2020 Tin Whistle Enthusiasts Q & A

Whistle
21

From earlier in the thread:

Is this the group? https://www.shamrockirishmusic.org/index.html
You probably already realize how lucky you are to live close to a welcoming group like that. There’s nothing comparable in my area. I’m not interested in performance, but if I could hide within a large enough group, I’d be okay. Then again, it’s hard to “hide” playing a high whistle.

As of four years ago, I am also now playing with children, ages 5 - 12, learning the whistle which has drastically increased the overall enjoyment. Children absorb the music so much more easily and faster than I.

It’s said that the best way to master something is to teach it. Those kids must keep you on your toes.

At this point I would consider myself an “advanced newbeeish” whistler. > :smiley:

Quite a few players fall into that category, advanced beginner, and we need a better name for it. I like the term improvers, which comes from one of Claire McKenna’s books. She refers to: Beginners, Improvers, Advanced. I’d call it four categories: Beginners, Improvers, Intermediate, Advanced. Either way, I like thinking of myself as an improver on whistle. I’ll be content to remain in that category for years. :smiley:

p.s. Look over to the left at avatar as that’s the whistling born on date while I’m still just a pernurious tone-deaf wannabee whistler. Anniversary tomorrow!

Happy anniversary! Yesterday was my one-month anniversary of joining the forum, although I’ve been reading it for longer than that.

22

I ordered a Bb Gen last month, and I added Blu Tack. Mine is fine for the price, and I’m enjoying playing it, although I wouldn’t call it a “terrific” whistle. You are probably talking about some modifications that are much more involved than my simple tweak. In a perfect world, whistle manufacturers would make them that way off the shelf.

23

Initially, I also used to putty-fill the cavity, but to my ears, the Generation Bb sounds better without the putty-fill.

24

Lucky you! Learning by ear is one of the 2020 goals that I posted yesterday. After years of using sheet music with other instruments, learning by ear just doesn’t come naturally to me. I’ve decided my stumbling block is that I don’t like to make mistakes. When learning a new tune, I read the sheet s-l-o-w-l-y so that I make almost no errors. This is because I believe the saying “Practice makes permanent.” I don’t want to practice a mistake.

The few times I’ve tried to play a new tune by ear, I’ve made all sorts of mistakes. Even after I learn a simple tune that way, those early mistakes tend to resurface later.

25

When mine arrived, the two lowest notes were quite weak. I thought the putty improved them, especially the xxxxxx note. The xxxxxo note is still a bit anemic. From what I’ve read so far, the Blu Tack tweak is supposed to help the high notes, but in this case I thought it helped the low ones. The high notes still sound breathier than I would like, with less of a pure tone. Some people like that breathy quality, though, since it adds character.

26

From earlier in the thread:

I’ve never tried that, but stairwells are supposed to have awesome acoustics.

  1. What are your > whistle-related goals > for 2020?
    Learning ornaments, trills, leaps and exploring all the optional keys on a whistle of a given key.

Adding ornaments is one of my goals, too, and I’ve decided to start playing them even though I’m still a beginner. On whistle, I love the sound of them. Learning them now is following this logic: “Life is short. Eat dessert first.”

  1. What whistles > are on your 2020 Wish List?
    Chieftain Thunderbird in G tops the wish list, a Tony Dixon DX001 for a portable practice whistle, an Anak high G or high F whistle (unique soaring buttery tone I love), I like the Milligan whistle sounds, I would love to try a Goldie in low F, an Alba whistle in A, I want to buy another Guinness D whistle (Walton’s makes it), because I sold two of them and already used one on a recording so I just feel I should always have one, I definitely want one or two North American First Nations style flute/whistles of good quality very soon, I’ve been looking into some good quality bamboo flutes from India and I think I’m buying a Goldfinch whistle this year, they impress me as very well-playing whistles with a bird-like tone I enjoy.

Whoa! That’s quite a wish list. I would have a hard time prioritizing which to buy first.

27

Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. You are discovering something that is in the nature of whistles, about the relationship between the strength of the bell note (and lower octave) and the second octave. What were you after? A louder bell note and a quieter/sweeter top of the upper octave? A lump of Blu tack in the head won’t do that.

