Terve!
Some of you might remember me asking for beautiful song to play in a wedding. Well, that problem was easily solved, since the couple to be married already had a hymn in mind.
Anyway, some of you might also remember me pondering about disguising my self-made low whistle as a more professional looking instrument. Also that problem kind of solved itself: I had no time for the cover-up so the whistle looked as it was, made of plumbing pipe! Afterwards I received some questions about the tool and the hole configurations. Basically, because my grip was a bit distracting, me using modified pipers grip w/ pinkies instead of ring fingers.
Before the ceremony I went to the church to test the acoustics of the place and boy, was I surprised! I had always thought that my low whistle (the first I ever constructed 6 months ago, Eb) was on the quiet side. But in that space surrounded by stone walls and roof 10-15 meters high the sound was everywhere. Unbelievable! I also had to adjust my playing style to better suit the acoustics: it was better played almost plain w/out decorations and grace notes, I just let the suond work its magic. I also had to play it a bit slower to fully take advantage of the echo effect.
I can really recommend the experience of playing in that kind of acoustics, you will know what I mean if you ever do it yourself. The experience made me think about offering to play in a service some Sunday, maybe with somebody to further explore the possibilities of the environment. Not that I’m so religious, but just for kicks: it is almost a spiritual experience to hear an instrument truly sing!
Br,
Heikki Petäjistö
Very cool, Heikki! Wish I could have heard that!
Congratulations - sounds like your first public gig. Sounds like you did well, too.
I have played weddings and funerals for the past 10 years on uilleann pipes and highland pipes.
The best places I have played are churches with their great acoustics. Pipes sound wonderful in churches and they are so clear you can hear every single nuance of tone. Also any mistake is magnified.
My two favourite places were the Stanford Memorial Church at Stanford University built in the late 1800’s and the All Saints Chapel at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Los Altos.
The chapel has a marble floor, stone walls, and a very high wood beamed cieling which make for great acoustics. The resonant boom of the pipes when you stop is glorious!
Kinda like playing in your bathroom, but more grand!
Cheers! Richard
Congratulations. Playing a venue with good natural acoustics is a great natural high.
did anyone think that you brought out your good white whistle for the wedding or did anyone immediately see that it was pvc pipe?
Churches have great acoustics for whistles. Also parking garages.
Terve and thanks for your comments!
Well, not my first ever public gig and not even a first gig in a church, but the very first time in a church with a self-made instrument and all by myself. At home I tried to prepare myself to those stone walls by playing in our bathroom (not a toilet, but a bathroom which serves also as a dressing room for our sauna. I have never quite understood why in America you want to call bathroom a place that has nothing to do with actual bathing! OK OK, off-topic as can be…) but it proved not to be the same thing: somehow larger space amplified or multiplied the sound more.
I have usually hated churches as places to perform in, the acoustics tend to mess everything up; but with this kind of performance the place was perfect.
I really can’t answer what they thought about my whistle, since the shape is bent. That is because the pipe I used had been hanging on a garage wall rolled for 2-3 years and, eager as I was building my first whistle, I promised myself to straghten it up “later”. The whistle played well as it was and the bent shape facilitated easier wrist position so I thought it wasn’t broke, so no need to fix it.
Br,
Heikki Petäjistö