I saw these guys on PBS last night.
http://www.pbs.org/whatson/press/aug02/celtic_tenors.html
Anyone else see them? Who is their whistle player? He was playing a couple of low whistles and a black plastic (maybe C?) tuneable whistle.
I’d like to know what the black whistle was.
Also, what do you think of them?
Kim
Personally, I didn’t care for the singers…or the show for that matter. They had a guy banging on what looked like a plain old rockband drum set where a bodhran should have been played.
But the whistle sounded great!
Nobody has seen them before?
Kim
I saw bits and pieces between surfing channels, watering the lawn, cleaning the kitchen, etc. I didn’t care for the singers either. The bit I saw of the whistler I enjoyed, but have no idea what he was playing.
Susan
Thanks Susan! I was beginning to think I had hallucinated the entire thing!
Kim
I saw it…in almost disbelief. It was one of the worst things I’ve seen in quite some time. Good whistle/uillean pipe player but their version of the Rankin Family’s Fare the Well Love left me in tears (not good tears either).
Cliff
On 2002-08-15 11:32, ceolach wrote:
their version of the Rankin Family’s Fare the Well Love left me in tears (not good tears either).
I know! Made my eyes sting to watch them…but I really did enjoy the whistle player. What was that thing he was playing…it looked kind of like a small bagpipe, but he wasn’t blowing in it…
I wasn’t watching it, but my guess is it was the uillean pipes, the Irish form of bagpipes which is blown with bellows rather than the mouth.
I checked with my grandmother, to see if she’d recorded this program. But she hadn’t.
I had the chance to watch most of this show the other night and was supprised as well. At first, I thought:“Another Riverdance??” But after a while, I actually found it refreshing that it DIDN’T include Michael Flatley’s ego! 
I didn’t think it was all that bad, and in fact, I really liked some of the arrangements…perhaps just because it’s so rare that we see anything of this sort on TV. I think a lot of people got burned out on Riverdance, and especially on Lord of the Dance.
This one was nice though, (for me anyway) in that it focused more on the music than the dancing.
I also noticed the whistle player and tried to pay as close attention as I could to his instruments. His pipes looked very similar to a set by Quinn, though I have no doubt I’m probably wrong there…as for the whistles, he had at LEAST four different keys I could see. One looked a LOT like a black Susato, and two other’s looked like Burke’s or Dixon’s. He also had a metal low whistle which looked unlike any I remember seeing myself, but on the close up shots, it looked suspiciously like an Overton/Chieftain whistle.
The sound wasn’t any help either, since whenever I’ve played or heard played the afore mentioned whistles, they never sounded as good as his did. Ah! The beauties of a nice sound system. 
B~
On 2002-08-16 07:11, Brian Lee wrote:
He also had a metal low whistle which looked unlike any I remember seeing myself, but on the close up shots, it looked suspiciously like an Overton/Chieftain whistle.
There are rumours going round that the whistle playerin question does not endorse any maker’s whistles and emphasises that he has made, makes and will always make his own whistles which can be bought from the artist directly.
Oh Geesh!!
I guess I opened myself to THAT one!!!
B~
I actually found it refreshing that it DIDN’T include Michael Flatley’s ego! >
LOL! I have actually never seen Riverdance, can you believe it? The only place it was shown was on PBS and I normally can’t stand PBS. (I was just flipping through when I noticed this guy playing a whistle…that made me stop!) It seems like Riverdance came to Tulsa, but iirc, the tickets were very expensive. The closest I’ll probably ever get is playing my whistle and watching my kids dance in the Slip and Slide.
This one was nice though, (for me anyway) in that it focused more on the music than the dancing.
I thought it a tad too Broadwayish…nothing wrong with that, I just prefer something different. John N’s band “Kilkenny Road” is more to my liking!
One looked a LOT like a black Susato, and two other’s looked like Burke’s or Dixon’s. He also had a metal low whistle
You think that black one was a Susato? That’s what I wanted to know!! I’ve been thinking about getting a Kildare and was wondering if that was what one sounded like! And that low whistle was just beautiful…
Thanks for paying such close attention!
Kim
Hmmm,
I watched it several month ago here in Germany and I did not like it at all except for the whistle player and some shots of the irish scenery… And I have been asking myself as well which whistles he may have played. I´m quite sure that the low D has not been an Overton as these have a mouthpiece that is more narrow than the body (which did not seem to be so in television). It looked similar to the Chieftain that I owned though. Anyway, I cannot tell you anything about the plastic whistle.
All the best, Dagmar
On 2002-08-16 16:08, drdagmar wrote:
the whistle player and some shots of the irish scenery…
Yes, those were the best parts of it, imo.
Another thing that bugs me is that I can’t find any credit for the people playing with those Tenors anywhere! That doesn’t seem right to me. I believe in credit where credit is due. I suspect the Tenors don’t want their band getting more kudos than them! LOL You know, like “WOW! What a great whistle player! Man, did you hear that guy play that whistle??! I gotta know who that guy is and what he’s playing…oh, who are those three guys over there?” 
Kim
You think that black one was a Susato? That’s what I wanted to know!! I’ve been thinking about getting a Kildare and was wondering if that was what one sounded like! And that low whistle was just beautiful…
To be honest, I DON’T think it sounded like a sUSATO, AT all, but it LOOKED like one. The tone was majestic - but again, I think just about any whistle, in the hands of a decent player, coupled with a KILLER sound system, and probably a hefty amount of post-production editing, and tweaking could sound similar.
Anyway, all the Susatos I’ve ever heard/played sounded NOTHING like what I heard. Maybe they’re like Generations??? Good ones exist, but are very hard to find??
B~
They are scheduled to be back in the US in November you may get to here some other whistles a that time
http://www.celtic-tenors.com/appearances.html#ustour