All whistles are a compromise on that spectrum. Generation whistles sit in the area of being a quieter, nimble whistle with a more complex tone with chiff and definite a character that is sometimes labelled as “traditional.” And being designed as a quieter smaller bore whistle, they have an easier second octave that doesn’t blow your ear drums out.

Blu tak in the head? No, not for me. I experimented with a couple of whistles when I heard about it and it did nothing that I thought positive. The tone felt stuffy, they were less light and nimble to play etc. Sure it “thickened up” the tone, but not in a way I liked and they were no longer really sounding and playing like Generation whistles.

Really don’t like Generations? Well, get something different, but, as I say, you’ll find that all whistles are a compromise. Maybe you’ll be one of those who in years to come try their Generation whistles again and are surprised how they’ve improved with age. After all, a month of playing is no time at all.

28

I suppose I’d ought to help get this thread back on the rails again :-/



Played music :stuck_out_tongue:

OK then … um. Arranged playing more tin whistle in the band. Got to play a few interesting places and festivals. We don’t play many (well, any really) folk festivals, which is a curiosity considering what we play. We end up at “alternative” (whatever that is), rock, electronic music festivals … all sorts. It’s an odd “career” for a trad musician.

Bought a full set (and several other) of “old style” Generation whistles. It was partly so that I could have whistles in rolls/bags ready for going to gigs/practicse/sessions and still have others out and ready to practise with at home. It’s sort of worked, but not completely.

More of the same as 2019 :slight_smile: More whistle inserted into band sets and at sessions. Oh, and apparently we’ll be playing at least one folk festival this year and maybe more. Forget the stages, I’m hoping for some good festival sessions. :smiley:

No tune is ever learnt (he says piously). I’m forever deconstructing the way I play tunes on whistle or melodeon, and then ending up playing them differently again at a session or something.

On the whistle, I’ve been going through a hornpipe stage. Remembering, learning and polishing up hornpipes that I remember being played at a session many years ago by a friend who was keen on hornpipes, and played them very well.

Nothing much really. I ponder the thought of a G whistle, but there’s no kind of hurry there. It might or might not happen given the opportunity.

Except … anyone got a nice loud “windproof” outdoors D whistle (not a Susato) they might exchange for a Yamaha flute?

That’s the “Nothing much really” out the window, then :smiley:

The music. Seriously, isn’t that why we play at all? The tin whistle was just by chance because I was given one as a kid by my (tin whistle playing) father.

29

… As I progressed with a lot of reading here on C&F I began playing with a group of traditional musicians at every experience level who were/are currently extremely tolerant to the beginners struggling to learn music. STIMS is the group I play with regularly so the pleasure(s) have expanded to include socializing and making new friends.

Yes that is STIMS. Yes, for a long time I did hide in the back row or chose not to play every gig until I knew tunes very well. I still sit out a lot while I take the photos documenting the various events. Most of the Irish musicians/bands passing through NYC or Boston come thru our area. One thing I learned with STIMS group is traditional music is played all year long and not just at annual festival or St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The music may not be everyone’s cuppa, yet, we still play throughout the year at schools, special events, parties, and assisted living facilities… just about any occasion.

Yes, I too was a lurker on the C&F Whistle Forum before asking for help. I received excellent help too. I prefer the Chiff Forums to the various social media sites because this old style forum is searchable and archives a tremendous amount of info. I spend more time researching past threads for the wisdom therein… daily. :slight_smile:

30

A bit more involved, but really fairly easy and quick to do.

I have a half-dozen old Generation Bb’s sitting around and all of them have flat 2nd octaves. In addition probably none of them have the windway and blade optimally aligned.

When that alignment is just right it’s like magic. The 2nd octave is sweet and easy, the low octave is full and round, the “action” is light and super responsive, and the whistle is very air-efficient. In other words all the things that happen on the flute if you have a really focused embouchure.

How you get these nice things is by sawing the head in twain right through the middle of the window. You can file the surfaces to take away as much material as you please; shortening the window raises the pitch of the 2nd octave.

