What’s a strathman?
Ah, interesting, thanks! It’s basically a Boehm-keyed csakan with a ligature thingy for swappable blocks or windways, and a lip lever for dynamics. Yes, $2K is dear.
Woah! At that point you might as well
buy a clarinet. They can be had for as
little as $100, and the learning curve’s
probably the same!
naw…dang things don’t jump an octave
How about one of those whistle head joints for a silver Boehm flute? Too bad they’re not readily available, AFAIK.
The BIG difference is there is no reed or reed embochure to mess with, just learning the fingering and once that is learned you can cross over to a reed instrument pretty easily (sax fingering).
yep, just as simple as whistle to flute! 
“Yes, of course.”
Well I still don’t know what key whistle to use/purchase. Perhaps I should seek out the cheapest whistles I can find, purchase one of each and just play along in whichever sounds right for which ever tune she plays and then upgrade as and when necessary. I wonder if you can get a deal on a job lot?
There you are - what is the cheapest set of whistles you can find?
Here is my list that I use as a quick reference when I play my Bb trumpet with other “C” instruments. So from the top of the list, if the piece you are going to play is in G# (Ab) for your cornet player, you will need to play with a F# whistle. So as discussed, the piece in C will be played with a Bb whistle, or the Piece in E will be a D whistle etc. Clearly more than 25 words and adding a little mud too…hope it all lines up.
Instrument Pitched In:
Piano (Concert Pitch) = Bb Trumpet
F# = G# (Ab)
B = C# (Db)
E = F#
A = B
D = E
G = A
C = D
F = G
Bb = C
Eb = F
Ab = Bb
Db = Eb
Gb = Ab
25 words or less!
add 2 sharps
play one note higher
(add 2 # could be remove 2 flats…)
Thankyou Impempe
I think that helps. So I do need to buy a full set of whistles then
Well not necessarily because you can use a D whistle for G, a Bb whistle for Eb etc. with different fingerings, but that is a whole new topic which you can find loads of info on with a quick search.
Would you then have to use different fingering on different whistles for different notes
I have found the wonderful tool by Anniemcu to be very helpful with figuring this all out the link to this is: http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52262&start=0&hilit=whistlers+little+circle
For fingerings on whistles, the definitive site is: http://www.fullbodyburn.com/ and covers this topic very comprehensively - worth wading through the masses of info to get an understanding of what is possible.
not at all!
You have different notes on different whistles with the same fingering.
It’s only if ya want the same note that ya’ve got different fingerings.
Only if you want/need to play in every key imaginable. You can play lots, maybe most, Irish music with a D whistle. A couple more whistles (I’ll leave it to the experienced players to advise which ones) will cover just about everything else in ITM.
Edited to add: Oops, just read the original post again. You might need more whistles for non-ITM depending on what tunes you are playing. You probably won’t need every key available. Look at what you will be playing and get whistles to cover those keys.