Greetings from Shanghai China and how-to select whistles

[davidgjm]

Hello Everyone,

Eventually, I managed to get to the wonderland of various flutes including the charming tin whistles. I read much of the information on the main page of the site and I felt that this is the right place for me.

My Chinese name is Gao, Jian Min, and Gao is my family name and Jian Min is my given name. And my English is David. You can call me either David or Jian Min.

I'm a native Chinese with enthusiasm in music especially musical instruments. I play traditional Chinese bamboo flutes(a.k.a DIZI) and Chinese Xiao (see introduction here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiao_(flute)). I also play ocarina but just a newbie, lol. If you are interested in Chinese flutes, I can upload some photos of my flutes in the future.

I was really impressed by the sound of tin whistle when i saw the movie Titanic for the second time earlier this year. So I plan to learn tin whistle, but I don't have one at hand yet. I am somewhat at loss about how to select the right one for me. I prefer the Generation bB key whistle, but learned that Generation whistles are not quite "stable" in their product quality.
I wish someone can be kind enough to give me some guidance on selecting an inexpensive bB/D key tin whistle.

Glad to be with everyone here!

Best Regards.

David Gao

[Feadoggie]

Welcome to C&F.

You may not have noticed that there is a separate forum for whistles here. Perhaps a moderator can move this thread so as not to distract the flute only discussions.

So I plan to learn tin whistle, but I don't have one at hand yet. I am somewhat at loss about how to select the right one for me. I prefer the Generation bB key whistle, but learned that Generation whistles are not quite "stable" in their product quality.

This is a matter of some controversy among whistlers. I like Generations right off the shelf. I have had few issues with Generation whistles and I have owned dozens of them over the last forty years or so. But they can vary to some degree. I feel that the Gen Bb whistle is among the most consistent of the Generation whistles. I would not be compelled to look for a tweaked version personally. But tweaked versions are available from Jerry Freeman should you want to go that route.

There are many good D whistles out there today. I'd suggest starting with a Generation D or a Feadog in D for a whistle with a traditional sound. I also like the Susato Oriole D whistle with a purer, stronger sound than the trad whistles. I don't think you can do better in a starter whistle. Those are just my opinions.

Feadoggie

[benhall.1]

Yes. Not to get into a discussion, but ... Your Moderator for this evening is Yours Truly. It was, indeed, I, who chose to leave this thread here.

Welcome to the forums, Jian Min! I gather you're interested in different types of blown instruments, including flutes and whistles. For the flute part of your post, you are very welcome here in the flute forum. Or, you may be interested in exploring the forum for World/Folk Winds.

For questions on whistles, as Feadoggie (kind of ) suggests, you may want to post a query in the Whistle forum. Please do feel free to explore the site, and welcome aboard!

[maki]

Welcome Davidgjm.
Feadoggie pretty much said it regarding whistles. IMO

As for flutes, I'd love to view youtube videos if you have any inclination to post some.
I've always found traditional Chinese music to be wonderful, and even have some Ehru CDs.

BTW, your written English skills are very good.

[davidgjm]

Many thanks to Feadoggie, benhall.1(dear moderator) and maki for your warm welcome

I'm not aware of the message board courtesy about how you guys reply messages. I simply put my replies to three of you in the same post.

@Feadoggie
Your opinion is very reasonable and wise. I will take your advice for choosing my whistles. You know what. whistle fans in China now are mostly in a somehow "helpless" situation. I mean most people don't read/speak English or just know quite limited English. They have to rely on translations about whistles. Unfortunately some of the translations are either out-of-date or inaccurate or even misleading. Moreover, a majority of native Chinese do not know sheet music. The professionals or the special trained people know that. We are more familiar with the JianPu system. I myself is still struggling with the sheet music system.

@benhall.1
To my surprise, our dear moderator seems capable of reading my mind. Just kidding. I do love various types of blown instruments. I will explore through the whole site to know more about such musical instruments. Thank you

@maki
I am still learning to play Chinese bamboo flutes. I will try to upload a video to youtube if I feel I am playing well enough.
Thanks for the good words for my English. Actually I learned English as my major at university (over 10 years ago). Luckily I am still using English in my daily work.

[benhall.1]

I'm not aware of the message board courtesy about how you guys reply messages. I simply put my replies to three of you in the same post.

I think you've managed the message board courtesy very well indeed, Jian Min.