Do you think, one might be arrested if he plays Amazing Grace on TW in the Dome of Cologne? Of course at times when it is free for all and there is no service or sth else.
I suppose it to sound awesame and ‘amazing’ within these echoing walls.
Some months ago I played some tunes on TW (Wild Mountain Thyme, Braveheart, Concerning Hobbits, Amazing Grace, Scotland the Brave) in the entrance hall of my university (when no people were there, it might have been embarrasing or so). Though this building was build around 1900, it is in the style of the late Middle Ages: massive stone, ceiling vaults, columns and so. And even there the metallish TW sounded really great. Seems as if reverberated throughout the whole building. What a sound it must be in the huge Dome of Cologne…
Don’t be shy! I’ll bet that people would LOVE it.
Sometimes I sit on the front steps of my office during lunch hour and play whatever whistle I have handy, and people often stop to listen to a tune or two. Give it a try.
Be not afraid! Playing whistle in public can be a good thing! My band’s fiddler and I often take our practice sessions outside, and put his instrument case to good use.
Yes, panhandling. It’s a good thing And it’s some of the best times I’ve had playing the whistle…People stop and ask questions about the music and how they can learn, and it’s a great way to get gigs
no,no,no - it is NOT called “panhandling” it is called “busking”.
I was once busking on our city square when a panhandler began to “case” me. I knew sooner or later he was going to come up and ask for a handout.
When he did, I responded “What instrument do you play?”
He looked at me with the vacant look and said “What?”
I said, “I’ve been sitting here for two hours, playing music to accumulate this change. I have several instruments with me. Which would YOU like to play to earn some cash, too?”
He just walked away shaking his head…
I played my Syn C inside the Great Pyramid in Cairo a few months ago. The acoustics were the best in the world! It was a little strange…before letting me in, they made me leave my Swiss army knife and my camera outside. When I was done climbing up to the room at the top of the endless stairs, there was a gov’t official in a suit standing there watching everyone. I help up the Syn and asked permission to play. He looked at me suspiciously, asking me what it was. When I said it was an Irish whistle, he smiled and said “Of course!” It was a very cool experience.
Last October I played my O’Riordan Concert D with the ebonite tube on the Bright Angel trail in the Grand Canyon. I normally would not have played to respect others participating in the solitude of that majestic amphitheater. But a bunch of people were yelling just to hear their echo so I played my whistle. Friends that were well behind and well in front of me told me later that other hikers were stopping to listen and going “oh wow.” I played for myself and loved it. Later a harmonica player that was several hundred yards ahead of me played his harmonic and I listened and then I played my whistle and he listened. We traded songs over the next hour or so whenever we rested. I never did get to meet him but certainly enjoyed sharing music.
I routinely get silenced in large public buildings with good acoustics. At a hospital annex where my wife was getting physical therapy in recovery for a rotator cuff injury. It started out fine playing such melodies as the theme to the Andy Griffith Show (It goes over well in the south), "Put on a Happy Face"and a few tunes from the Wizard of Oz. People passing by smiled and made comments like “that’s beautiful”. I then got in the swing of things and played “In a Sentimental Mood”, “You Go to My Head”, “Polkadots & Moonbeams"etc.. I then progressed to more ethnic tunes like “Afro Blue”, “St Thomas” and " Samba De Orfeu” followed by a rousing version of “American Patrol” and a generous dose of the “Liberty Bell March”. This was fine for several days until I switched from an OAK D whistle to a Water Weasel D. Apparently the volume was the clincher. Soon maintenance people were swarming all over, telling me that I had to quit. Oh well…not the norm. The last time my playing was silenced was in downtown Birmingham, AL at a big, fancy office building encompassing a huge number of lawyers. I’m lucky I didn’t get sued. Imagine that, Birmingham, AL, the home of Chiff & Fipple…silenced by the lackeys of a bunch of attorneys. At least the head of security added that it sounded good…just not here…heh heh heh
I now think of it as the Grand Canyon Suite which consists of (in no particular order):
Boys of Bluehill
Off to California
“Down by the Sally Gardens” then into “Fainne Geal an Lae” and then back
Foggy Dew
Leaving of Liverpool
If Ever You Were Mine
Minstrel Boy
Wild Colonial Boy
Si Beag Si Mor
Spancil Hill
Southwind
Lakes of Ponchartrain
I’m getting old and now hike much slower than I once did with many more rests stops…which gives me more opportunities to play my whistle as well as a chance to catch my breath.
And it’s some of the best times I’ve had playing the whistle…People stop and ask questions about the music and how they can learn, and it’s a great way to get gigs 