to break it for you.

More seriously, I'm still learning how to hold a flute or fife - it's more natural than it was at first, but I'm still a LOT slower fingering things on the flute than I am on the whistle, especially playing A, B or C#. I can feel myself improving, but there's still miles of room for more. But I'm holding off buying a "good" flute (and a "good" low D) until I decide whether or not I'll get serious about flute.

[Jayhawk]

But Bill, I'm offering a whitecap in trade without Mack's terrible wait! How can you turn down such an offer?

Seriously though, I'm glad you've decided to stay with both. Although I'm mainly a flute guy now, there are still times when I think I ought to sell both of mine and become a mime instead...

Eric

[DCrom]

Seriously though, I'm glad you've decided to stay with both. Although I'm mainly a flute guy now, there are still times when I think I ought to sell both of mine and become a mime instead...

Eric

Channelling Lord Vetinari:

<Slap> Learn <Slap> The <Slap> Words!!! <SLAP SLAP SLAP>

[Dragon]

Well....I think the whistle has an Inferiority complex with the flute. The same is true with Native American flutes which are in the same family as whistles. And to tell everyone the truth…some songs just sound better on a whistle than a flute and visa versa.

It is important to remember that a simple song can be more moving than a complex one. I see so many musicians slide down that sliperly slope with guitar and other instruments. One concert I went to had a whistler pounding out an incredibility fast number on a whistle….and it left me and (as far as I can tell) the rest of the audience cold.

I think, in my option, an instrument should be played for the feel of a song. Fussing over which is harder which is easer….yadda yadda ….constraint and formality can be as easy to hear in music as flow and freedom.


(On a side note…my name will be changed to Dragon…shortly….if Rich does not change his mind )

[Zubivka]

Well....I think the whistle has an Inferiority complex with the flute. The same is true with Native American flutes which are in the same family as whistles. And to tell everyone the truth…some songs just sound better on a whistle than a flute and visa versa.

...or an NA flute and recto-verso!

How true. Though I'll correct you again: it's not the whistle which has a complex, it's many whistlers. Those who "upgrade" to transverse flute.

Btw, I think "switching to traverso" should be--at least on this board--be known as Traverstites

Back to my comment on Veillon's playing in page 1, I'll elaborate, since some point out that I tend to get cryptic rather than elliptical.

A player like Veillon just constantly switches his embouchures styles, sounding edgy shrill or cloudy and breathy at will, and from one bar to the next and back. This is one aspect of flute mastery to me, and the sound of a single note attracts me, and always did, much more than how fast you can spin a reel.

I say I won't reach this and be frustrated. Lack of ambition? No, just seeing my own limitations.
Here comes the whistling: of course I can't change them in-between bars, but if I want pure sound, or breathy, or reedy, I DO have the choice, and I do take advantage (or just pleasure) of it.

Reading this, no-one will be surprised that the "perfect" whistle head I'm slowly devising should do just this: change tone colour at will, and IN the midst of a tune. Even if it will need a thumb key or even two, dammit!

[Kar]

I much much prefer the sound of a flute to a whistle, but I can't play more than a few notes together at a time on the flute (and that's when it's going well--sometimes I can't get any sound AT ALL). So, the whistle is there for when I want to, you know, actually MAKE music.

One great thing about switching back & forth is whenever you have a higher-wind-requirement instrument (flute, quena, sax, etc) and then you switch to the whistle--egads! is it ever easy. After a stint on the flute, I can pick up even my lowest whistle (G) and play whole songs in what seems like one breath. You know what I mean!

[Darwin]

A player like Veillon just constantly switches his embouchures styles, sounding edgy shrill or cloudy and breathy at will, and from one bar to the next and back. This is one aspect of flute mastery to me, and the sound of a single note attracts me, and always did, much more than how fast you can spin a reel.

After seeing him live in a relatively small club, I felt the same way about B.B. King's guitar playing vs. , for example, Hendrix, or Clapton during his Cream days. B.B. could play just the right note, just the right way, at just the right time, and nothing else was required to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

I say I won't reach this and be frustrated. Lack of ambition? No, just seeing my own limitations.
Here comes the whistling: of course I can't change them in-between bars, but if I want pure sound, or breathy, or reedy, I DO have the choice, and I do take advantage (or just pleasure) of it.

Reading this, no-one will be surprised that the "perfect" whistle head I'm slowly devising should do just this: change tone colour at will, and IN the midst of a tune. Even if it will need a thumb key or even two, dammit!

I don't know where Mick Woodruff's playing stands in the estimation of the ITM experts here, but since it was mainly his slow airs at http://fingertrip.net/whistle/ that got me interested in actually trying the whistle, I have to say that he manages to wring an awful lot of sound out of a single whistle. (For those who aren't familiar with Mick's site, try "The South Wind", "Roisin Dubh", "Turas go Tir na nOg", "Amhran A Leabhair", and "Sliabh Geal gCua".)

If I can get anywhere close to that level in a few years, I'll be quite satisfied--then I'll start worrying about whether I need a flute or not.

[peeplj]

I don't know where Mick Woodruff's playing stands in the estimation of the ITM experts here, but since it was mainly his slow airs at http://fingertrip.net/whistle/ that got me interested in actually trying the whistle, I have to say that he manages to wring an awful lot of sound out of a single whistle. (For those who aren't familiar with Mick's site, try "The South Wind", "Roisin Dubh", "Turas go Tir na nOg", "Amhran A Leabhair", and "Sliabh Geal gCua".)

If I can get anywhere close to that level in a few years, I'll be quite satisfied--then I'll start worrying about whether I need a flute or not.

Well, I don't know about experts, but I certainly enjoy Mick's playing on many levels. He's a fine whistler!

--James