I've been a musician for about 20 years (guitar player originally, but I also sing and play bass, mandolin and keys), but recently I've become sort of fed up with the instruments I play. I felt I needed a new challenge. So, as I like traditional music in general and the so-called Celtic variety in particular, I decided to pick up the tin whistle. I'd heard a lot about how easy it is to get started with, but even so, I was surprised what a welcoming little instrument it was. Having a musical backround helps I suppose -- already possessing some basic finger dexterity etc -- but I've never touched a wind instrument before in my life. I was expecting it to be a tougher transition.
I've been playing for about a month now, and while I'm not good at it by any stretch of the imagination I think I've made some fair progress. Still making lots of squeaky noises occasionally, still having to think a lot about where to put my fingers, but I'm getting there. I have no aspirations of becoming a virtuoso, though, I'm happy if I can get proficient enough to add some pretty whistle stuff to my own tunes.
At this point I have three whistles, all of them Clarkes -- an Original (D), a Celtic (D) and a Sweetone (C) -- and I have a suspicion I will be purchasing even more before long. My fave so far is the Celtic, as it is the easiest to play and best sounding of the three, but the Original is also quite nice. I'm not as fond of the Sweetone, as it was closer to a C# whistle when I got it, and I had to move the mouthpiece so far back to tune it that it's close to falling off the body of the whistle. As for what my next purchase will be, I'm not sure. A new C whistle from some other maker maybe, or possibly an E whistle. We'll see.
Anyway, sorry for the lengthy post but as I'll probably be hanging around here quite a bit, pestering you with questions about whistle playing, ITM and related matters, I might as well introduce myself properly.
