I’ve never attended a session, but I’ve seen videos online, or even audio clips with member lists, and the whistle seems to be seldom used in this kind of setting.
Why would instruments like the fiddle, pipes, and even accordions be much more common than whistles?
It depends on where you go. Whistles are fairly common around here. There’s one session nearby that I’ve seen consisting of three whistlers and one fiddler.
However, one reason that they might be uncommon is because they’re seen as something of a beginner’s instrument, and most people move on to one of the more “advanced” instruments fairly quickly. Some people view bringing one to a session sort of like bringing a recorder to play in an orchestra.
Most of the sessions around here (South-Central Indiana and Central Indiana) usually have a whistle or three. I’ve also been to a few sessions in Boston and whistles were well represented there as well.
They’re actually fairly common in my experience…
-Brett
Have you ever tried to play in tune with another whistler? 
I too have noticed that many online session videos don’t have whistlers, including sessions in Ireland, but who knows why.
I know many whistle players also play flute and maybe the whistle/flute player is playing flute in those particular videos?
Or…the whistle player who showed up isn’t very good and was asked to “sit this one out”?
Or maybe the whistle player(s) didn’t make it to that session?
Who knows.
Around here, just about everyone in the sessions is multi-talented and plays whistle at varying levels from pro to beginner. We normally have anywhere from 6-10 musicians at our weekly Thurs night session and it’s common to have 4-5 good whistlers with years of session experience attending, and 2-3 beginners. We just stick to the “rules of session etiquette” and trade off throughout the evening, often doing harmony with two whistles on certain tunes which is fun. When I’m not playing whistle, I’m playing DADGAD guitar. Other whistlers trade off between mando, banjo, pipes, flute, and bodhran. Or they’ll often just sit back and listen for a while. And it’s always good to let the beginners have a go to get used to playing whistle in a session environment and improve their playing and confidence. I’m fortunate to be in an area where there are many excellent, experienced whistle players. And there are a couple more good whistle players in the area who live farther out and don’t make many sessions. So this area is whistle and basically talent-rich.
John McHaffie (long-time C&Fer and whistle maker) just moved into the area and has made a couple sessions, so there’s yet another good player who will be a weekly regular. It’s good to have him as part of the session group.
Q - What’s the definition of a chord?
A - Three whistles playing an A.
Ba-rum-bum!
Wow. lucky fellow, you are.
It could be because the whistle is easily drowned out in a session. I went to one last week and I couldn’t hear the whistler directly across the table from me.
Pete
Not enough whistles up North?
Whistles crops in Canada have not been able to yield equal to the demand.
Not hardy enough for Northern climate I suppose.
We here in the U.S. are putting technology to work and are developing a GMO whistle that may bridge the gap.
Honestly I think its the soil.
Not enough fertilizer.
As you can see… I tying to solve that problem personally.
Oh, good. I thought it was just me. I regularly play with a keyboard, guitar, and bass. All I have to do is play towards them. I’ve only played with other wind instruments a couple of times and had no success coming to a happy medium between us. I hear the folks in marching bands have to learn to do this. I’ve never been in a marching band.
Ha ha! Yeah, but that wouldn’t be a chord, it would be a clash
There’s probably something to perception of whistle as a “lightweight” instrument, though there’s nothing inappropriate or immature about a good whistle at a session.
There’s no lack of decent whistlers at sessions around here. But most are also accomplished players of other instruments. So it’s seldom that more than one (high) whistle plays at a time, by general agreement. It’s a guideline I encourage at the session I host, and respect at other sessions. Mostly for aesthetic reasons, with the whistle as a high voice floating above the tune, and more than one marring the effect with too much of a good thing. But two whistles together can be lovely. Tuning and volume can be an issue, but not necessarily. For example, at a session last week myself and another whistler-piper had a go at a few tunes together on our Gens, and it sounded quite nice in the group.
I’ve been in marching bands. The Boehm system, et al, makes this easier by
regularizing the requirements to play in tune. If you can play one clarinet in
tune on every note, then you can generally play another clarinet in tune on
every note. With simple-system instruments, this seems to be less the case.
One whistle may need more air on A but less on G, another whistle vice-versa.
This makes it possible for two whistlers who do not play every note perfectly
in tune to be horribly out on certain notes, and perfectly together on others.
I don’t know, but around here, whistlers are probably the most common instrument, go figure. Then I think it’s tied between bodhrans and fiddles.
To me in any session environment, anything more then 2 whistles at the same time gets on my nerves to be honest, even if they are in tune, it’s just too much whistle in my opinion, I think it starts to detract from the rest of the instruments.
These are my findings around my parts.
The one I attend is fiddle-heavy, with boxes second (which surprised me). I’m usually the only flute/whistle player there. This is nice in some ways, but I often wish there were accomplished wind players I could observe and learn from.
Our session is pretty large, 12-16 folks on average. All our whistle players, play other instruments (3 flute players including myself play whistle and the other whistler plays bodhran). Only the bodhran/whistle player plays the whistle as his primary session instrument (although he teaches classes at Zoukfest on bodhran), but he’s not at the session that often. Normally, we’ll only have one whistle playing at a time, but if Doug is there that week he and I have a blast whistling together - maybe it sounds so good is because the session is large enough to handle two whistles at a time whereas one is often lost amidst the fiddles, accordions and flutes.
I can’t speak for most flute players (who all play whistle as far as I know), but flute is my primary instrument so I’ll play that 90 to 100% of the time in most sessions. But there are a few tunes I prefer on whistle and I’ll switch to whistle if I’m tired or having a terrible flute embouchure day.
Eric
Two whistlers with non-tunables can be okay, if they’re somewhat in tune with each other. Once you get three or more, it can be a little ridiculous.
I’ll usually pull out my low whistle when another person pulls out their high whistle.
I’m curious why ITM (and I guess sessions) seems to usually involve players echoing the tune rather than playing harmonies (not that it’s a bad thing just unusual/distinctive when compared to other folk music).
Any thoughts?
Stay hoopy
(and stick to the melody)
Mike
“Echoing the tune” sounds a bit pejorative, no? Because ITM is a strong monophonic melody-centric tradition, like many other world musics. And there are lots of traditional harmonic elements - drones and regs, harp, accordion left hand, etc. As well as the harmonic suggestions of the melodies themselves. Just not necessarily post-Palestrina Western art music harmonies, I-IV-V stuff. Because ITM isn’t Western art music. 