Yup, a whistle!
A low whistle… seemed kinda odd to me, a low whistle in Texas/Mexico.
Then again I’m no expert on the history of the whistle. 
If I remember correctly, Davy Crockett used that whistle as a club after running out of ammo. 
I saw a fife, didn’t see any kind of whistle, though.
Musta been a (drumroll, please)… Bowie fife (ba-dump-bump. rimshot) 
No, not IN the movie, in the music. Sorry.
DANG!!! I was going to run downtown and see if the whistle was in the REAL Alamo! (I just visited the museum there). Maybe it went south 2 blocks to Durty Sally’s Pub on the Riverwalk? :roll:
You know, the folk etymology of the Spanish pejorative term “gringo” is mishearing Texas troops singing “Green grow the rushes, o!”
Tangentially related, I realize. And I probably should say “one of the folk etymologies,” but the mouse is way over there and I’d have to use the arrow keys to edit.
Stuart
The whistle is in the basement of the Alamo, right beside Pee Wee Herman’s stolen bicycle:)
Paulsdad
Well, based on all the reviews Ia’ve read and heard, that’s at least one reason to see the movie. So far, Ive seen nothing but slams.
It’s interesting but there’s too much, too many characters to focus on and they didn’t get into any of them much, so it can be hard to get into.
Dear whistle list:
My name is Dave Weiss. I play professionally in the NYC area. I play many
different woodwind instruments, Irish flutes and whistles being one of my passions.
I’m also a dedicated lurker, mostly in the flute forum, but I poke my head over here
from time to time also.
So when I noticed this thread about “The Alamo” I couldn’t help but jump in. As it
turns out, I recorded the whistle parts for the film, and I thought there are some
things this list would want to know about it, especially why the whistle is
in the music in the first place.
My apologies if this is too long.
There is a strong Celtic presence in The Alamo score because many, if not most of the
men who perished at The Alamo were of Scots/Irish ancestry - as was the case throughout much of the American South, from which many of those men came. The year is 1836, and many of these Celtic settlers would be bringing their cultural heritage with them to the US west. It stands to reason that whistles, being highly portable, would have been quite common on the frontier, and as such the sound of the whistle is period appropriate. Davy Crockett was third generation Scottish, played fiddle, and his instrument was with him at The Alamo. His fiddlin’ is a big deal in the movie.
The composer Carter Burwell used the Low Whistle (a Burke Low C, by the way) for the passages where an elegy to the fallen heroes would be appropriate, especially
the beginning, which shows the terrible aftermath of the battle and the bodies being
cleared away. It’s used in many other spots similarly.
This brings me to one disturbing aspect I’ve seen in the newspaper reviews.
Though some reviewers liked the music, some dismissed the whistle parts
as being essentially a “Titanic” rip-off. This just shows how musically shallow these
people generally are.
New York’s The Village Voice actually referred to the whistle as “Celtic panpipes”!!
Titanic’s use of the whistle, as I remember, was in a ballad, a love song,
evoking feelings of past loves. I thought it was very well done, frankly.
The Alamo is quite different: as I said above, a noble elegy for fallen heroes.
The melodies and harmonies have nothing to with one another. The only connection between the two is that they are “low and slow”.
I very much fear that composers will shy away from using the whistle in the future
because of critical reaction like this. Because of shallow musical thinking,
Titanic has essentially “typecast” the whistle. I can hear the comments now: “sounds great, but it’s too Titanic”.
ARRRGH!!
Could you imagine people saying to Beethoven: "don’t use the violin. Mozart used it
everywhere. Hadyn wrote 100 symphonies with it. It’s so “classical”.
So those of you that like to hear whistles in the movies, check out The Alamo.
There have been more than a few good reviews for the film. Ebert & Roeper gave it an enthusiastic “two thumbs up”, as have others. That’s the movie I saw at least, but I admit bias. Most reviews are mixed, but there are many bad reviews, also. Some will find it a thoughtful piece of history; others will find it a bore. To each his/her own.
You can check out 30+ major reviews for yourself at:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/alamo/
check out ebert and roeper’s tv review: http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandroeper/today.html
In any case, they didn’t say “fire the whistle player”, thank goodness!
thanks,
david weiss
davidweissflute.net
Thanks for posting Dave, nice to meet you.
Thanks for the information too, like I said, I’m no expert at whistle history and certainly no expert on American history. Fiddles I picture in the south, whistle, and the bagpipes in the movie too, I can’t picture, but I s’pose I will now.
Like I said, I didn’t think it was a bad movie. I think that if I was a Texan, or even an American I would have loved it. But “Crockett” and “Houston” mean nothing to me, and “James” knife could have been used for spreading butter for all I know. Nonetheless, I definately appreciated the story and learning a pinch of American history.
