I play electric guitar and I often run it through a Yamaha Stomp Box. As many of you no doubt know a stomp box is a electronic guitar effects processor. While playing my whistle and looking at my stomp box sitting on the floor an idea occured to me. Why not make an electronic whistle that runs through whistle processig software? Sound samples can be taken of all the high end and low end whistles that anyone would want to play. Varibles like chiff or breathiness could be dialed in to the desired amount. While the whistle itself would be a high D sized whistle (and so easy to finger) then run through the processor could be any key at any register high or low. Immagine playing a High D Abell or Burke at one moment and at the turn of a dial being able to play a Low D, F, or G Chieftain or Overton. You could have a full set of every brand of whistle in one box of software. Of course I’m sure there would be issues with liscencing and such but guitar processors simulate many different brands of guitar and amplifier setups without complaint from anyone. I’m sure this can be done. What do you think?
I think Micho Russell is turning in his grave 
Maybe so but progress and invention are inevitable. I’m sure there were many protests to guitar effects processors by the guitar purists yet nobody today questions the use of them at any concert. When anyone makes a recording in a studio today their music is run through many different processors to achieve the digitized sound that we now take for granted.
the guy from Gaelic Storm plays electronic pipes, so why not?
Yeah Peter Purvis…he plays the degerpipes (which are awesome btw). Its just another step in making music. I mean music is about creativity, right? Just like we haven’t done away with acoustic guitars, we won’t do away with whistles if we eventually have an electronic option. They’ll always be there, coz there ain’t no thing like the real thing. Same reason musicians still use acoustic grand pianos and acoustic guitars on stage. The real thing.
MIDI wind controllers might prove suitable and providing samples are available of your chosen sounds, there should be no problem with your idea. As they are usually configured something like Böhm/Saxophone fingering, which is based on the six hole system, it shouldn’t be too hard to adapt.
I play the Degerpipes as well, they’re really fantastic, and have proved invaluable. I’ve thrown around an electric whistle idea before, but hit a few snags. First, how do you control the octaves? It would be hard to design something (in my earthy expierence) to sence subtle wind differences (if you propose blowing). And it would seem largly impractical to have a seperate “octave” button to tiddle around with (but heck, I make whistles with keys to be played by your pinkys, so what right do I have to criticize?). Also, there’s be the whole ‘tounging’ thing to worry about, vibrato, playing between octaves quickly… etc. etc. etc.
I’m sorry if I sound like a downer here, truth is I’d love to have something slender, practical and electronic (no inuendo intended 
) to whip out and play in any key me heart desires or band requires. I just can’t get my head around how to.
If anyone comes up with an idea, or finds one of these somewhere, please let me know!!!
I would look into how Yamaha makes these. They’ve been making wind controllers like this for a while now and quite a few folks like them. I plan on getting one myself here eventually. You might want to check and see how they handle octaves, etc.
I’ve been checking out the wind controllers ever since I posted this idea and read the responces I’ve been getting from you guys about them. I think this thing is definately doable but I conservatively estimate that just the basic equipment needed will be somewhere betwee 1500 and 2000 bucks just to get my foot in the door. Of course then I have to twiddle with the software and somehow get hold of all the whistle sound samples. This could be quite an undertaking but as the scrrenwritter said “if you make it, they will come” (loosely translated). Where I see this as a real benefit is in the recording studio. Also I can just see some guy whipping this thing out at a concert and wowing an audience by switching to three or four different whistle types and registers in one song just by clicking a footswitch or thumbswitch and all at lightning speed. Thanks for the help and ideas. Please keep them coming.
And a spanish fellow called Hevia plays some kind of synth bagpipe!
Casio have a synth sax on the market. It wouldn´t be that difficult for a whistler to adapt to such an instrument. But they are quite expensive (and heavy!).
Sounds as if Yamaha has worked out the “overblowing for the second octave” issue:
“Flute Fingering Mode
Similar to flute fingering, this mode is ideal for players who are familiar with flute fingering. Rather that continuous pitch bend in response to lip pressure, the pitch jumps up one octave when lip pressure is applied simulating the “overblow” octave shift on an acoustic flute.”
I’ve begun using a Jamman looping device with my Celtic folk and it is opening up Huge new vistas.
Tommy…
Whilst you’re Jamman your loop, I"m busy exploring Inner Meadows with my new MK Supergreen. Hooooo, yah! I’m too simple for electronics.
