While I am fairly certain this is a genuine beautiful sounding performance, there remains a bit of doubt in the back of my mind. I performed a post search and did not find any discussion here about this video. Can someone with more experience than I remove any doubt about the fact that this is a real performance played with an Abell whistle. (I have never heard a whistle sound so pure and sweet).
Here is the same guy playing the Irish Washerwoman on what looks to me like an Abell whistle, so I would guess the the “Lamb of God” vid uses the same whistle.
Ahh… the wonders of reverb! There are a tremendous number of things that can be done to make a track sound different/better than the raw version (which is why pretty much every recording you hear is processed to some degree or another). At the very least, that track has a pretty decent amount of reverb added. I wouldn’t be surprised if a bit of equalization was used as well. I’m not familiar with the sound characteristics of an Abell whistle, but it would be fairly easy to make any whistle sound more pure by eliminating the less pure elements with a parametric eq.
This shouldn’t be viewed as a knock on Abell whistles. They have a great reputation and I’m sure they’re outstanding instruments. However, if you buy one and expect it to sound like that video, you’re probably going to be disappointed.
I suspect this video is a lot closer to how an Abell would sound as it doesn’t sound like it’s processed, but keep in mind that it’s near impossible to get a perfect audio replication as the gear with which you make the recording (microphone, preamp, etc.) will also alter the sound somewhat. Patch Pi - on my Abell D Whistle
He is standing in his living room and sounds like a big echoey space. And then then there are all those other instruments to be heard - are they just off camera? Stuff is going on and unless the player tells us how he did it (I clicked on many of the comment pages but did not see anything) we would just be guessing.
I suspect this video is a lot closer to how an Abell would sound as it doesn’t sound like it’s processed, but keep in mind that it’s near impossible to get a perfect audio replication as the gear with which you make the recording (microphone, preamp, etc.) will also alter the sound somewhat.
Patch Pi - on my Abell D Whistle
I have played a couple Abell whistles - nice whistle though not my cup of tea - and I would say the sound in the clip mentioned in JTC111’s post is much more like the sound I heard from the Abell, that is not
a whistle sound so pure and sweet
I don’t want to be critical of the playing of Patch Pi but in the interest of being fair to the whistle the playing is not of the highest calibre, still the ‘texture’ of the sound is representative.
Now if you play a whistle in the right space and/or if you use a mic, sound processing, and a PA system your listeners could hear something completely different to what you hear in your living room without any ‘help’.
To add to JTC111’s comments on recording - the playback system also make a big difference to what you hear.
While not an Abell whistle this Lon Dubh demo video does demonstrate possible effects of adding reverb (and more?)
At the start we have the processed sound, later when he is describing the whistle he plays a little and it sounds to me that no one went back and added extra reverb to the playing - try about 3:30 on.
I have a couple of thoughts that might prove useful to the original poster. I am assuming that the OP is trying to determine what an Abell whistle sounds like. My experience says that the sound of the Abell has changed a bit over the years from slightly chiffy to quite pure. I assume Chris Abell can voice his products somewhat to the player’s preference. Don’t discount the player’s style and background in judging a whistle from a video. Yes, as highwood says, the space where he is playing seems very “live” and providing a natural reverberation (there could be some added processing of course). The accompaniment is coming from a CD and he is playing along with it. That revelation comes from a posting by the player on another site. Since he is recording both the accompaniment and his playing, the mic is not positioned close to the whistle and therefor picks up a lot of the sound of the room and less of what the player would hear of the whistle (breathiness particularly). I would think that the player would welcome and respond to inquiries through several of te sites where he has posted his videos. The player is Mark Richter and he is an accomplished classical (Boehm) flute player. His style seems influenced by James Galway, who also plays an Abell whistle on occaision. Here’s what Sir Jimmy sounds like on his Abell. Keep in mind the space he is playing in has a large natural “cathedral” type reverb. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZIDzoTAh8I
If you listen to the entire piece you can get a sense of the sound of the whistle and much of that comes from the player, his vibrato, his attack and his proximity to the microphone.
By the way I appear have something in common with the OP, I am a “Liam’s dad” too.
Nice catch there, Highwood. The sound of that whistle is clearly different at the 3:30 mark.
If the OP is looking for a whistle that is “pure and sweet,” I’m sure there’d be no shortage of recommendations from the knowledgeable folks on this board, although first we’d have to define “pure and sweet.” But if by that the OP means less chiffy, I’d say my Burkes are the least chiffy whistles I own; however, there are others here who know far more than I do on that subject. I chimed in about the processing only because that’s something with which I have quite a bit of experience.
If you want to hear what an Abell whistle sounds like with no reverb then go to the Chiff and Fipple clips and snips tune archive where you will find countless recordings of Tony Higgins playing his Abell blackwood D.
I borrowed an Abell D for a couple of weeks and I think Tony’s recordings are a good representation of the one I had.
Liking the tone of a whistle on a recording is one thing but you won’t really know what a whistle is like until you get to play it yourself. Over the years I have spent a lot of money and tried a lot of whistles to find a handful that I like. It is just a part of the process if you are partial to the instrument.
And if you really, really want to know what a whistle sounds like, find someone who plays the whistle the exact same way that you do and get that person to play the whistle while you listen because how you hear a whistle as the player and how the audience hears the whistle are a bit different. Don’t forget to take weather conditions and altitude and distance and the setting into account.
Thank you all for the great replies. I feel a bit like the begger who asks for a glass of water and instead receives a bucket full of fine wine. I have only been playing the whistle in earnest for about three months while spending a lot of time on the internet learning what I can about the instrument, the music and the culture of those who play and like listening to it.
I guess that the main reason for my OP is that the sound made by the Abell whistle in the video was so different that anything I had heard from a whistle that I had a “slight” suspicion that I was a studio recording of possibly a concert flute or something like that. Judging by your replies, I feel that with the right equipment, one can do a great deal to improve the sound of an instument (taking nothing away from the player or his whistle).
If I can stay dedicated to learning to play the whistle, I will one day be in the market for a high end one like an Abell, but until then, I will “try” to be content with sub $50 whistles (my wife would kill me if she read that). Right now I own four D whistles (Feadog, Dixon Trad (brass), Dixon poly and a Chieftain), a hybrid Mack Hoover white cap on a Bb Generation body and a Dixon poly low D. I have plenty of whistles to keep me busy, but like many of you who call Chiff and Fipple home, I am always looking to find that “one” whistle that I can call “mine” (one in each key of course).
Feadoggie… It is nice to know that I have something in common with one of such stature!
I very much enjoy reading and learning from the posts on this forum and am greatful for all who make it what it is!
Sound fantastic to me.Any idea who wrote this?. I heard a whistle played at the Glasgow papal mass which was outdoors and im sure it had no reverb etc added. A beautifull haunting sound.
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfwoT0RE0Jw
Sound fantastic to me.Any idea who wrote this?. I heard a whistle played at the Glasgow papal mass which was outdoors and im sure it had no reverb etc added. A beautifull haunting sound.
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfwoT0RE0Jw
Just having fun.