2nd West Coast Chiff Gathering: JUNE 5

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:27 pm

I'll probably show up around 3 - #2 daughter really wants to come,and she needs to finish up a school project before we leave.

Besides my own whistle stash, I'm bringing the travelling Weston Copper Low D (it goes to Blackhawk afterwards as soon as we can set up a hand-off).

And can I ask a favor? About the only major brand of mid-range whistles I've not had a chance to seriously try out are . . . Susatos (go figure). If anyone wants to bring along their soprano Susatos, I'd be grateful for a chance to try 'em for a few tunes.

Dana C.

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 12:46 am

How'd it go, y'all? I wish I could have come, but this was our big day for celebrating our birthdays in The City (my husband's was yesterday and mine is next Friday, so we usually celebrate together by doing something fun), and I'd promised our daughter we'd go to the Exploratorium.

Redwolf

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 2:05 am

Man, our party was SO much better than the dang Exploratorium. Lasted till 11. Lotsa pix, some sound files, I believe. Mrs. Limuhead did TWO hulas, which were awesome. Bonesquint is as good as I imagined on the bones plus he brought some irish Poteen from Clare which had me seeing double after a mere shot or so. Got to meet feadogin (Justine) very cool. Good eats, Tony was a great host and bbqed our food for us. As usual, too noisy to really get to know the new whistles but it was a treat to try so many.

One of my favorite moments was watching Stout wince when we all hit various versions of the note known as "C natural approximate" simultaneously. Gloriously bad....the more tender-eared actually expected us to TUNE our whistles.. I mean, what's that all about anyway?

And we did a purposefully lame version of a jig, just for Azalin.

This was the best party yet. Thanks Tony and all you Chiffsters!!

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 2:08 am

The Weekenders wrote:And we did a purposefully lame version of a jig, just for Azalin.

Hey, I want the clip, please!

JohnPalmer · Post by **JohnPalmer** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:14 am

He forgot to tell you that it was Danny Boy (we actually played THAT song???...must've been the Poteen) which had the very high and sustained note.

Anyway, thanks Tony, and also to your mom, for letting us have so much fun at her house. And it was nice to see so many fiddlers there.

I hope to see everyone again, soon.

John Palmer

feadogin · Post by **feadogin** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:19 am

Thanks again to Tony and his family for hosting the event!

It was a blast!

It was great to meet you all in person.

Off to Ireland now, I''l check in during the summer if I can.

Justine

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:20 am

feadogin wrote:Thanks again to Tony and his family for hosting the event!

It was a blast! It was great to meet you all in person.

Off to Ireland now, I''l check in during the summer if I can.

Justine

Please do! Let us know where you are and what you are doing.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 1:04 pm

The folks at the gathering showed how right Jerry Freeman's assessment of C&Fers is--an extremely nice bunch.

It was downright inspirational hearing some of the talent there on such a variety of instruments--not to mention the singing of the bearded half of the Weekenders and the dancing of Mrs. L.

It was also great to get to try so many different whistles--and the Casey Burns Folk Flute.

I was actually completely cured of WhOA. I tried some low Ds for the first time, and didn't enjoy the experience. I also realized that between my Burke DAN and my Busman bloodwood, I already have more than enough for my meagre needs and talent.

But then, near the end, I made the mistake of trying NorCal's high D, low G, and low D Bleazeys. While I found the high D to be a lot like my Busman, the low whistles were a revelation. The G was wonderful, and my WhOA is cured only until I can afford one of those. That's unless I decide that I really should spring for the Bleazey low D. It was wonderfully easy to play, compared to all the others there, and the sound was fantastic. The price may be high, but it's fully justified, in my opinion.

My favorite musical times there were getting to play some Taiwanese and Chinese folk songs with the talented KC Jiang, and getting to hear Tony Higgins play some slow airs up close.

It was well worth the four-hour drive up (which included at least four wrong turns or missed exits and an hour and a half of being completely lost on El Camino Real, after my Yahoo! Maps directions sent me off to the right instead of the left on my way to Gryphon music in Palo Alto--the drive home took only an hour and 45 minutes, and I didn't get lost once.)

I now also have the Jubilee Low D practice whistle, which I'll be reviewing after I've played it for a while. After almost 62 years of doing it every day, I need to learn to breathe all over again.

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 1:13 pm

Darwin wrote:

My favorite musical times there were getting to play some Taiwanese and Chinese folk songs with the talented KC Jiang, and getting to hear Tony Higgins play some slow airs up close.

Did Tony play A Stor Mo Chroi?

