Hey guys i’m new and i got into tin whistles 2 months ago from this site. An exciting thing happened last week there is a tin whistle part in the song “Concerning Hobbits” by Howard Shore for my school orchestra and i volunteered to play it because i was only the guy in school who actually knows what a tin whistle is! and owning a lesser quality oak d tin whistle i would really love to know what tin whistle is being used in this video.
My oak nickel D ( inexpensive whistle) just can’t get that hollow warm sound that i hear from the whistle being played in the video link. I want to make the sound as beautiful and as close to the real soundtrack as possible I’ve tried emailing Chip and Fipple directly but unfortunately there has been no response.
The video was recorded in 2001, the penny whistle is in key of D and it’s defenitely brass. At first i thought it might be a Michael Burke whistle but it had no black mouthpiece. It has to be a high end whistle and there are only so many high quality whistle makers that somebody might be able to distinguish it. The tin whistle truly has a beautiful sound and part in this song! it’s well worth a listen even if you can’t identify it but i would greatly appreciate all of your help! i hope this tin whistle community that i’ve stumbled upon are nice and welcoming The tin whistle is played right in the beginning and then you get up the up close view of it at around the 2:15 video mark. Please watch i know it might be a hassle but it’s only a 2 and a half minute video.
First, to answer your main question: Yes, the whistle looks like an older Michael Burke brass D whistle. The older ones didn’t have a black tip on the mouthpiece.
Next, there’s bad news and good news. The bad news is that that “hollow warm sound” that you’re hearing and that you like is mostly a combination of the player’s technique, and that microphone sitting just above and in front of him (and the sound system it’s connected to). The whistle only contributes a part.
Now the good news. There’s nothing wrong with your Oak whistle. It’s a very nice whistle; it’s not “lesser quality”. Many top players play Oaks or very similar whistles. Expensive doesn’t always mean better. So you can sound very, very close to that orchestra video using your Oak, if you have a little “help”.
Have your orchestra director provide a microphone and PA connection or amp for your performance. You’ll really probably want that for playing solo with your orchestra anyway. For “hollow”, add quite a bit of short reverb. For “warm”, set the EQ to roll off the treble and boost the midrange and bottom a bit. Voilà! Then practice, practice. The rest is up to you.
Of course you don’t get that sound playing in your bedroom, unless you have a mike and PA in your bedroom. Also, your whistle doesn’t sound the same to you as it does to the people who are listening to it in the audience. Try having someone record you when you’re playing on your school stage sometime. You’ll see.
It’s great that you’re taking interest in the whistle. It’s a fun, very expresive instrument, and a lot easier to carry around than a tuba. It can even be hobbit-forming. Try listening to some real Irish whistle music, not just the fake movie stuff. There’s lots of good whistle music out there, and maybe you’ll end up getting some of your friends interested, too.
I’ve been wanting to ask this question and now seems like an appropriate place.
Do the older style burke whistles without the delrin mouthpiece sound the same as the new ones with the delrin? I’m curious if the delrin affected the tone. Since it’s just channeling the air and the sound is not made until it hits the other wide of the window, which is aluminum, theoretically I think it would not influence the sound.
When does the helpdesk reopen after the holiday season? Jill looks very lonely at the helpdesk now that Sam and Joanne have disappeared. Dale - would you like me to have a word with Andrea to see if she could fill in?
Fipple never was very reliable. As for Chip, he’s gone off and joined Dale in a new business venture, manufacturing furniture. Look for the new Chip & Dale line of whistle cabinets very soon.
Basically, yes. I’ve played both side-by-side, and the tonal differences are slight. I think the Burke sound has evolved a bit over the years, but not due specifically to the Delrin tip.
That’s interesting because I’ve heard burke recordings with different sounds but never knew if it was the Delrin change, any other design changes, the recording, the player, etc.
I really like the delrin so I’m glad that doesn’t have an impact on the sound.
MTGuru is right, of course. Material has little effect on the sound quality, certainly not as much as the design and dimensions. I do think you may have a misconception of the Burke design in the first place though. Here are two generations of Burke heads viewed from above the window. I used the brass ones since they were close at hand.
While you can see the delrin tip on one but not the other, the delrin is still there and has been lining the windway all along. The black tip was meant to keep the taste of the aluminum or brass from the lips of the player.
Sorry for the dirt in the cracks. I need to clean these whistles a bit. Keep in mind that while the timbre of the Burke has remained much the same over several generations Mike Burke has improved the voicing and tuning all along the way. The newest whistles will be the best all around.
While you can see the delrin tip on one but not the other, the delrin is still there and has been lining the windway all along. The black tip was meant to keep the taste of the aluminum or brass from the lips of the player.
