..that I have been wondering about.
1.) The third track on Joannie Madden’s “Song of the Irish whistle” opens with an instrument called an air whistle. I tried to find one on eBay but got nowhere.. anyone know anything about it?
2.) Need suggestions for good whistle/music workshops in Ireland this summer. I’ve found a couple already, but would like some input from folks with firsthand experience. 
Thanks in advance!
If you’re talking about the track with The Otter’s Holt, just blow across the top of the whistle instead of through the mouthpiece. It works better with some whistles than others, and try changing the angle that you blow at. You’ll get an extremely quiet, breathy sound. …Edited to add that I can usually only get the first octave and the second D with this method.
Come to Willie Week in July with the rest of the C&F crew! Five that I know of, including one permanent resident of Miltown Malbay.
[ This Message was edited by: avanutria on 2003-01-19 18:27 ]
But isn’t it an aire whistle?
For aires… I’ll gladly sell you
one if you’ll send me enough money
to live for the rest of my
life in Costa Rica. I’ve
got plenty, in case others
are interested.
On 2003-01-19 18:27, avanutria wrote:
- If you’re talking about the track with The Otter’s Holt, just blow across the top of the whistle instead of through the mouthpiece. It works better with some whistles than others, and try changing the angle that you blow at. You’ll get an extremely quiet, breathy sound.
Hmmmmm, there’s an idea. But in the booklet that comes with the CD, it actually lists “air whistle” as one of the instruments used..
- Come to Willie Week in July with the rest of the C&F crew! Five that I know of, including one permanent resident of Miltown Malbay.
I’ve actually been looking at that one! But I don’t know if I’d be able to spend the entire week there. Are there single classes available?
lol Jim 
[ This Message was edited by: Soineanta on 2003-01-19 18:38 ]
Well, I know that when I play a whistle like that I call it “air whistle”… shrug I dunno if it’s actually a different instrument or not.
And I’m not the one to ask about Willie Week details as I’ve never been. Try Azalin or Peter Laban. The details for WW 2003 won’t be up till next month, according to a site I found online somewhere.
A search for “Air whistle” on Google brings up some little thing related to toy trains.. odd. When you play your whistle like that Beth, do you hold it like a flute or with the mouthpiece stuck under your chin? (Which is rather uncomfortable.)
I sure hope they offer single classes seperate from the weeklong workshop, because the teachers they list on the 2002 website are amazing!
Didn’t she talk about that third track in her C&F Interview? She said the producer asked her if she could make any other songs so she put it on her bottom lip and blew on the top.Also they miked the whistle so you could hear her fingers hitting the holes if she wasn’t blowing in the whistle and those taps are the percusion for that song. (my favorite whistle CD)
Yeah, I have the mouthpiece against my lower lip (the entire windway ends up blocked off.)
Well, lookee thar! You’re right, Bagfed. To quote it exactly:
"Inquiring whistlers worldwide want to know: How did you make all those wind sounds at the beginning of the 3rd track on SOIW?
Well, Brian was asking me what other sounds could I get out of the whistle? So I started messing around. But, basically, I put the mouthpiece under my bottom lip and blew downward so that you’re only getting the air running across the fipple and played like usual. We then miked my fingers just playing without blowing to get that percussive sound. I must say, that Hearts of Space has had about 100 returns from people who have told them that their CD is distorted – but only track 3! It’s hard to tell people that that’s what it’s supposed to sound like!"
Cool beans. And thank goodness I don’t have to start a worldwide search for some oddball instrument that doesn’t actually exist! Thanks for the help.
I play air whistle all the time, just like air guitar and air drums.
I hold my hands in front of my mouth while Mary Bergin plays and I move them in exactly the way that she does. Of course, when I play a real whistle, it sounds nothing like how it did in my head. ;-p
-Derek-
I bet that air whistle is one JessieK doesn’t have in her archival collection…yet! 
My first CTL concert was right after SotIW came out. The Goddess of the Irish Whistle played a couple of “air whistle” pieces in concert.
Actually, she was using her regular O’Riordan, just blowing across the mouthpiece rather than into it.
BTW, this is irrelevant but after all my worrying on line, I actually DID manage to get Joanie’s autograph at the December 13 concert - on my new Hoover whistle to boot.
A nifty follow-up…
I was browsing the Lark In the Morning online catalogue, and lo and behold, I found something called a “wind whistle”! From its description, it sounds like it would make the same kind of sound “air whistle” does. I must have.
The link if anyone is interested (its the third item down):
http://www.larkinam.com/MenComNet/Business/Retail/LarkNet/SambaWhistles