I was wondering if there are Irish folk or any other kind of CD made for people who want to see how they sound with a full on band when they can’t be in one. Does anyone know of such a company that makes an accompaniment CD soley for Tinwhistle players?
Homespun tapes has two things that might interest you. One is 121 Sessions Tunes by L E McCullough. It has both whistle and either guitar or keyboard accompaniment but they are on separate channels so you can turn the whistle off and play along with the accompaniment. The other is Steve Kaufman’s Celtic Workout (or something like that). It has the same setup. Some melody instrument on one channel and backup on another. I’ve never heard it but the 121 Tunes has the tunes played throught twice. Once very slow and once a little faster. Homespun is here:
Steve
I’ve never heard of such a recording, but I’d recommend getting all the early Chieftains recordings: 1 through 5 or up to 9 or so. That’s basically how I learned to play. They are cool to play along with. There are plenty of tunes that aren’t that fast. Some, on the other hand…
Some tunes have whistle, others don’t.
Tony
I think Cathal McConnell’s instruction CD, available with his book on Homespun, also allows you to block out the whistle and play along with guitar.
Now, if you want to hear how you’d sound in a setting that includes other melody instruments as well as whistle, why not buy an instruction book and CD or tape for, say, concertina and play along with that. The book will give you the music to help with learning the tunes, the CD or tape will show you how they sound and provide that band setting.
The BBC has a websit for sessions. Its free and you just go there and click on the sessions thingy mention your instrument and start honking. Its realy great. Trouble is I have so many book marks right now that I cant find the stupid thing. But somebody here knows what Im talking about and will surely give you the link. I shall indever to find it right now.
Tom
Thanks for jumping to my rescue Robin. I just found it myself. Guess I should organise these book marks. 
Tom