When you glue the halves back together (using the smelly dangerous styrene cement) you have a couple minutes when the glue will hold the halves together enough to play the whistle, but still be moveable. You can experiment with various alignments of the windway and blade until you get the sweet spot where everything is optimal.

On the left is a perfectly good off-the-shelf Generation Bb with a rather flat 2nd octave and pretty good voicing.

On the right is best Bb I’ve ever owned, perhaps the best I’ve tried. Its tuning is perfection as is the voicing. The modification took less that half an hour.

31

With the things you have done here and the knowledge involved, Richard, you could probably just as well start making you own whistles. I made one where I copied the window size and windway length of a Generation Bb and it sounds like its twin. I’d have to check the tuning again to see if it has the same flaws as the original. But if you make one yourself you can of course adjust the window size and windway lenght to your liking. Learning to make them might actually be less time consuming then to search for the “perfect one”.

32

Richard, thanks for taking the time to explain your modification. Yes, my Bb Generation is also slightly flat in the second octave. I removed the fipple to make it tunable, but even jamming the fipple all the way down on the tube doesn’t correct it. When the entire whistle is warmed up before playing, the second octave can be blown into tune.

What type of saw do you use for that cut? Would any jeweler’s saw work, or is there a specific type of blade for plastic?

One other point: It would be nice if manufacturers labeled whistle keys as prominently as shown in your photo.

33

Same here. So many experienced members in this community are willing to help beginners.

:thumbsup: I totally agree.

When I can’t find an answer to one of my questions in the C&F archives, it only means I haven’t come up with the right search terms. The question has undoubtedly been answered before; I just can’t find it.

Another issue with the archive is that many of the old links are broken and photos are missing. For example, there was a discussion about how to mute a whistle with a plastic-coated paper clip. The photo, which must have clearly illustrated it, is no longer available. Without the image, there’s no clue how that paper clip mute works.

Also, some of the old threads just stop, unresolved. One person had commented that it was like reading a book with the last chapter missing. Even taking these minor issues into account, the archive is still a gold mine of information.

34

I don’t mind at all. Some of the most interesting discussions happen off topic.

That’s a thought-provoking observation. When people talk about learning a tune, I had assumed that meant being able to play it fluidly, at tempo, without any errors. Once it reached that level, it would simply be maintained there. After reading your comment, though, I realize it’s more like a tune is always a work in progress, constantly evolving. It will change and grow, as the player improves. What a neat concept.

35

The paper clip mute is a relatively easy one. Drop it vertically into the windway so it leans against the blade. It’s an effective mute, though it muddies the sounds a bit. Maybe give your loved ones/roommates earplugs instead?

36

Thanks for the explanation, but I’m obviously still doing something wrong. On the left in this photo is a white paper clip dropped into a Generation Bb. With the clip in this position, the whistle makes no tone, only wind noises. On the right is a Dixon DX006D. The orange paper clip only fits that far into the windway without forcing it.

At this point, it’s just a matter of curiosity. I needed a mute earlier, when I was first learning the high notes. Someone suggested playing high notes staccato, which makes them less piercing. They are no longer objectionable.

37

Nope. Put the paperclip in the rectangular hole on top of the whistle head so it leans against the sharp angled blade.

Peter

38

Ah! Mystery solved. Thanks, Peter.

39

The uncomfortable truth is that C&F’s search function is often balky and unsatisfying. I tend to get decent results most of the time, but then usually I’m looking for something that I already know is somewhere out there, but is so specific - and often frankly weird - that I can be confident it’ll be found with one word. But there’s an alternative method that seems to work even more reliably, and that is to use a search engine like Google or what have you: Use keywords like “chiff & fipple whistle mute”, and usually you’ll end up with a lot of entries to choose from; you might even find the list so big that you’ll want to narrow it down: “chiff & fipple paper clip whistle mute”, say. I’ve gone this route myself when C&F’s search function tells me I’m doing it wrong, and I definitely recommend it whether as backup or go-to.

If you Google “chiff & fipple search function”, you’ll probably come up with this post, or at least this thread.

40

… which reminds me - it’s probably time for me to do one of my periodic re-indexing exercises. I’ll let everyone know when I’m about to do it, as it’s better if people are not using the search facility while I’m doing the re-indexing.