Finally Circular Breathing on Whistles !!

[jemtheflute]

Super playing by any reckoning, Hatao. I love it. The CB is very impressive, especially the way you work it into the dynamic of the tune, just as one would ordinary breathing. Brilliant.

I've downloaded and unzipped your flute album, but haven't had time to listen to it yet - I'm really looking forward to that.

Could you tell us what instruments you use - what whistle were these tracks done on, and what flutes do you and Akio use?

Thanks so much for putting these out!

[Guinness]

You have raised the bar for me.

Great stuff.

[arnie]

Hatao, I heard your band Butter Dogs, its was recommended by David O'Brien. Beautiful!!
I saw and heard Colin Goldie play circular breathing on my Overton low D; my mouth fell open!

[hatao]

Hi,Everyone.

I poseted a video on youtube.
This technique is so new to me and I am still not as good as
non-CB style,but I hope I'll be better.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=SWpv7w5kNk4

And this is a funny video,me playing flute with nose!

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=D8MsSFCxpYU

Have you seen Cathal McConnell of "the Boys of Lough" playing
2 whistle at the same time in the harmony?
(Two whistles are in the same pitch,one of whistle's 3 top finger holes are sealed with tapes)

I think I can try that trick on flutes, too !!

>Are you also able to take breaths whenever you want and then
>continue back into the CB?

Exactly.I can breath anytime I want, without making any silence.

>how can you inhale and exhale at the same time?

This is not a difficule trick as you imagine.
Everyone can learn it with proper practice.

Just the idea...
to inhale; block your glottas and inhale air with your nose.
to exhale; push out rest of air in your mouth by using your tangue.
Do it at the same time!

>what whistle were these tracks done on, and what flutes do you and Akio use?

My instlement..
S.Z.B.E tin whitle http://www.szbe.net/index_e.htm
Thomas Aebi 9 key flute,cocus wood.

Akio plays Patrick Olwell keyless D flute,black wood

>arnie

Thanks! Does Colin do CB? great !

[Wanderer]

I would have NEVER believed it had I not seen or heard it done. I never thought the whistle would provide enough back pressure.

Amazing job! Good show!

[Pyroh]

Well, mister - that was awesome. I´m learning it too, but I´m far from your skill.

By the way, does the web irishflute.info some switch to english? It looked nice at the first glance but it´s written in Japanese probably (if it´s Chinese, I´m sorry).

Don´t you know where to obtain reasonable Shakuhachi (preferably in Europe)? I love the sound, but no one around does them really.

[joe13531]

Pretty cool that you learned the technique. I listened to your clips also. I used to circular breathe all the time on clarinet in the past. That said, you need to breath. I don't want to sound rude, but the tunes you played sounded silly without breathing and not musical at all. Music breathes. Sorry to say that, but someone told me the same thing years ago and they were right. Musical pause is very important. I once walked out of a concert because the well known instrumental soloist refused to breathe. Ever. It made me want to puke! lol

Knowing every trick in the book is great and useful. Knowing when NOT TO USE every trick in the book is key to musical understanding and success. Hope this advice helps.

[cocusflute]

I agree with the above post. Who of the following whistle players would sound better using CB:
Micho Russell
Mike McGoldrick
Sean Ryan
Cathal McConnell
Mary Bergin

CB is a neat trick, but that's all it is. The space between the notes and the phrases is just as important as the notes and the phrases.

Hatao is a great player but the CB stuff sounds rather flat. Technically impressive but otherwise nothing to get excited about. He's played better.

[Wanderer]

wow..that seems a bit extreme

I thought the playing was great...I certainly didn't think the lack of any audible breaths somehow just destroyed it completely and made it unworthy of a listen.

[Eldarion]

In my view,basically whistle/flute tequnique is built with
the idea of Piping technique.
We do cuts/taps rolls,so why not the Circular Breathing?

Please let me hear your opinion about using curcluar breating in
Irish traditional music.

Hi Hatao,

I think thats a really neat trick, doing circular breathing on the whistle. Would be good for a party piece for sure, especially when playing towards the end of a particularly showey tune.

But also I think that not putting in the breathing spots as a default playing style takes away from the beauty of the whistle music. The need to breathe is what makes flute/whistle playing unique from the other instruments, and the mastery of good phrasing via breathing is part of the traditional aesthetics of good and interesting Irish flute/whistle playing.

Also while it is likely that certain whistling ornaments were adapted from some sort of piping, I don't think that by itself is a great reason to gravitate towards all the general characteristics of piping. For one I don't think anyone playing a whistle will really be able to out-pipe a piper. The instruments are different and have different qualities and strengths. Instead I feel it is more advantageous to play on the unique qualities of the respective instruments.

That said I its great that you're having fun playing around with new tricks on the whistle. Circular breathing on the whistle sounds like no mean feat for sure.

[Daleth]

I think those clips sound great. As for whether circular breathing is just a party trick, I think that both approaches have their merits. Circular breathing on the whistle is impressive, and obviously sounds just fine, and echoes the style of a piper. I think where the circular breathing approach really shines is in reels.

However, for jigs and other slower tunes, I think that the pauses needed to breathe are, in many ways, as much a part of the tune as the notes. They're important to such an extent that people on instruments that don't require breathing often mimic them, inserting the same little pauses in their music that a whistler or flautist would. They help accentuate the rhythm and they give a clear impression of the phrasing of the tune, two of the most important parts of Irish music.

[cowtime]

Impressive!
I've seen pipers do it on practice chanter but I'd never thought of someone doing CB on whistle.

[Aanvil]

I don't want to sound rude, but the tunes you played sounded silly without breathing and not musical at all. .... I once walked out of a concert because the well known instrumental soloist refused to breathe. Ever. It made me want to puke! lol
.

Well... you know Hatao-san's first language isn't English so he might not understand your oh so subtle command of it.

Sounds rude to me no matter how its translated.

Check out his Butterdog's CD. You'll find he has a solid grasp of ITM.

Good day to you sir.

[Guinness]

I think that both approaches have their merits.

Absolutely. Only narrow minded folks would ever insist that circular breathing should be forbidden (or conversely, used exclusively). To expand upon Hatao's point, if pipers, fiddlers, box/concertina players, banjo, mando, cittern players, etc. are all permitted to play without musical rests, then why not whistlers and flute players? The lack of rests in ITM and the use of drones are in part, what gives the genre it's sense of tension and excitement--and for the same reason, why some people hate the music. I agree that rests are important in music, but they are generally rare in ITM, except for airs.

Just because there are no pauses for breaths, it does not mean the music lacks phrasing.

[fancypiper]

Don't forget that the uilleann pipers use rests (or at least they silence the chanter) as well if they can get a handle on "tight" piping.

Of course, I am a member of the "play stuff as I like it" club. I play to please me and if others like it too, that's cool.