When I saw Finbar Fury play the (presumably Overton) Low D recently, I noticed a technique that I hadn’t come across watching other players, nor seen in the Low whistle book.
Being some way from the stage, I didn’t see exactly what he was doing, but it seemed to be this…
He cupped his hand around the bell end of the whistle, almost like a mute on a trumpet. This seemed to be combined with a sustained note slurring (or sliding) up a semi tone or so. From my position, I couldn’t tell if he put his finger inside the whistle or not (but unlikely).
Anyone know what he was doing and why?
Best wishes,
Steve
Wierd - presumably while doing this the bottom 3 holes are open, so the note being slurred is G?
I guess it never hurts to try new things, even if they aren’t exactly “trad”. Not to toot my own whistle, but I discovered from a newbie mistake that you can execute a bluesy slide into the second-octave tonic from below by having all fingers down except your left index and middle fingers, then slowly moving the left middle finger back onto its hole. (Do you s’pose that’s how rolls were discovered?) I may have to try Finbar’s idea when I get home and see how it works!
On 2002-07-25 05:22, Martin Milner wrote:
Wierd - presumably while doing this the bottom 3 holes are open, so the note being slurred is G?
Definitely a top hand note, sustained.
How’s you-know-what Martin?
All the best, Steve 
He was trying to dislodge a dried piece of baked potato.I think he is a messy eater.
Wiz
[ This Message was edited by: wizzywig on 2002-07-27 04:01 ]
potato
Main Entry: po·ta·to
Pronunciation: p&-'tA-(")tO, -t&, dial p&-'dA-, b&-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -toes
1 : SWEET POTATO
2 a : an erect So. American herb (Solanum tuberosum) of the nightshade family widely cultivated as a vegetable crop b : the edible starchy tuber of a potato – called also Irish potato, white potato
Thanks Mirriam-Webster. I was pretty sure that “potatoe” wasn’t an alternate spelling, though Dan Quale made me not-so-sure. Dan, is that you?
On 2002-07-25 14:49, wizzywig wrote:
He was trying to dislodge a dried piece of baked potatoe.I think he is a messy eater.
Wiz
Now we can’t have a double standard about spelling here, little fella (Quale-Quayle).
DW, Non-partisan hair-splitter
Hi Steve, I saw Finbar do the hand mute thing when i saw him in concert in february.was it a bit of a ‘wah-wah’ effect? I must experiment.I must admit i’d forgotten about it,as i do remember i had a streaming cold and felt a bit 'knocked out’that day,so my powers of observation weren’t at their best! I’ve previously mentioned that he had his whistles in a bucket,and i,m sure that a lot of moisture came out of them as he 'blew them through’before commencing to play.This made me suspect that he kept them in a bucket of hot/warm water to improve tuning/playability from ‘go’, as it’s well known that aluminium whistles aren’t at their best if cold.Did you notice that- or was i hallucinating?
lol, Mine was a typo…but this guy’s used “potatoe” often enough that I can safely assume his wasn’t
On 2002-07-25 15:33, Dewhistle wrote:
Now we can’t have a double standard about spelling here, little fella (Quale-Quayle).
DW, Non-partisan hair-splitter
Not to mention Mirriam-Webster. Was she Noah’s wife?
On 2002-07-26 02:28, kevin m. wrote:
I’ve previously mentioned that he had his whistles in a bucket…as it’s well known that aluminium whistles aren’t at their best if cold.Did you notice that- or was i hallucinating?
Nope, you’re definitely not in line for the neuroleptic medication (it works on hallucinations!) Kevin. He dipped the whistles in a container of water throughout the show, and I was puzzled about that, too, until you have just kindly reminded me what the cold air does to aluminium whistles.
Thanks
Steve
Are you sure it was water and not a drop, or rather bucket, of the pure? 