Hi. It’s early days for me, as a new maker I was curious to know how does one get onto the makers list on C&F?
Just wondering.
There’s a whistle makers list?
There’s a whistle makers list?
The (ancient and obsolete ) main site one?
The first thing you need to learn is the secret handshake, then things can progress from there 
Ah, but you have to be on the list to be shown the handshake.
See how that works? 
Cash is King! 
Cash in the palm seems to work, but, that is a secret! 
Unfortunately for me I am not a whistlemaker just a consumer. 
Apparently, we’ve been going about this whole Chiff & Fipple thing all wrong.
Apparently.
But back to the OP’s note, there is a maker’s list for the flute forum. Should there be one here? If so, who’s up for compiling it?
Best wishes.
Steve
You can’t. No more whistle makers allowed.
Just kidding-- welcome to the game!
His website for anyone wondering - http://www.holifield-whistles.com/
They look nice!
Should there be one here?
You could wonder about that.
On the one hand maybe an unbiased listing of anyone who has a go at it, with the caveat listing a maker is not an endorsement, could be helpful to some. But, on the other hand, given the comings and goings of aspiring makers and the whole who is making what being in a constant state of flux, I wouldn’t envy anyone taking the job of maintaining such a list.
Yesterday I joked, in reply to the OP’s question, that a whistle maker could get on the list if they learned the Kesh jig and learned to play it well. I removed the post after finding one of the makers posting to this thread has a version of the Kesh on their website and I wanted to avoid the impression I was having a go at anyone in particular (which wasn’t the intention at all, it was more or less a train of thought flowing from a conversation I had the previous day). And while the response was made tongue-in-cheek, the point made, stands.
I have long since reached a point where I don’t even consider a whistle by makers who can’t play convincingly themselves or don’t have access to players who play well. If whistle makers are keen to put their products to the fore, and that’s a real bug bear for me so forgive the digression and making the point once again, they could serve themselves by making available on their respective websites quality samples of their instruments played well.
The best advertising for any instrument still is hearing it taken through its paces by accomplished players.
Ah, yes, as far as consumers are concerned, I believe in the biz that’s referred to as cash out of the palm… 
I think having a list of this sort is a rather good idea. This proves the flute players know what they are doing and were on to something there.
Here’s a thought: NOTE: Specifics may not all be workable, but I think you can at least see my general idea.
There are currently a few whistling perma threads that are active: Whistle Recordings, No Whistle Youtube thread? Well then!, Statement on status of Copelands, Photos of your collection, and finally Tweaks: the thread.
Couldn’t there be a makers list added to that group above with the following stipulations for posting? 1. You have to be whistle maker to post on it. 2. You can’t post more than once. 3. You need follow Chiff & Fipple guidelines for Commercial Posting, 4. The listing would only stand for 1 year duration. Every year the old list would flushed and a new list would be created. Example: this years list could be something like Makers List 2015. Then when 2016 comes along a new list would be created and old one deleted entirely.
Essentially the responsibility to update the list would fall on the maker as opposed to some poor individual tasked with trying to keep tabs on who is still making whistles and who is not. It would also be ideal if the maker would use this is list to inform the public of waiting times and conditions of waiting lists and how long it will be before you can expect your whistle when ordering (updating this once a year could be helpful). Lastly, if there are any restrictions based on an overseas location; it would be nice to have the makers note it on here.
I think it would be helpful to see something like this develop here. There was also, a discussion about having some sort of a rating system for the makers a while back.. I thought there were good points made there as well..
We will use the Holifeld whistle as an example. It appears Norm has some satisfied customers as evidenced in the New Makers –Holifeld thread. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a rating system integrated into a makers list to showcase customer satisfaction as opposed to tasking a whistler with searching through a bunch of ancient posts to see that some people were happy with their Holifeld whistle way back in Feb 4th of 2015? If you answered yes to that question, then there must be some way to accomplish this… right?? 
Just a thought or two anyway.
I don’t think anything beyond name, location and link to website will be workable. Certainly no ratings, much too fiddly ,subjective and prone to manipulation.
Think I’d agree with Gumby here. The real intent—in my mind—would be to provide a listing and contact info. For reviews and such, the search function might be the best option.
Keeping the list up to date would be a bit of an issue if makers truly come and go like the swallows at Capistrano (I’m just dreaming of spring, or at least an end to the #$&*@@ snow). If we ask the makers to self-identify or log in each year I suspect we’d get a limited number. At least based on the postings we see here from makers, there appear to be many who aren’t involved with C&F. Which would make it necessary for someone (like Jem on the Flute Forum) to build the list—and perhaps be the only one who could modify it. Makers could contact the list-keeper to be added or recommendations could come from customers or anyone else who might know of a maker worth listing.
An added feature (or separate list) might be other places where one can buy whistles—shops, web sites, etc.
Them’s my thoughts.
Best wishes.
Steve
Agreed. We’re discussing this now. - Mod
I’m all for a list, no ratings.
If you Google search there are already lists available, now. Yes, some links are outdated and dead but such is life with people relocating residence, changing internet services, interests change, health/age and so forth. We all have changes at some time.
Half the fun IS searching thru the old C&F forum archives for a whistlemaker.
Just about any of the flutemakers and pipemakers could make someone a whistle, whether they are willing to make one is another matter. It is all in the personal contact.
While we’re at it… when is the Annual Whistle Convention?
I agree that a list of makers is a good idea – though I have some concerns about such a list as described. First and foremost, you’re limiting what constitutes an Officially Sanctioned C&F Whistlesmith to whoever happens to make the yearly pilgrimage to sign up. Others have already mentioned that not every whistle maker is a frequenter of this forum, so they would be excluded. Also, some very fine makers are, in point of actual fact, dead. The list as described is limited only to makers currently working (and obviously, currently alive).
I’d much rather see an expansion and updating of what is already a very fine C&F makers list: our very own Chiff and Fipple Whistle Guides. Certainly there is room to add recent makers to those resources. I think there is also plenty of room for adding notations as to physical location, website, email address, where to buy, presently making / no longer making / still repairing / unable to continue work / died, etc. where not already noted. Plus, I would hope, good descriptions and reviews of the newer whistles and makers.
I’d also like to see the inclusion of descriptions & reviews of old, rare and unusual whistles. For example, there’s a picture of an old style Generation, but there’s nothing about the older Gens. And nothing about any of the other more ancient whistle makes that one comes across. Also, it would be nice for such a guide to include lots of nice pictures. For identification purposes especially, it’d be nice to see what a maker’s whistles look like through time.
To be honest, those very pages, as well as the Wandering Whistler are where I started my research into whistles when I got interested in the whistle as an instrument.
Ratings I think are certainly helpful, but perhaps not in the context of a guide to whistles and whistlesmiths.
I think it would be fantastic if Holifeld’s work could be documented in the Whistle Guide that already exists!
That’s what the forum has always been here for. The idea would be to find a name, and ask here about it. Supposing we do this, Chiffco® will not offer endorsements or other ratings. So it would be a list, and not really a “guide” per se.