Invaded by strange whistle ...

Whistle
1

I came into the house this afternoon to the sound of a strange, inhuman moaning coming from upstairs.

I had some things to do, so I tried to ignore it, but it began to sound like some poor animal was suffering, so I went up to investigate.

It seems that Genia (pronounced, “Jenny,” short for Evgenia), has brought home a strange, big black whistle, with silver looking keys, a flared out end and a very strange mouthpiece with no voicing window and some kind of bamboo thing strapped to the bottom of it.

She showed me how to blow on it, and I found that I could make a major scale in one octave very easily, but couldn’t figure out how to get it to play the second octave. And it’s really LOW! It’s about the size of a low D whistle, but it plays a lot lower than that.

Genia took the strange black whistle back, and within a couple of hours seemed to be treating it better, because it stopped moaning and began playing fairly respectable scales. I was so relieved. It was obvious the poor thing had been really suffering.

Does anyone know what this thing is?

Best wishes,
Jerry

2

Better ask Clarinetnut.

3

And talk about back pressure. Whew!

Genia’s little, and her hands are little. It’s fun to watch her wrestle with the thing.

4

I just had to go find my mons…I mean, clarinet again.

Play a clarinet for 10 minutes, then plan an Oak or untweaked Clarke whistle. I dare you. :astonished:

5

That’s what made me comment about the back pressure. I picked up a Dixon low D and could only play it in the third register.

6

But it’s not fun to hear her wrestle with the thing. Lord have mercy.

7

You scared me there, Jerry! For a minute I thought Genia had brought home an OBOE!! Talk about back pressure !! :astonished:

I never thought of it before, but clarinets DO sound like they are moaning! At least, they did when I played 'em. snerk

Linda S.
madfifer9

8

This one definitely moans.

It shrieks a good deal, too. It’s going to be a long winter.

Best wishes,
Jerry

9

kill it before it starts to thrive. think of “trouble with tribbles” on a more psychological level.

10

It’s too late. Genia’s in love with it.

11

Things could be worse, it could be a tenor sax. Lovely when played well. Sounds like an entire herd of flatulent elephants when played by yours truly… :roll: