Chiff & Fipple's Plan of Attack
May 2004
Special Introduction by Saudi
Arabia's Ambassador to the United States, His Royal Highness Prince Bandar bin
Sultan bin Abdulaziz.
My dear whistle-tooting friends,
I hope it can be said that you are looking forward
to reading this issue of The Chiff and The Fipple. I received an advanced
copy some time ago and can assure you that is truly filled with useful
information about this musical instrument which is the one of your
preference. Please do not be offended that I, a nonsubscriber, received
news of this issue before you. It is, how do you say in the US, "no
big deal." There are those who will suggest that something nefarious
was at hand and I can assure you that these lies are as foul and noxious as the
sputum of a camel. Thank you and enjoy your reading.
--Prince
I. LET'S RESOLVE TO ALWAYS
START OFF WITH A DOG VIDEO
I know it's not relevant...but this video will
change your life.
Thanks to Drew at www.toothpastefordinner.com for
making me aware of this answer to all the world's problems.
II. THE GREY AREA
Here at Chiff & Fipple's Undisclosed Location
HQ,
we are proud to announce a new regular feature here
in the Chiff & Fipple newsletter, which will also soon become a regular
website feature. The Grey Area is a column on playing the whistle by Grey
Larsen.
Grey Larsen is a musician of many talents and accomplishments.
He is a performer, recording artist, composer, teacher, author, producer, and a
mastering and recording engineer and large-animal veterinarian. Ok, he's
not a veterinarian, but he's all those other things. Grey is most
well-known as one of the world's foremost players and exponents of the Irish
flute and the whistle.
His first two books are both now available. A labor of love and many years, The
Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle is a 480-page work (with
two accompanying CDs) on playing and appreciating Irish flute and tin whistle. The
Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox, at 187-pages (with one companion CD) takes the
beginner, novice, or intermediate player of Irish tin whistle to a high level
of competence.
Both of these books are being extremely
well-received. The former is a monster of a book, unlike anything that
has ever been published. The latter, just out, is already starting to get
excellent notices.
Grey and I are working on the Grey Larson Chiff
& Fipple Interview and are scheduled to have our third meeting in Geneva to
conclude the interview next week, IF I can find my darn passport.
I have asked Grey to write a regular column on
whistle-playing technique for Chiff & Fipple. Here is Grey's first
column for us. When a guy knows this much, plays this well, and writes
this beautifully, you know you have a treasure.
The Five Most Common Mistakes of Beginning
Whistle Players by
Grey Larsen
1. Holding the whistle in ways that produce physical tension.
Most beginning whistle players try to keep the instrument stable using only
three anchor points: the lips and the two thumbs. A fourth anchor point is
needed in order to completely stabilize the instrument while maintaining
relaxation, and to never be, even subconsciously, concerned that you might drop
the whistle.
That needed fourth anchor point is either the pinky of the lower hand (resting
on the body of the whistle below the bottom hole), or the ring finger of the
lower hand (covering the bottom hole of the whistle when not playing E). The
lower hand pinky is the better choice, as long as the size and length of a
player's fingers will allow resting the pinky on the instrument in a relaxed
way.
Not using the fourth anchor point results in unfortunate, unconscious,
tension-producing compensations which are aimed at keeping the whistle stable
as more and more finger holes become uncovered. With all holes open, and
without using the fourth anchor point, one must to grip the instrument with
one's teeth, or between the thumb and the base of the index finger of one hand
or the other. This produces problematic tension in the face, and/or in the
hands and arms and can even lead to repetitive stress injuries. The six fingers
that cover and uncover the holes should remain completely relaxed and need play
no role in supporting the instrument.
2. Covering the finger holes with the fingertips.
Players who come from a classical woodwind background tend, naturally enough,
to cover the tone holes with their fingertips. To play Irish music on the
whistle, it is much better to cover the holes with some part of the fleshy pad
of the first joint of each finger, ones fingers being gently arched. Large, low
whistles may require some adjustments to this.
