I wasn’t sure wether to post this on the flute forum or on the whistle forum.
I wanted to ask you guys for tips when you switch back and forth flutes and whistles.
I have not really had played a gig where I switch between the two of them and recently I have been considering it. I find some tunes more suited for whistles and other more suited for flutes.
The trouble is: I find that my flute playing gets extremely weak after I play a tune on the whistle. My embouchure just gets really sloppy and I loose that reedy edge. It sometimes takes couple of tunes to get my sound up to speed again. On bad days, it does not get as good as I want it at all. No problem moving from flute to whistle though.
Any other flute-whistle doublers who have the same experience? Any of y’all have any tips to help out?
Interesting problem. The only thing I can suggest is practice switching back and forth a lot. Your embouchure muscles might learn how to make the change more quickly.
brewerpaul, good ol’ fashioned practice always helps.
Tor, I chuckled reading your suggestion! But it is very practical! I can consider doing that while my instrument switching still isn’t up to par.
I am still wondering though, is this problem a common thing amongst other trad players? I suppose I have fair proficiency when playing the flute or the whistle alone, but it is a different story when I alternate between them.
I have the same problem. I play whistle on average 4 or 5 times during a 3 hour set. I noticed issues mainly when I played whistles with thicker beaks. Susatos kill me for example. I solved it by playing whistles with thinner beaks. My Killareny and just about any cheapie cause me no problems whatsoever. I think it’s all about the shift in emboucher on the flute and a thick beak makes the transition back to flute harder.
I’m a bit relieved to hear that I’m not the only one with this problem.
Jayhawk, interesting observation. I have not really paid attention to which whistles causes me problems. I’ll experiment with beak thickness and see how it goes for me. The less abrupt shift in embochure my help me too.
Pancelticpiper: I can imagine! I sound like a dying mouse on the flute after playing a saxophone. I can’t imagine doubling on flute and sax for a single set. I don’t have experience with any sort of bagpipes though.
It’s one of the many advantages of bellows-blown pipes such as uilleann pipes and bellows-blown Scottish smallpipes: you can ‘double’ without messing up your flute embouchure.
Mouth-blown Scottish smallpipes aren’t so bad because the pressure is very low. The big pipes are probably closer to your sax in requiring strong lip tension and pressure. I marvel at people who switch back and forth between flute and Highland pipes and sound great on flute, like the guy in The Battlefield Band.
For sure I had my best flute sound when playing flute only in the Ceilidh Band I used to play in, banging out reels and jigs hour after hour. We wore slacks, ties, and bright green jackets.
One time, halfway through the night, a fluteplaying friend showed up and during a break he asked to try my flute. “This flute plays itself!” he exclaimed, and he wasn’t wrong. Your embouchure, and the flute, both somehow get optimized.
But it is very practical! I can consider doing that while my instrument switching still isn’t up to par.