so i’m experiencing something interesting, and i’m trying to see if any one else has had a similar experience…
i’ve heard about how “professional” players like whistles that require more “push”, but i always liked whistles that were easier to blow in the 2nd octave–i thought phrasing was easier, etc. totally possible b/c i’m still a beginner.
but i started trying to learn to play a flute as well (totally Kevin Crawford’s fault , which requires more air… and then i noticed that now it’s actually more difficult for me to play whistles that are easier to blow–i tend to overblow them now, especially in the lower octave.
has anyone else noticed this? i’ve been practicing both the flute and some of my whistles at the same time… i’m also wondering if what i’m calling the “crooked whistle effect” will be as noticeable if i separate out the times when i practice flute vs. when i practice playing whistles…
I’ve noticed it moving between whistles. I can really go to town “pushing” my Parks Every Whistle and my Tilbury whistle. But if I immediately pick up a Tony Dixon, I get squeaks and squawks because I overblow. I have to make a conscious effort to downsize my air stream with those Dixons.
The only thing I’ve noticed about my own playing while swapping between a flute and my whistles is that it’s a damn sight easier to play the normal whistle rather than one of them cantankerous crooked bloody ones. However, being a bit cantankerous myself, I continue with my battle of the crooked’s.
I find this problem when switching between soft blowers and hard blowers in the same practice. So, I switch them up day to day. Try going right from a Mack Hoover to blowing the high G on a Burke NB - very difficult (for me)!
I would take issue with a couple parts of your post, Eric.
I don’t think that liking easy blowing whistles is necessarily a beginners thing. I started out on a Clarke and a plastic-mouthpiece whistle, but didn’t really get into it till I discovered Water Weasels and Susatos. It wasn’t so much a sound thing as that I liked leaning into the whistle.
Second thing is, the flute needing more air IS a beginner thing. I find that the flute requires about as much air as maybe a Bflat or low-G whistle. Of course that wasn’t the case when I started, it was probably a year or two before I started getting my chops.
As you develop both your whistle- and flute-playing, the transition will be seamless.
, which requires more air… and then i noticed that now it’s actually more difficult for me to play whistles that are easier to blow–i tend to overblow them now, especially in the lower octave.
