Whistle Making - Art or Craft?

[prtpix]

I want to thank those of you you offered information on
making whistles.
I learned all that I know about whistle making on the internet from places like this. I don't do it for a living or anything like that. But,
I have made a few and am very very proud to be able to show them off
when ever I get the chance.
Below is my web page with pictures.
Someday maybe I will play some songs with them and upload them as mp3s so you can hear them.
http://www.prtpix.com/studio.html
Thank You again.
Mariann prtpix

[Loren]

"Sherman, Set the Way Back Machine!"



Loren

[Jerry Freeman]

Hi, Marianne.

Those ocarinas are cool! Does Walden know about you?

And I must congratulate you on your deliberateness. Two posts in four years and seven months is a remarkable accomplishment. If my calculations are correct, that would be .0012 posts per day.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[Dave Parkhurst]

It's a labor of love. No sane whistlesmith would do otherwise... I made whistles because it made me feel happy that occasionally I turned out a really good one.

Dave

[anniemcu]

Whistle Making - Art or Craft?

Yes.




It is, of course, ideally, a combination.

[Jetboy]

I consider myself a Craftsman. Others might disagree.

I would also say that the two are inextricably linked, I don't think you can be an artist without being a craftsman and vice versa. Renoir was a craftsman in his own field, as much as Chippendale was an artist in his.

See wot i mean?

[jkwest]

Hi, Marianne.

Those ocarinas are cool! Does Walden know about you?

And I must congratulate you on your deliberateness. Two posts in four years and seven months is a remarkable accomplishment. If my calculations are correct, that would be .0012 posts per day.

Best wishes,
Jerry

Hey Jerry...

she won't get this message till 2011..if your calculations are correct...

[Loren]

I would also say that the two are inextricably linked, I don't think you can be an artist without being a craftsman and vice versa.

I have to disagree, one can definitely be a craftsman, without being an artist - plenty of cabinet makers and furniture makers, and bench jewelers, and so on that make relatively simple, unimaginative, but well made items. Nothing wrong with that, these are honorable jobs, but there is no creativity there, either by choice or by virtue of the fact that they are working for someone else on a very common model of product.

With regards to whistles, it's craftsmanship in 99.9% of cases: One must conform to the laws of acoustics and to a large part form.. Also, there is only so much one can do with regards to combining woods and metals for bodies and bands, and finally, the whistle, as we see it here on C&F in it's "many" forms, isn't used to express ideas, thoughts, emotions, or themes. The instrument can obviously be used to those ends in making music, but the process of making the instrument (as we know it today), falls within the realm of craftsmanship.

Well, that's my perspective as an instrument maker, and someone who grew up with an artist/art educator as a grandfather. However, different folks have different definitions of art, so if it's art to you, then that's cool.



Loren

[prtpix]

I guess I will better these odds.
Mariann prtpix

Hi, Marianne.

Those ocarinas are cool! Does Walden know about you?

And I must congratulate you on your deliberateness. Two posts in four years and seven months is a remarkable accomplishment. If my calculations are correct, that would be .0012 posts per day.

Best wishes,
Jerry

Hey Jerry...

she won't get this message till 2011..if your calculations are correct...

[arnie]

I've been at Colin Goldie's place as a starting whistle-player. I've heard and seen many whistles there, I've seen Colin working on whistles. No doubt about it: it's art requiring a lot of craftship. Mr Hoover, I've tried one of yours and I've got a lot of respect for you whistlemakers. Never stop being a crafted artist!

[Cynth]

I think a craftsman does much more than make relatively simple things in an unimaginative and uncreative way. It is hopeless trying to distinguish between art and craft. For some, craft is essentially a pejorative term. For others, it is a word to be proud of. Imagination and creativity are required to find sound solutions to problems. Imagination and creativity are required to make something that is comely. Soundness and comeliness---David Pye writes about this. A good craftsman must produce both. I am not sure what an artist does. I guess whoever thinks he is an artist is one---I am happy with that definition. But there are most certainly people who define themselves as craftsmen, who decline to define themselves as artists, who are extremely imaginative and creative in addition to having an intimate relationship with the materials they handle.

[anniemcu]

I would also say that the two are inextricably linked, I don't think you can be an artist without being a craftsman and vice versa.

I have to disagree, one can definitely be a craftsman, without being an artist - plenty of cabinet makers and furniture makers, and bench jewelers, and so on that make relatively simple, unimaginative, but well made items. Nothing wrong with that, these are honorable jobs, but there is no creativity there, either by choice or by virtue of the fact that they are working for someone else on a very common model of product.

With regards to whistles, it's craftsmanship in 99.9% of cases: One must conform to the laws of acoustics and to a large part form.. Also, there is only so much one can do with regards to combining woods and metals for bodies and bands, and finally, the whistle, as we see it here on C&F in it's "many" forms, isn't used to express ideas, thoughts, emotions, or themes. The instrument can obviously be used to those ends in making music, but the process of making the instrument (as we know it today), falls within the realm of craftsmanship.

Well, that's my perspective as an instrument maker, and someone who grew up with an artist/art educator as a grandfather. However, different folks have different definitions of art, so if it's art to you, then that's cool.



Loren

Well... I can make a cabinet, but i'm no cabinet maker. I think that making whistles is one thing, making great whistles is another. So I guess I have to concede to agreeing with you. It hurts, but I think I can handle it.

[jim stone]

I have a silver copeland soprano D whistle.
It's an artwork. It's terribly hard to look at
it and deny that.

So some whistles are artworks, just as some bowls
are artworks (e.g. Cellinis).

Michael made jewelry and jewelry can be art;
the fipple plug is set like a stone. The conical
design (he also made organ pipes), the very
clean execution, the material create a strong aesthetic
affect that is intended. That's sufficient for art,
in my book.

Craft is the stuff that enables you to make the thing
work. Art requires craft (at least good art does).
So there is a craft to writing, the writer's craft.
But what you do with the craft is what makes you
an artist--using it to achieve creative aesthetic results.
If you succeed at that, you are an artist.

I have extraordinary respect for craftsmanship.
There is a great pleasure in it, the hard work and
the little things that nobody notices that cumulatively
make a difference to the result. I'm no artist,
but there is a kind of beauty that is attainable
through craftsmanship, it's very satisfying even
if it isn't very creative.

When I made jewelry I would at the end take out my file
and make all the seams in my pieces dissapear. This
gave me much pleasure. I do something like this
with the things I write, too. One calls writing like this
'polished.' Same pleasure, similar craftsmanship, but not
yet art.

[anniemcu]

I have a silver copeland soprano D whistle.
It's an artwork. It's terribly hard to look at
it and deny that.

So some whistles are artworks, just as some bowls
are artworks (e.g. Cellinis).

Michael made jewelry and jewelry can be art;
the fipple plug is set like a stone. The conical
design (he also made organ pipes), the very
clean execution, the material create a strong aesthetic
affect that is intended. That's sufficient for art,
in my book. ....

a photo or two, please...

[tompipes]

If I was asked this question 3 months ago, I'd have said craft.

Since then I've been making a few myself and there is a definitly an art involved. Getting the desired tone by manipulating the fipple, window, blade, etc. is an art in itself.
Very much akin to making uilleann pipe chanter reeds.

My 2c.
Tommy