Guys from spain (www.vpipes.com) will make the midi version of whistle in near future. I have find this on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP5sCEY3kN0
It’s been discussed a few times before, do a search through the archives.
Heres one thread, look at Wanderer’s post in particular:
I’ve thought about this one a bit - and the whole fully electronic idea sounds like you’re really creating a new instrument - that’s fine but it won’t be a whistle.
All that needs doing is to get some kind of pickup on a real whistle and then run it through the existing guitar stuff.
The big challenge will be discerning notes from feedback. 
If you do that you will only have special effects added your whistle and although delay or reverb would sound good that is not the point I intended to make. After all, anyone can already do that and it is being done every day in recording studios and with pa systems. My point in doing this is to have any and all whistles in any brand and every key and register available (and even some that aren’t currently available) just a button push away. And once you learn to play the electronic whistle the skill dynamics won’t ever change on you as they do when switching from one whistle to another. It will be like having one whistle that can sound like any whistle you like. You know how different it is to switch from a soprano D to a low D whistle. You have to chage your grip just to play it. But what if that never changed. How much of a better player would that make you? It could really make a difference.
Yep, that’s all laudable - you end up with an instrument that is something like a whistle to play - but it’s not a whistle. Do it - don’t you have any lectro ginger beer student buddies you can pick their brains for free? Get a Government grant for the arts and get the whole university doing it for nuts = talking about such - just do it, public funds were only ever intended to coat uranal walls anyway. The new mouse trap might also include lazer beams for extra zap - just educate the mice to know they being killed better and sign declarations on their way down.
I think this way - when we all thought the Fender strat was the definitive electric guitar (apart from having a Gibson gold-top in the wings) the foot-pedal brigade went to work - it’s now pretty much perfected to have a giutar-actuated midi synthesiser that can make the beloved strat sound like a steinway piano - the technology is getting way old, and the processors are getting so damn fast, that pitch-to-midi can be downloaded freeware off the web to use on your entry-level disposable notepad poota.
Why not just use a whistle - run it thru the pitch-to-midi then you got any set of whistle samples anyone cares to upload for M17’s next set of freebies with a linkup to Ableton, UAD, and Avid/Pro tools - or just sell it yourself - you can even do the bodhran as played on whistle.
All that’s left is for some musician to find a paridigm that the format favours and make one “hit single” - I’m thinking about the guy with the voice-box guitar thingy somewhere in the 80’s or Dizzy Gillespie’s bent trumpet. (well it worked OK for Dizzy).
The other thing I’m thinking is how many strats and strat-alikes i perpetually hear every time I turn on some music. And hamond organs with leslie boxes, and marshal amps and rhodes pianos and mini moogs and korg MS20s, sure SM58s and 57s, AKG d12s and all their computer copies etc etc etc.
i get really tired of the old post-modernism-dialogue-diatribe - it worked for a bit, but not all human experience is semantic - can we please move-on>?? The ghost-in-the-machine is such an egomaniac and the most boring musician I ever heard - humans do it so much better, and watching drum majorettes spin pre-fabricated vinyl on lazer balanced, step-motored, SMPTE synced, robotic-perfected-beysian-intuitive-step-time psuedo turntables in time to a straight 4 beat is not my idea of entertainment, except watching cool folk talk about it (for a nanosecond)- I have a dog breaks wind on command and can do “dog” but is at uni on a government grant to master “eral”. - my cat is much wizer and retracks my disks chasing fluff - that’s art.
Yeah yeah. I get asked all the time by folks to look out for those old Yamaha midi-woodwind things - they look like some kind of dwarf demented little toy sax and finger and play like a block of plastic in the language of Inuit - I have one, they are a pain and they break-down all the time.
At least with a signal-to-midi, I know that when the power goes off I can still play whistle - if you need a political pass-for-free: “it’s renewable dude”. (sorry about the “dude” bit, I dont know the current cool personal pronoun of the month - mea culpa).
Let me know when you’re ready to market - I know a few people that will buy (where’s the rofl emoticon? oh - ok … Mwa ha ha … that’ll do - now, where did I leave my hump ..)
It wouldn’t make you a better player at all. Not to knock your idea at all, by all means have fun with it, I just don’t believe that any instrument could determine the quality of the player. To roll with the guitar analogies: A Gibson SG in the hands of an inexperienced player will sound inferior to Strat Squier in the hands of a seasoned player.