I went to a session recently, where a whistle player sounded “out of sorts” compared with the rest of the players (all non-whistlers). I assumed it might have been because he inadvertently grabbed the wrong whistle for a tune, and just continued to play. Then afterward in conversation, I let him try my tunable Oz D whistle for fun, and unbelievably, he sounded out of tune again! I’m no pro, but this was weird.
Any thoughts on this phenomenon?
Breath pressure. And a bad ear. Easily +/- 50 cents on many whistles.
Was yer man playing flat or sharp?
Well… like I said, he was playing “off”. All the notes just seemed not in tune, and unfortunately because I don’t have a super-trained ear, I couldn’t tell you which way he went. 
Also, it didn’t help that he was not using good session etiquette. 
So, this isn’t just a stranger-than-fiction moment?
I’m with Guru-- you can easily blow any whistle very sharp or flat. Give it a try if you have access to a digital tuner.
Reminds me of a session I went to once. It was a weekly bluegrass affair, heavy on rhythm guitars, mandolins, and a few fiddles.
Well, one night a guy comes in with an electric guitar, his own mic, and a small portable amp. He didn’t wait very long. Once a tune finished, he was off and running with a mix of commentary and vocals (amplified), and guitar of a style I simply cant categorize except to say it was totally mismatched for the gathered group.
Eventually, grumbles began and tensions eventually burst. When he paused, a massive crowd pounded in with Old Joe Clark. He didn’t stay much longer.
As to your guy who sounded “off”, was he playing a different arrangement of the tune ? How was the timing ?
I play everything flat. Clarinet, trumpet, whistle, flute – all flat. I can understand it with everything but the whistle. I’m sure there are people who are sharp, too.
At the risk of demonizing this guy… yes. I think his timing was off as well. I really saw the timing problem when he decided to play the guitar after a while and sing a very strange version of “Wild Rover”, and then no one could play to or sing along with him.
I’ve played around with a tuner on GarageBand (the only tuner I have, other than perhaps on the internet), so I know what it’s like to blow flat or sharp - obviously my ear will tell me, too.
Hi Magicdancer
Was the chorus
“Wild rover I’ll give over
Wild rover I’ll give o’er
I swear I will play the wild rover no more” ?
If so it is the older version of the Wild Rover he was singing.
David
I wish it were that simple! It was all kinds of strange…
But yesterday cancelled out all of that, where hubby and I had a fabulous time at a pub in Santa Cruz, called The Poet and The Patriot. All better now, and I’m inspired again to work on my whistle music.