Ahh! I didn’t know that the old style had the delrin too. I thought the old design had all aluminum. That’s really interesting. Thanks for the picture comparison.
Thank you all very much guys you were such a great help! (And i wasn’t expecting that much feedback so that was a nice surprise and to the first respond ( with the funny frog avatar thing ) , your right, the sound probably does come a lot from the microphone and sound system Oh and don’t worry i’ve had my whistle for about 2 months and i was only into Irish music ( a lot my friends look on my ipod to find Irish jigs and songs played on the tin whistle and ask me what the heck is that??) And it’s funny for me too because i’m Mexican and you normally see white/Irish background people playing the whistle I play piano, saxophone, and of course the violin for my orchestra and everyone thinks it’s weird that i play all that and then i randomly pull out a tin whistle that they think it’s not even a real instrument or heard of one. But i thought it was cool to find the tin whistle in great movie soundtracks like the Lord of the Rings ( lord of the rings fan here so i got pretty excited when my teacher called for a tin whistle in D
Anyway thanks, and i’m not sure if i should purchase a Burke whistle, do you think he’ll be keep selling his whistles for awhile? Just so i can scrape together some more money. ( they’re also pricey i do have the money in my pocket but a lot of that money is from me cleaning up dog poop for the past 6 weeks and i don’t feel like spending $200 which is kind of a big chunk for me. But Burke whistles do look and sound very nice indeed and not just from that video i watched some other videos of people playing Burke d brass whistles. Money is not that easy to get when your 16. Compared to my oak d which only cost me $15. The orchestra festival competition isn’t for another 2 months until we play that song. I’ve been working on all that technique the guy does in the video. I play in synce with him while listening and study his fast finger cuts on the holes and crescendos while playing higher notes on the whistle.
I’m definitely going to have a clip on microphone on my whistle when we rehearse and practice. My brother plays bass guitar and we got a lot of sound system equipment here too. What do you think now that i know what whistle it is, should i go ahead and purchase it or stick with my oak? I’ve gotten extremely similar to what the guy plays ( finger techniques) in the video without the sound system and and whistle but i’m still not sure. What do you think? Thanks guys again you’re all awesome!!
Stick with your Oak whistle. It’s not the whistle that makes the sound it’s the player. Look at enough YouTube videos of people playing “Concerning Hobbits” and you’ll figure that out. You and the Oak can do the job. But I sure hope Burke keeps selling whistles! Personally, I pray for his continued good health.
It’s a good thing you didn’t pick this video then! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZIDzoTAh8I That’s an Abell whistle. The price tag would have been a bit more than the Burke. Let’s not discuss the cost of Sir Jimmy’s flute.
Clip-on mics are generally meant for speech. Watch where you place it for the whistle. I would not suggest clipping it to the whistle. It might pick-up too much handling noise and wind noise. Try placing it on a the music stand in front of you (just like Sir Jimmy) or even on your lapel. It might take some experimentation to get the sound you want.
I agree with Feadoggie in that a clip on mic isn’t what you need. Try a vocal mic on a stand first and play as close to the mic as you can. If you have lots of sound system equipment, experiment with different mics, but bear in mind that the sound from a whistle comes mainly from the window, not from the end. There are quite a lot of threads on which mics to use with whistles already with comments from folk with a lot more experience than I have.
It’s probably best to let someone do the mixing / processing for you. I play fairly regularly with a group of random instruments and with different guys on the mixing desk. I suspect that they add far too much reverb, but I have to trust their ears.
And yes, stick with the Oak. Two months is a very short time to master a new whistle, particularly if you shave off a couple of weeks for delivery.
Luke, I’d say stick with the whistle you’ve got. I’ve never been able to find out what whistle was used in the actual soundtrack in the first ‘appearance’ of the theme in Fellowship of the Ring. All I know is that it was played by Alan Doherty, who moves around the world and may be currently in Germany. For more info on who played what where and in which of the three sub-movies, check here> http://www.amagpiesnest.com/instruments/instruments_hobbiton.htm
Look at the last entry on the page for the whistle.
and owning a lesser quality oak d tin whistle i would really love to know what tin whistle is being used in this video.
The tin whistle is played right in the beginning and then you get up the up close view of it at around the 2:15 video mark. Please watch i know it might be a hassle but it’s only a 2 and a half minute video.
) , your right, the sound probably does come a lot from the microphone and sound system Oh and don’t worry i’ve had my whistle for about 2 months and i was only into Irish music ( a lot my friends look on my ipod to find Irish jigs and songs played on the tin whistle and ask me what the heck is that??) And it’s funny for me too because i’m Mexican and you normally see white/Irish background people playing the whistle 