3. Playing too fast.
The urge to play fast is a strong one. But playing well is far more important,
and is a pre-requisite to playing fast in a musical fashion. It is a useful and
challenging paradox that slow playing and slow practice will bring you to your
musical goals much more quickly than playing fast. The fable of the tortoise
and the hare rings very true in this area.
To improve as a player, one needs to nurture the habit of being very conscious
of what one is doing, physically and sonically. Playing slowly helps a great
deal with this. Practicing playing well, at a pace one can handle, is better
than practicing playing too fast and sloppily. This may sound obvious, but
apparently it is not.
4. Breathing between the notes of Irish dance tunes.
In Irish dance music, it does not work to sneak your breath in between the
notes of a tune. A whistle player must omit eighth notes, or shorten longer
notes by an eighth note of duration, in order to create her breathing places.
Such breathing places have a duration of one eighth note. They are musical
silences, or musical spaces, which have just as specific a rhythmic identity as
do the notes of the tune.
Learning to leave out notes in a musically articulate way requires some wisdom
about the music. One must learn which notes are expendable (or shortenable) and
which are not. Critical to gaining this knowledge is the development of a
solid, dependable sense of the pulse, for the cardinal rule is that one must
never omit a note that falls on the pulse (the places where you tap your foot).
5. Thinking of cuts and strikes as grace notes, and the rhythmic
imprecision that results.
The unfortunate portrayal of cuts and strikes as grace notes, in the
instructional materials available before my books came out, causes a great deal
of confusion on the nature, sound, and function of cuts and strikes. Players
with the grace-note mindset tend to play cuts and strikes as bona fide notes of
ambiguous duration, placed somehow, somewhere in between the "actual"
notes of the tune. These "grace notes" muddy the rhythmic waters.
They clutter up the music, and obscure the natural beauty and simplicity of the
tune.
When one adjusts one's thinking such that cuts and strikes are no longer notes
at all, but instead are extremely brief sounds (in effect, with no discernable
duration or pitch) that form the articulation or attack of a melody note,
everything falls into place and the becomes rhythmic waters become clear.
--
Grey Larsen
http://www.GreyLarsen.com
The Irish Tune Bank: http://greylarsen.com/services/tunebank/index.php
Irish Flute Concerts and Educational Programs
Producer,
Mastering Engineer, Recording Engineer, Author, Music Editor
PO Box 2652, Bloomington, IN 47402-2652, USA
"An essential set of tools for the beginning and intermediate tin whistle player. I highly recommend it!"
- Joanie Madden, whistle and flute player with Cherish the Ladies, on The Tin Whistle Toolbox
"Grey has, through his research, patience, and diligence, completed a work on Irish flute and tin whistle that I feel is essential reading for anybody interested in getting it right."
- Matt Molloy, Irish flute player with The
Bothy Band and The Chieftains on The
Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle
ORDER GREY's books:
Please order directly from Grey! Thanks!
For the essential guide to irish flute and tin
whistle:
http://greylarsen.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=25
for the essential tin whistle toolbox:
http://greylarsen.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=26
III. FROM PAT O'RIORDAN
Hello
Dale,
I
am writing to ask if you would please include a message for me in the news
letter.
I would like to let my customers know that for 2 months or so I have been
experiencing a painful back problem. To such an extent that during that time I
have achieved very little in completing and shipping whistle orders.
I had hoped it would clear up through medication and therapy, but no luck!
I am scheduled for surgery May 3rd. With about 4 weeks convalescence. Hopefully
During that time I can get to work again.
I do regret the inconvenience this is causing people, and hope they will keep
in touch.
With
best wishes,
Pat
O'Riordan.
I'm sure I speak for the entire community in wishing Pat a speedy
recovery.
IV. NICE WORK
Here's a lovely tune by Chiff & Fipple veteran
James Peeples. Check out his website.
http://www.flutesite.com/fianna/shannon_song.mp3
V. MAYBE BIG NEWS
This might be a good time to review by
reading the following item from the the Chiff & Fipple Unsolved Mysteries
Department
From the whistle mysteries
page on the website: ....Davy Spillane, of course,
generated huge interest in the low whistle when he played in the band for
RIVERDANCE and then the corresponding video of RIVERDANCE sold 
sixty zillion copies. The video
shows nice close-ups of Davy playing a whistle that resembles an Overton or
Chieftain. For some time, questions flew around about what low whistles
Davy played. Some insisted he made his own. Some believed he
purchased Overtons and then modified them extensively. Others believed
that he bought Overtons and made relatively minor adjustments.
