Hello everyone! I’d first like to introduce myself. My name is Chris, I’m 17, and I live in NE. I play the whistle, low whistle (well… i try to), piano, mandolin (started last mondy at fiddle camp, ha) and bodhran. My intrest in whistles started when I was 14 when I first started getting interested in Irish/Celtic music. My obsession has grown from there. So anyway, to my questions. First, I just started to learn how to do some rolls (about 25 minutes ago. My parents have now locked me in the basement to practice cause I’m driving them insane) and I’m finding it to be very difficult. I can manage to do one on F# and I can almost do one on an E and G. I’m wondering how long it took you guys to learn and if you have any tips on how to make the process less painful. Another question I have is about “expensive” whistles. I e-mailed Joanie Madden asking what she uses and recommends and she told me this "Hi Chris,
Now, I really don’t want to wait 2 years for a whistle, so it comes down to Mike’s or John’s. I’ve been reading up on them here at chiff and fipple, and they seem equally as good, but I really can’t tell. Are there sound samples of these whistle somewhere?
Well, you could try ‘Nate’s Sounds of the Irish Tinwhistle,’ but I’m not sure if the site is still up. Also, ‘Clips and Snips’ has many different sound clips of many different whistles. There’s a link to it in the Chiff and Fipple Links page.
I’m a relative newbie, so don’t pay any attention to what I’m about to say!
I can say is that learning HOW to execute rolls isn’t even half the battle. The big thing is learning WHEN. At any rate, the roll should always sound natural, never forced. Another mistake is assuming that rolls are the be-all and end-all of whistle ornamentation. You will find situations where a quick cut or strike, a slow pull-off, a little vibrato, or even (I’m gonna get flamed for saying this) a little tonguing will serve just as well.
As far as cheap vs. expensive whistles go, I would start off with cheapies in a range of keys, with the idea being that it’s better to have $7 whistles you never play than having $70 whistles you never play. After this, you will probably get more expensive whistles in the keys you play the most (usually D).
Thanks for the advice on the rolls. I tounge all the time and use strikes and cuts… I just wanna impress this tin whistle player here in my small town. As for the whistles, I have about 30 inexpensive whistles. My first one was a feadog and my most recent has been an Oak. My favorite so far has been my combo of my fipple from my little black whistle and the body of my acorn whistle. I had the misfortune of sitting on my little black whistle and bending it in half. I’m ready to go for expensive. It’s a void I need to fill. I’m leaning toward burke right now.
If you do strikes (I take it you mean taps?) and cuts all the time, then you already know how to do rolls.
Long roll:
eighth-note, cut, eighth note, tap, eighth note.
Short roll:
cut, eighth-note, tap, eighth note.
That’s you’re basic roll… a lot of players seem to do more like sixteenth-cut-sixteenth-tap-quarter, or maybe dotted-eighth, cut, sixteenth, tap, dotted-eighth (err… that’s not quite right since it needs to squeeze into the space of 3 eighth notes, but you get the idea…)
The point is, if you can play 8-cut-8-tap-8, and put that roll into your tunes without losing time, you can then manipulate the phrasing to emulate your favorite player and/or please yourself. (Mine currently sound like daaa-daa-daaa or so… precisely equal eighths sound sterile, and that seems to fit the rhythm…)
Anyway, I learned rolls by playing ‘quarter-cut-quarter-tap-quarter’ and playing a bunch of my tunes at 1/2 speed to make my eighth-note filled reels and jigs into very strange marches
Okay, actually I can play a roll on anything except D and C if I concentrate, and I have confidence that as I learn tunes with rolls on other notes I’ll get them.
to learn rolls, read Brother Steve’s Tinwhistle Page and then read it again and then read it every week. Start really really really slowly on the rolls, paying attention that you get steady rhythm on the three eigth notes, and that the cuts and taps inbetween are just the briefest little blips. (Forget short rolls for now.) Practice every day for 10 minutes and expect to take a year before you really can do them smoothly. Sorry if this is bad news, but don’t fret: You’re young.
As for high-end whistles: Browse the main page and use the search function on the message board to find all you ever wanted to know and then some.
Best.
/bloomfield
[ This Message was edited by: Bloomfield on 2002-06-11 11:32 ]
I have Sindts and Burkes. They are both good quality whistles, made by great people, and you can’t really go wrong either way. The Sindts sound more like a good Generation while the Burkes are fuller sounding. They are both extremely easy to play, although the Burke will require a bit more breath control in the upper registers. The Burkes are also perfectly in tune, and you can cross finger a C-natural very well on the Burke, while the Sindt will require half-holing for an accurate C natural. The Burkes generally also have much less of a waiting time to get, while the Sindts may take a few months.
I would recommend a Burke AlPro D as a great “expensive” whistle. I think it may be the best deal out there right now.
I agree with all the good things said about Mike Burkes Pro whistles and the Sindt whistle with one variation. I disagree that half holing is necessary to play Cnat. on the Sindt. With proper breath control the Sindt D whistle works very well with cross fingering. If I blow Cnat. too hard on a Burke, Generation etc. it will be sharp just as it will be on a Sindt. In my opinion the Sindt D is one of the most expressive whistles around at any price and the cross fingered Cnat. is quite beautiful!
Where in Nebraska do you live? I live in Clarinda, Iowa, about 80 miles from Omaha and get in there often. I have Burkes, a Silkstone Alloy, Overton F, one of Mack’s fine whistles, a couple of Laughing Whistles, a Weasel and a Rose. A Sindt A/Bflat combo is due in August. If it worked out some time, I could let you try some of my whistles. Unfortunately I currently have my Burke Al Pro high D on loan to a friend in Wisconsin and won’t be picking it up until August or September.
I think there is another board member living over in Lincoln. Anybody else in the Nebraska/western Iowa area?
Have you found anyone locally to teach mandolin. If so, where? That’s the other instrument I dink around with and I’m looking for a teacher.
I use to live in Omaha, but I moved out west in August. Omaha is a good place to get whistles if you know where to look. I’ve always had good luck at Music Teacher Supplies. They’re really good about ordering stuff for you, it’s how I got my sweettone whistles. They have tons of Irish music too.
