Just woundering; does anyone know what kind of whistle Mary Bergin plays (and why it doesn`t turn into a moltin puddle of goo when she is finnished)
Tom
I believe she used to play Generations, and now plays a Sindt.
Best,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
-Take this with several grains of salt:
O’Riordan whistles for airs according to liner notes on Feadoga Stain 2, and something which appears to be a Generation soprano on its back cover.
Maybe her whistles do undergo a meltdown. She says that they get “blown out” (or something like that). I believe it. She used to play mostly Generations. Not sure what she’s playing now.
Well so much for high end whistles. That won`t stop me though. WhOA
Tom
James is that your web site?
If it is I just read what you did with the Guinness whistle. Now I know Im just a begginer and all that but that is the whistle I am playing right now while Im skipping through all the posts and it is the whistle I grab to learn any new tune on because of its softness and low air requirements. Plus I just love its sound especialy in the higher octave. But now Im just dying to try your little experiment. It does squeek a little if Im not carefull and it is very quite indeed. But to think it could be better than it is, well what do you think. I quess what worries me is if I muck it up and have to get another one it might not be as good as this one. Ive herd alot of people bad mouth this whistle. And I realy like it. It warms up realy fast and fits my defanition of sweet. Intament I might even say. (if I could only spell, catholic school dont ya know) Just woundering. Thanks
Tom
I went to a whistle workshop in the Scottish Highlands with Mary B recently. Her flight from Shannon to Glasgow was 4 hours late, and her luggage went to Chicago! So she was playing a generation-type whistle - its almost incidental what she’s playing, it sounds gooooood. She emphasises the rhythym and feel of the music, more than the actual notes.
Her luggage turned up on the Saturday evening, so she was playing her (I presume) favourite whistle which John Sindt had made for her - in Silver.
Definitely one of my life’s high points, that workshop. Every time Delahunty’s comes up, that image will come flooding back.
If memory serves me correctly, when I last saw Mary Bergin (July 2001), she was playing brass Sindts in E flat, D and C, a Copeland A and an O’Riordan B flat.
John Sindt was in the audience. There wasn’t an inexpensive whistle in sight.
In silver? Say it isn’t so! That’s so…tacky 
You should see the engraved shamrocks on that whistle…
In the Sept. 2002 issue of Irish Music Magazine there is an interview with Ms. Bergin and she states “I am playing a mixture of John Sindt’s whistles, and some of Pat O’Riordans, I have a Michael Copeland Low A and sometimes I revert back to the old Generation.” She goes on to say she has a lovely old wooden Bb with 2 keys on it but doesn’t use it for performances. She also says she plays Eugene Lambs D and Eb Flutes.
On 2002-12-11 00:57, Blackbeer wrote:
James is that your web site?
If it is I just read what you did with the Guinness whistle. Now I know Im just a begginer and all that but that is the whistle I am playing right now while Im skipping through all the posts and it is the whistle I grab to learn any new tune on because of its softness and low air requirements. Plus I just love its sound especialy in the higher octave. But now Im just dying to try your little experiment. It does squeek a little if Im not carefull and it is very quite indeed. But to think it could be better than it is, well what do you think. I quess what worries me is if I muck it up and have to get another one it might not be as good as this one. Ive herd alot of people bad mouth this whistle. And I realy like it. It warms up realy fast and fits my defanition of sweet. Intament I might even say. (if I could only spell, catholic school dont ya know) Just woundering. ThanksTom
Hey Tom…you have a Guinness whistle? Just wondering 'cause that’s what I have for now…it’s my first because I didn’t know anything about whistles before I bought it…and I love Guinness & I trust the name so that’s why I chose it. I’m still drooling for an Elfsong next though like you =). However, there is no way I will attempt what James did…chances are I would totally ruin my whistle and then I would suffer withdrawl symptoms of WHoA. I might try that electrical tape trick to flatten the low D note though =)
Would rather go whistling where there is no path…and leave a trail.
Uriah
[ This Message was edited by: 2nd Wind on 2002-12-11 11:35 ]
Boy I am so out of touch. The only recording I have of her I made when I was living down in Aptos helping my brother put a resturant together in Santa Cruiz. That was in early 70s. So that is the era of my tape. Maybe you could suggest some more recent releases. Not that I would spend whistle money on CDs but I do have a birthday comming up next month and of course there is Christmas.
Tom