Ok so I started doing this whistling thing back in September & I’ve gone through the usual problems - being banished to the garden, ridicule from the kids etc. However, knowing how impulsive I can be I have limited my purchaces to one a month. I do allow myself a little leeway in so much as if I see something really good I will buy it a month early - on account so to speak. Unfortunatley thanks to the good people of whistle making land - especially those North of the Border!- I’ve now ‘borrowed’ up to May 2005!
If you have no whistles in a key an adjacent key can ‘borrow’ the first whistle status of that key.
So the first D doesn’t count and the second D can borrow from the C#, and the third D can borrow from the Eb and the 4th D is the initial one you bought before you decided to limit yourself to 1 per month and the 5th D is the one for September.
The real discipline is not borrowing from the empty key’s twice. In the above example you can’t your second C can’t borrow from the C# because the D already borrowed it.
Of course you can also add and extra whistle for any month with and R in the name…
Numerous times, I’ve reassured my wife that I have all the whistles I need. Then, I’ve turned around and bought another. I’ve explained that it was in another key or had a really different tone. Last time, she said, “So, you’ve got all the keys. Now you want all the tones in all the keys?” I responded, “Hmmm…” That didn’t get me an understanding look.
Tony
I solve my problem by buying HER one at the same time I buy ME one. My biggest score was buying HER a Casey Burns flute. Wow, that was a negotiators dream!
I just recently purchased a low/high d pair in Mopane from Phil Bleazey. See, one for HER and one for ME. What is so cool about this is that she cannot play any of my other low D’s (spread or hole size issues), but she CAN play the Bleazey! I will be posting more on these phenominal whistles in the next little while.
One suggestion is to keep the whistles circulating. It can apply to other things too, such as clothes. If I have an article of clothing that hasn’t been worn in a year, I consider donating to the local Goodwill. Same with whistles, if a certain whistle is getting limited playing time, and has little sentimental value, consider selling it. One way to think of it, is giving the whistle a good home where it may get more attention.
Stu,
Actually the suggestion to sell off whistles that you no longer play is exactly what I did about a year ago. I sold a dozen whistles to finance my music room equiptment, (mike, sound card, instrument rack, etc). From time to time I review my current inventory interms of funtionality and sell of the whistles that have been replace with prefered models. (For example my shaws and susatos were good whistle, I had just replaced them with whistles I liked better).
I usually try to calculate my cost of ownership with any whistle. For example a number of whistles have good resale value, so they cost less to own because I can sell them for close to my purchase price.
If only my wife had an appreciation of both whistles and irish / bush music,
I would surely be in heaven,
she sez whoa…and i say NOOOOOOOOOOOOO,
the back shed is a lonely place but the accoustics arent too bad,
and every whistle i own is like a part of my soul. very necessary and a part of the package that makes me very happy,
Is this so hard to understand from a female perspective?
(sigh)
Regards
David
Nope…but there again, I’m the whistler around here. The best way to get an appreciation of whistles about the place is to take up something worse as well - like saxophone or fiddle where it takes much longer to sound acceptably good…then they’ll tell you they love the sound of whistles.
All things are relative and relatives like a say in everything (sigh)
I agree with Trisha…get another “hobby” – I just got an email from “Lark of the Morning” and they have a beginner bag pipe set on sale. I mentioned that to my husband…and he said..“Whistles is where I draw the LINE!!”
I said…“What line???”
He agreed that I can buy a Hoover low D in March…hehehehehehehehhehehehehehe
Of course…the very REASON why I took up whistling is because I love Irish music…and ORIGINALLY WANTED A HARP!! Ever try pricing one of those puppies??? So…I figure…our spouses should consider themselves VERY LUCKY!!!
You guys have me confused. I thought the first thing you had to do was by a D by every maker. I still have a lot to go. I was looking today and it appears that I need to make another whistle rack. I need one for the conical whistles. I am beginning to like the Clarke original. It just grows on me.
I haven’t finished buying all the cheapies yet. I don’t think it is right to buy a high ender until I buy all the low end and middle priced whistles. It could be a guitar or banjo obsession.
My wife does not understand but she says It could be worse I haven’t wanted pipes yet. I was looking at a flute the other night at a friends house and she told me today that I should master the whistle first. I guess it will be a long time before I can even think about a flute.
Tell me about it, Fancypiper. I’ve not quite got my D set and I already ordered a flat set because I know I will be wanting it when its ready in 6-7 years.
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