A few years ago, Davy, whose email from yours
truly he's either never seen or never answered, abruptly emailed me to say that
somewhere on Chiff & Fipple was an indication that he played Overtons or
Chieftains or something and, his email went on to say, the truth is that he
makes his own instruments and always had. Cease and desist,
yada-yada. In addition, his own website included a whole section
about Davy offering for sale his own whistles, which I think he called
"D500' or something like that. Should be end of story, right?
Well, maybe it is. But I must point this
out: I'm not sure that anyone on the planet has received more whistle
related email than I have. In these five-plus years, not ONE PERSON has
indicated to me that they have (a) purchased Davy's whistles, (b) played Davy's
whistles, or (c) seen one up close enough to describe it.
Now, there's no reason to believe that Davy is
lying about making his instruments. So, I assume that he does and that he
has sold whistles to very few players because his touring / recording schedule
doesn't allow enough time to make many instruments for others.
As of today, I must modify the above assertion that
I've never heard from anyone who has a Spillane whistle. Talbert St. Claire says he has one.
Talbert also says that he understands from Davy that Davy's whistles will be in
stores in a few weeks. He also tells us that there will be an American
distributor and I'm looking in to that. I reserve the right to remain a
bit skeptical about this. I'll happily eat my words when these things are
flying out of stores in a month or so.
If you are interested in following this breaking
news story, check back on this page from time-to-time.
VI. The Undisputed Jig
I got this in March from
Claus von Weiss of the greatest band of the 21st century, Morris Open.
Dear Dale,
as I'm afraid your mailbox will be full up to the rim on your birthday, this
little gift for you comes a few days early, but so with a little room left in
the mailbox for the two attachments.
Actually this jig is not as undisputable as the title suggests, but in fact
it's a strange mix of a jig and a slip jig instead. As I wrote it with you in
mind of course it's all your fault in the end, isn't it. We had no Morris Open
rehearsal in time, so here it's played just with whistle and harpsichord. I
hope you'll enjoy it.
Have yourself a great birthday on the 25th and a mighty fine new year coming
up, full of life's music (not that much blues!) and our good Lord's blessing.
Best wishes
Claus
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/UndisputedJig.mp3
I've suggested Morris Open do a concept Album. Claus has suggested the title
"Over Dale and High, High Hill", which I like. I'd prefer
"Aqualung," but Claus seems to have some kind of problem with it.
I have seen the future of Germany-Based Music From the British Isles and it's
name is Morris Open.
VII. A LITTLE BUSINESS MEETING
The costs associated with doing Chiff & Fipple
have risen a bit. In addition to my broadband internet access (which, I
must confess, I would have anyway), I pay for website hosting and a new pay service
for distributing this newsletter and maintaining subscriptions.
(Regarding the latter, I reluctantly went with the pay service because
maintaining everything manually had become too much of a time drain. In
addition, it is getting harder and harder to send out emails to a list of 3300
subscribers. Too many email systems now understandably see those messages
as the dreaded spam. )
Anyway, I frequently get very kind messages from
people offering to pay a bit to support Chiff & Fipple. I want to
introduce you to some ways to do that. Obviously, this is entirely
voluntary.
1. The Amazon.com kickback.
If you use amazon.com, this one is really
easy. Establish the following "bookmark" or
"favorite site" link that takes you to amazon.com. Owners of independent
bookstores are exempt from this request to use this link.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/chifffippltheult/
When you use this link to buy anything, Chiff &
Fipple gets a cut. It's not much, but it adds up.
2. Cafepress.com merchandise
We make a little money from selling Chiff &
Fipple merchandise through our cafepress store:
http://www.cafepress.com/chiffandfipple
Honestly,
if you don't have a Chiff & Fipple lunchbox, what is wrong with you?
