hi all, it have been a long time that I didn't post on this forum, how are you guys doing with celtic music ?
I usually get into a simple trouble, if I have irish flute, why still pick irish whistle ?
as irish flute have a wild range on notation, most of the note that irish whistle couldn't reach, irish flute could cover all of them, so what's your comment on it ? Thanks.
They are different instruments with a different sound and different characteristics. Yes, a flute is more versatile and expressive, but a whistle is easier to play, has a faster responce and a sound which might suit different occations better. It's like comparing a mandolin to a banjo.
Tell us something.: Long ago, I was told that I faked iTrad whistle work very well. I took that comment to heart. 20 years of private lessons - and many, many hours of rehearsal later - I certainly hope I have improved...
After reading the title of the post, I had a quick answer formulated. However, Henke and Tommy said it well...There is no 'vs' involved. My band uses both multiple whistles and wooden flutes. They are not in competition. Their sound is complimentary and both are needed for a full palette of timbres. The interplay of the instruments is what makes things interesting...
Tommy wrote:
They are both expressive in different ways. Ikthomas why put the VS between them?
Is it a PDQ Bach piece, like his Concerto for Piano vs. Orchestra?
I often say that I don't play whistle at all since I got bitten by the flute bug, but I actually play almost every day. I play whistle in the car. So one reason to play whistle is its portability. Another is that it's inexpensive, so you can get a very nice set of whistles in virtually every key for the cost of one flute. I also do virtually all of my transcribing on the whistle; I find the flute kind of cumbersome for that.
Charlie Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
At my sessions, the flute and whistle players go out to the parking lot and have it out to see who plays. Last man standing and able to play gets to go back in. No rules except don't break each other's fingers. I wound up getting to play one night but passed out half way through because of a concussion and loss of blood.
Other instruments don't do it this way?
I have always heard that whistle players can take flute players in fist-fights because they instinctively hold their hands in front of them and not to the side.
Not sure if there is any truth to it, but why take I chance, I always say.
<a href="http://www.whistletotheworld.com/" target="_blank"> Whistle to the World</a>
Helping underprivileged kids learn music via the Irish Whistle.
I agree with the above. I am also a guitarist (among other things).
The differences between whistles and flutes are much like the differences between classical (nylon strings) and acoustic (steel strings) guitars.
You can play all the same notes on either but the sound, reponse, etc...
is very distinct. I would never exclude one instrurment just because it can play the same notes as another. I also play fiddle and mandolin. Again, same notes very different sound.
My Hayden duet concertina is fully chromatic and can play any note and chords so why would I need my mandolin or a guitar?
anniemcu
--- "You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
--- "Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
--- http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
StewySmoot wrote:I have always heard that whistle players can take flute players in fist-fights because they instinctively hold their hands in front of them and not to the side.
Not sure if there is any truth to it, but why take I chance, I always say.
Just thought I'd join in on the fight. Having made both types I agree with almost everyone in this forum; they are different instruments. Whistles have an easier time getting into the second octave, but they definitely lack the capability for expression.
On the other hand, Joanie Madden can put expression into her whistles like no one else, so I suppose it depends upon the player.
I had noticed when I made my 4Winds Low-D Flutes (crosswind six-hole types), that I had to incorporate bleeder holes in the foot section of the simple flute design to stabilize the transitions from low to high. I still apply that rule even when making higher octave flutes.
Whistles don't seem to have that problem, so that's why when folk ask me to provide them the same barrel to fit with either a whistle head or with a embouchure head, I just don't do it. They're different instruments. I love the sound of both types, so that's why I keep makin' them.
Best regards,
Keltic Dead
To the Four Airts to Guide us and for the Four Winds to get us there.
The concertina player fights the accourdian player. The fiddlers fight amoungst themselves. Guitar player flights the banjo player, and the Piper fights an Octopuss we got from the pet shop next door. Last week the octopuss won and wound up sitting in with us for a few sets.
vomitbunny wrote:The concertina player fights the accourdian player. The fiddlers fight amoungst themselves. Guitar player flights the banjo player, and the Piper fights an Octopuss we got from the pet shop next door. Last week the octopuss won and wound up sitting in with us for a few sets.
If he's anything like the one who beat up our piper (got him in a quadruple-full nelson), he's got a great garden. Must have a green tentacle. I'd like to be down there, in the shade.
Charlie Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
