Hello everyone. Just joined the board and have been practicing with my Clarke Original for about a week now. Can’t say I’m very good atm but I am improving. I have a Clarke Original D and C and have a Clarke Celtic on the way.
Anyway, just stopping by to say hello to everyone.
Hello and welcome!
I haven’t been playing very long either…only since May but haven’t had much time this summer because I don’t want to torture my kids and their friends 
Little do I know of whistles, but coincidentally, my daughter and I just counted our haul of porcupine spines picked up in walks from the area around where I live and we had 141 of them. Most of them picked up this last couple of months. Hope this helps.
Hello.
Welcome.
Happy whistling!
Hello and welcome. I’m nosey. I like hearing how folks found the whistle. Would you mind sharing that with us? Some folks were born into whistling and some folks heard one and had to research what the sound was, and lots of folks in between.
Welcome indeed. You’ve come to the world’s best place for a whistle player to be, second only to actually playing. Search the site at length since there’s an untold wealth of information within. And let everyone know how you’re progressing!
sláinte,
ecohawk
I’ve always known of the tin whistle but didn’t know how to play. I’ve tried other instruments. Clarinet when I was a wee lad, Guitar and keyboard later on. Was never really exceptional in any of them. The guitar I can strum some chords, keyboard had a tough time with that. I could do the left hand the the right hand. Just had a hard time doing both at the same time. The clarinet, if you handed me one today, I wouldn’t have a clue as to how to play it.
I thought that maybe I could handle the whistle and I always liked music made on it. Didn’t really know much about them until I read up on them on the web including this site. Didn’t really know much about who makes them and which ones are good when I ordered them. Just saw a Clarke on Amazon and decided to order it along with the accompanying instruction book by Bill Ochs and have been slowly working my way through it. After a week, I’ve pretty much mastered “Sweet Betsy from Pike” and “Oranges & Lemons” (Though O&L sometimes takes a couple of tries before I get it right).
I think that one of the hardest thing I had to master on the whistle is the spacing between the E and F# holes. They are closer together than all the other holes and my fingers were always trying to spread themselves out equidistantly to each other resulting in quite a few squeaks and squawks. After a week, I think I’m getting better at my finger placement.
One thing I’d like to know, how do you guys store your whistles? Mine are just lying on the computer desk in front of me which is not too bad now but if I start collecting whistles, could become burdensome. Are there any racks or something you use for your whistles?
I’d be very careful about thinking you’ve mastered anything on the whistle especially after a week, as there’s always room for improvement. Remember it’s not just a case of banging out a series of notes in the correct order, there’s a hell of a lot more to it than that. I’m playing 5 years and I dare not even think I’ve mastered a single tune, I might do a good job on them but mastering them is a different story. The danger with you thinking you’ve mastered something is that you might put it aside, always play it the same way and never improve on it because you think that’s as far as it can go.
Best place for it, always keep one on your computer desk and pick it up as often as you can, between long page loads, reboots etc 
Welcome to the party! 
For my cheapies, I have a big St Patty’s Day beer stein with several layers of washcloth cut to fit the bottom so the bell ends aren’t sitting on a hard sruface or if I happen to drop it in the last few inches. For my not-so-cheapies, I have a Jean Cavallaro alto recorder roll which came with my Seery polymer flute. It has enough room for 5 c/d whistles plus the flute. I use a bass bow case for my Copelands (low and high d both fit perfectly!) My MK gets carried in the corduroy sheath it came with in my pipes case which is actually a double take-down shotgun case. Also… I have about half dozen sitting on a tape deck at my computer desk… Hahahaha.
Great question (Mind if I hijack?)
I played percussion as a kid, but hadn’t played anything for … well, let’s just say some vague number of years 
I decided I want to play something … it needed to be (relatively) small, inexpensive (this was before I learned about Whistle Acquisition Syndrome), at least possible to play for fun without expensive instruction, and reasonably not deafening to play in an apartment.
Tried the ocarina … unfortunately, got a soprano … mirrors shattered in the next town over …
Got a kalimba … fun, but not easily tweakable and I sorely missed the chromatics.
So then stumbled upon the whistle Now my wife is a whistle-widow …
(Only thing else I’ve attempted since the whistle is a Melody Harp … at least I can try a few different tunings. Got me some F# and played Brian Boru’s March on it.)
I’d be very careful about thinking you’ve mastered anything on the whistle especially after a week, as there’s always room for improvement.
Ok, let me rephrase…I’ve mastered the songs to a point where people can actually name the tunes with a minimum of squeaks and little children no longer run out of the room holding their hands over their bleeding ears.
Best place for it, always keep one on your computer desk and pick it up as often as you can, between long page loads, reboots etc
I do this if I’m reading on the web or even as I watch tv as long as it’s nothing that needs my full attention.
Is it just my imagination or do people tend to decribe how they came to whistles as a consulation prize? Sometimes a very good consulation prize but nonetheless, a consulation prize.
I was working in a client’s office yesterday, instead of at my desk at home. I was surprised how much I missed having a whistle next to me.
Not here. I’ve tried the fiddle, too. I’m no better on the whistle than I am on the fiddle, but I’m happier on the whistle. Meanwhile, my fiddle teacher said he had tried the whistle but (with sincere regret) couldn’t seem to master it.
Nah, I don’t think of it that way. Need to try different things to find what works for you
I ain’t never got no prize for no consulatin’.
Hello and welcome. I’m nosey. I like hearing how folks found the whistle. Would you mind sharing that with us? Some folks were born into whistling and some folks heard one and had to research what the sound was, and lots of folks in between.
Hi I’m jumping in here too since I’ve been lurking for a few weeks now.
I picked up the whistle recently as well… after sitting in the background at Irish sessions for years (my SO plays Bodhran & banjo, so we got to a lot of sessions). I’ve tried to figure out for a while what instrument I could learn so I could join in. I played Beri Sax & Oboe in the past, so whistle seemed to make sense.
Oh, I’m also learning Bass (for Old Time jams), so the relative small size of whistles is a big bonus.
I figure I have a while to go before I can join in at sessions, but I’m really enjoying the journey!
Welcome RaeAnna.
What whistle are you using or looking to buy?
Welcome RaeAnna.
What whistle are you using or looking to buy?
I started with a black susato, Guy George talked me into that one at a festival. I don’t love the upper register (esp. high G & above) & it’s a bit to loud for apartment practice…
So, my teacher here suggested I pick up a Sweetone. With a little tweaking I’m liking that one much better. Very easy to play. Much sweeter on the high notes & easy to switch between registers… but I’m still not loving the general tone of it. I think I want something purer/sweeter in general, but still with the ease of play & lower air requirement of my Sweetone. But that’s not stopping me from playing this whistle at least an hour every day.
My SO would like to get me a nice whistle, one he thinks won’t be holding me back. I’m not about to stop him & next week I’m going to get a chance to try a friend’s Burke Session D & possibly some other nicer whistles at a festival. From sound clips I think I want a Burke, but I won’t know until I try it.
To my ears the Susato sounds like a plastic recorder on nitrous..
If you get the chance, try the iMpempe. I have one in B/Bb (two bodies, one head) and a D/Eb in the mail a.t.m.
To me they sound every bit as good as the Burke at half the price..
Maybe try the Dixon Trad? Low air requirement. Quiet (comparatively). And a lovely pure top end (IMHO). Inexpensive. Dead easy to play.
Just my penn’orth