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 1:56 pm

It was a great party - thanks to Tony for volunteering to host, and Tony's mom for putting up with the lot of us.

Rather to my surprise, my #2 daughter (10) wanted to come along, and had a great time, though she didn't try to play her whistle and stayed on the outskirts. She was much taken by Tony's mom ("are you really from Ireland?"). For better or worse, the other high points included the Weekender's singing (a big thumbs-up), Limuhead's playing (and yells), and Darwin's beard (???). Thanks to everyone that took the time to talk with her. Her summation: "Daddy, I thought *you* played the whistle really well. But these folks are a *lot* better than you!"

Noticable differences from last time: More fiddles. More flutes. Pipes. And the BoneQuint 1-man percussion section (no knock intended - that guy is *good*, and plays a mean whistle too). Since it was warmer and drier than last time, people spread out in the yard as well as inside, so you had to circulate to take it all in.

Musical high points - too many to mention. At random: fiddle duets. MurphyStout on flute working out a new tune with Tony. Pipes! The big group in the yard (at one point, it included bones, banjo, whistles, pipes, fiddle, and flute.) Tony and KC Jiang working on a set for whistle and harmonica. Actually being able to play along for a few of the slower tunes.

I *did* learn why Susatos have such a mixed reputation, though - for a few tunes Limuhead was playing his Susato frankenwhistle along with Weekenders (Burke), MurphyStout (flute), and (I think) John Palmer on mandolin. Whenever the tune went to the top of the second octave, the Susato seemed about twice as loud as anything else - couldn't hear the Burke, could barely hear the flute. And as soon as they dropped into the first octave, everything was balanced. Aldon sounds good on his Susato, and it was an easy whistle to play, but I'll hold off on getting one until I need the volume. And make fewer mistakes.

Oddly, I have much less of a case of raging WHOA than last time - a lot of good whistles, but few that really made me feel I HAVE to have them right away. Exceptions: Tony's Jerry-tweaked Generation D. Stiofan's (spelling?) Chieftain Low D. The two Casey Burns Folk flutes - when I can pick up a flute and play a slow air easier than I can on some low whistles, you know it's got to be easy to play.

I'm leaving more out than I put in - suffice it to say that we had a really great time with some really great people.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 2:31 pm

DCrom wrote:For better or worse, the other high points included...Darwin's beard (???).

Having heard that the beard wasn't readily recognizable as such in my avatar, I've gone back to an earlier image--the Buddy Holly look from the year after the great man died.

BoneQuint 1-man percussion section (no knock intended - that guy is *good*, and plays a mean whistle too).

Indeed. I hadn't realized that he would turn out to be such a good whistler.

Limuhead on NorCal's "bamboo sax" was also very impressive, but I somehow missed it if he ever played his concertina.

There were also some very enjoyable times just chatting and getting to know folks.

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 3:11 pm

I've been slaving away all day getting the photos up.

I'm fearful I may not have caught everyone on 'film,' and I was horrified when I realized we didn't get a group picture. Oh well.

http://tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/Ch ... ing05.html

I'd add, I recorded Darwin's guitar playing. He did a slow air, The Dear Irish Boy. Wait till I get that posted. I haven't listened to any of the recording yet. There were crickets chirping while Darwin was playing. I hope that gets in there.

Thanks everyone for being well-behaved (except Limuhead, but that's ok). A sheriff's deputy did knock at the door, but he was looking for a different address. I was sweating when I saw him. (I was reeking of pocheen.) Limu messed up my playing when I heard him comment that the pocheen smelled like magic-marker. I think that was recorded.

(So should I approach my mom about next year??? She commented that everyone was really nice.)
Tony

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 3:18 pm

Wow-- looks like you folks had a blast! I really hope we can get the NE gathering off the ground too.

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 3:41 pm

Hmmm, so what was Murphy's Mouth saying about me? As usual, he looks mad on the pictures, and I'm not quite sure if Karina is raising her eyebrows.

You guys were eating hot-dogs at your barbecue? Hope you had some mayonnaise!

Karina · Post by **Karina** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 3:54 pm

Azalin wrote:Hmmm, so what was Murphy's Mouth saying about me? As usual, he looks mad on the pictures, and I'm not quite sure if Karina is raising her eyebrows.

You guys were eating hot-dogs at your barbecue? Hope you had some mayonnaise!

Alas, I am not entirely sure what that expression on my face was, hehe. But Jack and I ate hot dogs in honor of you, though most definitely without mayonnaise. I thought about taking pictures of us eating hot dogs but then decided that no matter how hard I tried, I would never get any pictures funnier than that of you, Az.