Beer and Whistles!!

Whistling Willie · Post by **Whistling Willie** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 10:53 pm

Is it just me or does everyone have this problem.Usually when I go out I take one of my whistles with me,more often than not I would partake in a few alcoholic beverages (just to be sociable).With one or two drinks I play fine,with three or four I seem to get better,but then from there on in it goes down hill

to the point where I can't even start a tune

. Now I'm not talking about 15 pints of Guinness or anything like that,it just seems to be that after a certain stage that's it.
A friend of mine actually gets better as the night goes on

NZ_Chris · Post by **NZ_Chris** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:25 pm

Well I've never put this to the test with a whistle (only been playing a short while and never been to any sort of session) but I've always noticed a drop of ability when playing the flute (which I've been at for a few years now) after only one beer

My fingers seem to start to stumble (more than usual

) and I very soon find it best to give up. As a result I've never tried to play after more than 2 beers. It just seemed not to work for me.

EDIT: Oh I just remembered I did try once after quite a few wines and some jollying along by my family ... a complete rout is probably the best description and I can see why I banished it from memory

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:59 pm

Yeah, with the third Guinness my fingers forget the notes. I might as well sit out the rest of the night.

toughknot · Post by **toughknot** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 1:12 am

Alcohol is very toxic to the human body.Luckily the human body is capable of some self repair.It eventually is permanatly damaged by high volume consumption though.Kinda like adding a bottle of Draino to the cars gas tank every few days.But Stout tastes better.

trisha · Post by **trisha** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:43 am

Living in a rural area, I have to drive pretty much everywhere to sessions etc, so never go past the second drink. There are a lot of hills and bends, and to lose my license would be disastrous.

Also, with the band, it's not worth the risk, although "our leader", a fiddler, improves measurably after her second glass of wine

So...I feel I get better as the evening wears on...relatively to some others, and to the ears of those part-slumped over their instruments.

It's strange, music provides the buzz that alcohol maybe did once

Trisha

lixnaw · Post by **lixnaw** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:54 am

i drink 5 and a half pints of guinness every night, but i couldn't drink more than that, so i can't get drunk.
if i can't play whistle after 4 pints won't bother me at all, i'll be singing anyway

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:39 am

Despite my screen name, I'm a real lightweight when it comes to drinking: more than two and I'm likely to doze off, so I've never had the opportunity to see how I'd play a whistle with more than that in my belly

Jens_Hoppe · Post by **Jens_Hoppe** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 5:22 am

After a few pints I tend to get a bit silly, trying to start polka sets all the time, and refusing to end them again, for instance.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that while those pints make me feel like Matt Molloy on one of his better days, in reality my playing might just be a wee bit sloppier than his.

/Jens

moxy · Post by **moxy** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 6:04 am

Wow, I was thinking about that combination (whistles and beer) just this morning on my way to work (as I was listening to the East Durham foofaraw).

I've decided that if there's any chance that I might be drinking and getting carried away, I really should leave my whistle at home... There's no point in even trying to play after three pints!

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 8:07 am

I don't know... after i partake of a couple pints, it seems to me that the playing of everybody else in the session improves dramatically!

Bretton · Post by **Bretton** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 8:13 am

This is a topic that I've wondered about quite a bit too. I can usually manage after one and will still play after two, but three and beyond and I really can't play very well any more.

Although, I have found a scheme that seems to work (assuming you'd like to drink more pints and still play). Alternate pints of beer with cups of coffee. This seems to work for me. Or, skip the beer altogether and just have cups of coffee with a bit of Irish whisky in them.

-Brett

KDMARTINKY · Post by **KDMARTINKY** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 8:23 am

Right around my 6 Black & Tan everything I play on the whistle sounds fantastic and its time to cut an album....LOL

On a serious note...I drink one to two Bass or Guinness when I play which is almost every night. After a while my fingers just start floating over the whistle. I also tend to play a heck of a lot louder with a pint or two.

SirNick · Post by **SirNick** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 10:09 am

I like to have a couple of drinks sometimes when I play but I find that beer makes me burp to much and I don't have the breath control. A good glass of whiskey or scotch seems to do the trick without the interruptions.

kevin m. · Post by **kevin m.** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 10:36 am

'Beer and Whistles' sounds like a recipe for a happy life!

Or it could be a band name - Celtified 'Guns 'n' Roses' anyone???
or the name of an 'Oirish' Pub!!!

Keith-You probably do play louder when you've had a few-Alchohol consumption affects the hearing-which is why pubs tend to get noisier as the patrons get sloshed!

Whistling Willie · Post by **Whistling Willie** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:15 pm

Bretton wrote:This is a topic that I've wondered about quite a bit too. I can usually manage after one and will still play after two, but three and beyond and I really can't play very well any more.

Although, I have found a scheme that seems to work (assuming you'd like to drink more pints and still play). Alternate pints of beer with cups of coffee. This seems to work for me. Or, skip the beer altogether and just have cups of coffee with a bit of Irish whisky in them.

-Brett

I'm glad that it's not just me

though I might have to try the Irish coffee.....just to see if it works or not