Thanks again for your info, and great job on the whistle.
Gee David, you just had to come out and tell us, didn’t you! Now we can’t have a new mystery on the C&F Mystery Page! No long, pointless debates over who played in the movie or what whistle was used, based solely on the sound and what we imagine was done to that sound by the techies in mixing, mastering, etc. You took all the fun out of it!!
On the other hand, it was interesting information. Thanks for filling us in! And don’t be a stranger…
Steven
Dear Steven:
Sorry to spoil the fun. But I’ll give you a new mystery for you if you’d like.
The composer Carter Burwell wanted to use Low Whistle quite a bit, but
he wrote TOO LOW for it a few times. I used a different type of instrument,
closely related to the whistle in that it is fipple based, to get down to the low notes.
If you see the film, its quite prominant in two scenes: when Jim Bowie is on
his death bed surrounded by a lot of candles; and also near the end when the Mexican army is being routed.
If you can guess what the instrument is, well my hat is off to you!! You might find the
answer interesting.
If you can’t or care not to get to the film, I could post a short piece of audio on my website on the
streaming audio page. Just let me know.
Regarding the ‘Scotch-Irish’, or ‘Ulster-Scots’ - or whatever you want to
call them - and their widespread settling of the Southern States, I’m
posting here an interesting article I pulled off a 5-string banjo newsgroup
I frequent.
I cannot vouch for the accuracy, however it is nonetheless interesting.
HILLBILLY
The origin of this American nickname for mountain folk in the Ozarks and
in Appalachia comes from Ulster. Ulster-Scottish (The often incorrectly
labeled “Scots-Irish”) settlers in the hill-country of Appalachia brought
their traditional music with them to the new world, and many of their
songs and ballads dealt with William, Prince of Orange, who defeated the
Catholic King James II of the Stuart family at the Battle of the Boyne,
Ireland in 1690.
Supporters of King William were known as “Orangemen” and “Billy Boys”
and their North American counterparts were soon referred to as “hill-
billies”.
It is interesting to note that a traditional song of the Glasgow Rangers
football club today begins with the line, “Hurrah! Hurrah! We are the Billy
Boys!” and shares its tune with the famous American Civil War song,
“Marching Through Georgia”.
Stories abound of American National Guard units from Southern states
being met upon disembarking in Britain during the First and Second World
Wars with the tune, much to their displeasure! One of these stories comes
from Colonel Ward Schrantz, a noted historian, Carthage Missouri native,
and veteran of the Mexican Border Campaign, as well as the First and
Second World Wars, documented a story where the US Army’s 30th
Division, made up of National Guard units from Georgia, North and South
Carolina and Tennessee arrived in the United Kingdom."a waiting British
band broke into welcoming American music, and the soldiery, even the
118th Field Artillery and the 105 Medical Battalion from Georgia, broke
into laughter.
The excellence of intent and the ignorance of the origins of the American
music being equally obvious. The welcoming tune was “Marching Through
Georgia.”
Yeah. David Hackett Fischer, in “Albion’s Seed,” also shows the Border origins of the words “cracker,” “redneck” and “hoosier.” Many think they are American originals but not so.
David, don’t tell me you played on a Serpent!
Steven
Dear Steven and all:
I want to answer Steven’s question, quoted above, but first I’d like to apologize to you guys for jumping in like 16 tons right off the bat. Long winded is one thing, but maybe I went too far. I only meant to be informative, and maybe drum up some more business for the flick while I’m at it - I could talk this music, history, and music history stuff for days. So if I ticked anyone off or disrespected anyone’s opinion, my apologies. Fire away as you please. if you think the movie sucks, go right ahead. If you think the music is not your cup of tea, or if you didn’t like what I recorded, that’s fine. We all come from different places. Etc. etc.
As to Steven’s question, nope it’s not a serpent. I’ve never even seen one of those things. I think the serpent is the precursor to the tuba, more of a brass thing than woodwind.
The instrument I’m playing for the real low whistle parts is like a whistle in that it has a fipple, but it’s an octave lower than a Low C whistle, and is made of wood.
Y’all might guess the instrument, but it is the Brand that is so unusual, as well as the type of wood it’s made of.
Good luck
dave weiss
Hi Dave. Well I personally think all the info you’ve given is great, so I can’t think of anything you need to apologize for. If I sounded like I did, well, that was just intended to be good-natured ribbing. You’ll see lots of that around here. No offense taken, none intended.
Now, you gotta quit this whole suspense thing! So, we can probably all guess it was a bass re****er you played, but what’s the interesting stuff you mention? Spill the beans!!
Steven