In the thread about the silver Gizmo Stimps suggested a totally new thread on the music vs collection would be more appropriate. The subject has been cause for some vicious exchanges in the past. I recall the comment ’we talk about whistles here and read about music somewhere else’ and a lot of related material that basically told me to sod off if I thought we should talk about music here.
Maybe we should bite the bullet and do another round, I don’t think the twain shall ever meet, nor that they ever should. Thre’s ample room for both views. I do hope both sides can get their point across without going all emotional and vicious.
My own position is probably half known by now: I don’t care at all about high end whistles. If a whistle would come on the market that would suit my needs better than the ones I have, I’d be the first to jump at it. The point is: I have not seen that whistle(yet??). In the meantime I am quite happy to do what I do on a generation type instrument. I think I am a crap whistle player anyway so I am not too bothered about spending a lot on the habit.
The high end whistles I have come across, were mostly in the hands of people arriving at the sessions I play. What stood out in general was the sheer volume of the things, unfortunately that is not a great thing in the hands of not so sensitive players. Even when Brassblower’s favourite whistle player positioned herself by the side of the stage on which we were playing with a blackwood and silver contraption the general question was ‘who is that loud woman?’ a less dominating whistle may have diverted the attention to the merits of her playing.
So firstly I really and honestly don’t like the sound of these yokes in the context of the music I play.
Another point I don’t like and that has been mentioned as a sideline in the silver thingie thread but it has been much stronger voiced in several private mails I received after speaking my mind in a bit contrary fashion: there is a certain pressure to obtain these instruments, ‘people will frown upon you if you arrive at a Seattle session with anything less than a Burke’ someone said. Yuk.
There is another effect I resent about the collecting bug. This is a general objection that doesn’t apply as much to collecting of whistles (because there are enough suitable mass produced instruments on the market) but it is something I see and feel very strongly about in regards to Uilleann pipes and concertinas: people who can afford it are buying up, for huge amounts of money, instruments they can hardly play . I know of one man who by all reports can play feck all on the pipes but who has spent $17 000 on two Wooff sets in the past two years or so. I also know of many people hoarding heaps of good concertinas (wow guys I just bought my fourth Jeffries, any tutors you can recommend?). Now I have a problem with that as we are talking about instruments that are not easy to obtain, waiting lists for a decent instrument have gone into the ridiculous as have the prices of them. I know of one famous fiddle player who ordered a set of Wooff pipes at the birth of his son. The young man will get it for his 12 th birthday. Prices are soaring beyond the budgets of the parents of the many many talented young kids going into the music. I know a case of a family who had to decide on whether to change the car or buy a new concertina for the daughter. They bought the £4500 Jeffries. In the case of these instruments the gizmo driven collecting rage is depriving good, deserving talented young people of proper instruments.
On the other hand, in a private mail, Loren quite strongly voiced I should shut up on the subject as ‘obtaining these things can be very rewarding in itself’. Maybe so, but by the end of the day I think a musical instrument is worth feck all if it doesn’t get to play nice music.
OK open the floodgates…
[as usual I had to edit a zillion typos]
[ This Message was edited by: Peter Laban on 2002-02-27 07:40 ]
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