UPDATE: For an update on C&F finances, see here.
Thanks very much for even considering this. I
am happy to say that I am richly rewarded by doing Chiff & Fipple with a
multitude of intangibles and the occasional free whistle. But, the costs
do add up and, since there have been many offers of support, I've decided to
gift people with the opportunity to, uh, gift Chiff & Fipple's vast
Publishing Wing, which, of course, is mostly, uh, me.
And, by the way, if contributions roll in far in
excess of my needs, be assured that I will use the funds on a future gambling
excursion.
Which reminds of a favorite joke. A
businessman is on vacation in Las Vegas. A bum comes up to him in front
of a casino and asks for money for his mother's upcoming surgery.
"Oh, please," says the businessman, "How do I know you won't
turn around and walk into that casino and gamble away the money I give
you?"
"Oh, no," says the bum, looking truly
confused, "I've already got some gambling money!"
VIII. THE HEART OF THE WHISTLER
Members of the Chiff & Fipple Forum
(http://chiffboard.mati.ca) just concluded a fundraiser/raffle for a dedicated
member of the forum, Jerry Freeman, master whistle-tweaker, whose wife recently
had heart surgery. 62 fabulous prizes were donated and 209 people
purchased 541 ten-dollar tickets. The winners were drawn on May 1
and have all been notified.
I want to thank Jessie Driscoll for conducting this
raffle. When I last wrote in this newsletter about the raffle, Jessie was
pregnant. In the midst of the raffle, she gave birth to a beautiful baby
girl. 
She, Jessie, also had to be
briefly hospitalized--both mother and child are doing fine now. In spite
of this, Jessie managed to bring in the raffle on time. As you can
imagine, getting 62 prizes donated and having 209 people buy tickets, required
some serious time and work on Jessie's part. (Much more to come--She's
now got to distribute and arrange for distribution of those prizes). I
can't imagine how she pulled it off.
Thanks also to Talbert St. Claire, who donated
150 copies of his CD to the first 150 ticket purchasers.
Jerry Freeman writes:
I've said it before; you're changing the world.
Every act of kindness, no matter how seemingly small, changes the recipient's
experience of humanity. I'm convinced that small, and not so small, acts of
kindness done by individuals, are the most positive force in the world today.
They are the best answer I know for all the things that are wrong in the world,
and I'm convinced that they do counterbalance the bad things.
Ultimately, I believe the world's problems are all spiritual. By spiritual, I
don't mean necessarily having to do with God or religion, but rather, with the
spirit of humanity. Every kind of violence and exploitation, every form of
conflict and every manifestation of hatred, reflects a sickness and poverty of
spirit in individual human beings. Those spiritual afflictions in the hearts of
individual people, multiplied, are the big, pervasive problems of the world we
talk about here at length.
Every act of kindness, no matter how seemingly isolated or small, nourishes the
spirit of the recipient, and also of the giver. Even though seemingly
inconsequential in comparison to the size of the world's problems, I'm
convinced there is no other place where a real solution can happen.
With my profound thanks and best wishes for all of
you,
Jerry
My thanks to everyone who participated and my
congratulations to the winners, of which I am not one. (I had so look
forward to the grand gesture of turning down a prize to avoid any appearance of
impropriety. Turns out--There was no need!)
IX. people who, so far
as we know, don’t play the whistle
a rotating gallery of people who don’t play the
whistle, and aren’t likely to take it up.
Bob Woodward
(who, as Mrs. Undisputed
pointed out to me, does know how to blow the whistle. Har!)
Stay tuned for more people who, so far as we know, don’t play the whistle (A
Quinn-Martin Production)
Chiff & Fipple is a production of the North Central Alabama Home Gorilla Breeding Association, in association with Red Wolverine Enterprises, and 3Fish Productions. We are not associated with the Texas National Guard, but we do currently reside in Alabama. Coincidence? I think not.
customer service
Having
trouble with your whistle? Call Amy at Chiff & Fipple customer service.
Lord, help us see how near is your kingdom.