Those of you who like David de la Barre’s “Planxty Dale Wisely” might like to hear my rendition of it… I promise it’s not too damaging to the ears! 
Tony Higgins has graciously uploaded a downsampled version of it to the Clips](http://nwparalegal.com/clipssnip/%3EClips) and Snips tune archive, but you can get a copy of the original version here</A](ftp://ftp.infoave.net/uploads/planxty_dw.zip>here</A)>.
I don’t know how long it will remain available for download, so get it while you can.
Plus, I might add, the first submission to the New Player page has made it in. Bob Corcoran, with 3 months playing under his belt, sent in Inisheer. I’m hoping this will open the flood gates for all the newbies out there. I know they outnumber the old-timers. 
To all the new players: even after you’ve been playing awhile, you still wish you could sound better. So don’t wait for that feeling to go away; it doesn’t. (Or you won’t continue to improve.)
Tony
On 2002-06-02 14:53, TonyHiggins wrote:
To all the new players: even after you’ve been playing awhile, you still wish you could sound better. So don’t wait for that feeling to go away; it doesn’t. (Or you won’t continue to improve.)
I agree 100%, that feeling never goes away… and the single most significant factor in improving my own playing has been recording myself.
Listening to your recordings gives you a perspective on your playing that you can’t get any other way, and I can’t stress enough just how helpful that perspective can be.
Posting to Clips & Snips is also a great way to keep track of your progress… you’ll think for sure that you haven’t gotten any better, then you’ll listen to the tune you posted last year and realize just how much you really have improved.
Clips & Snips is a great public service to whistle players… it’s a pity more of us don’t make use of it.
P.S. Don’t listen to Mick Woodruff and get too discouraged to post your own tunes… few of us will ever be THAT good, and I know that even he still wishes he could play better!
Clips & Snips is about sharing your music, not about trying to compete with each other.
the single most significant factor in improving my own playing has been recording myself.
I’ve been recording my tunes, you can click](http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mustard_seeds/files/%22%3Eclick) here to hear them. These are the ones I have mostly memorized. They are terrible, just to let you know in advance. For one thing, they’re just blown into the mic on my computer and for another thing…I’m still new at this! Be Thou My Vision was the first one I recorded.
I did notice my tone wavering sometimes…I’ve been working to create a more even tone.
Kim
Nice recording, raindog. Gotta love that e-piano accompanyment…
On 2002-06-02 14:53, TonyHiggins wrote:
Plus, I might add, the first submission to the New Player page has made it in. Bob Corcoran, with 3 months playing under his belt, sent in Inisheer. I’m hoping this will open the flood gates for all the newbies out there. I know they outnumber the old-timers. >To all the new players: even after you’ve been playing awhile, you still wish you could sound better. So don’t wait for that feeling to go away; it doesn’t. (Or you won’t continue to improve.)
Tony
I am afraid I must have missed part of the discussion. Tony, what is the purpose of having a New Player page?
On 2002-06-03 11:10, Bloomfield wrote:
Nice recording, raindog. Gotta love that e-piano accompanyment… >
Hmmm… and I thought that was a realistic sounding harpsichord sample… oh well!
I am afraid I must have missed part of the discussion. Tony, what is the purpose of having a New Player page?
I hate trying to locate old threads and I always misquote myself, but…I think someone commented about being nervous about posting tunes, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a beginners’ page, that other newbies could learn from hearing each other and it would identify that a player was new, or someting like that. Maybe not of that was said and I imagined it. I don’t remember. But, that was the idea, anyway.
Tony
Just listened to Bob on the New Players page and I have to say that it is inspirational. I only started 2 months ago and I think that it took a lot of guts to post with only three months under your belt. Great job Bob, it was very good.
P.S. Don’t listen to Mick Woodruff and get too discouraged to post your own tunes… few of us will ever be > THAT > good, and I know that even he still wishes he could play better! >
Clips & Snips is about sharing your music, not about trying to compete with each other.
You got that right! LOL! But at least you can play along with him when nobody’s listening and sound OK…it’s somehting to strive for!
On 2002-06-04 12:23, TonyHiggins wrote:
I am afraid I must have missed part of the discussion. Tony, what is the purpose of having a New Player page?
I hate trying to locate old threads and I always misquote myself, but…I think someone commented about being nervous about posting tunes, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a beginners’ page, that other newbies could learn from hearing each other and it would identify that a player was new, or someting like that. Maybe not of that was said and I imagined it. I don’t remember. But, that was the idea, anyway.
Tony
I guess encouragement to play in front of people or, by extension, to share recordings of one’s own playing is a good and necessary thing if you want to learn. I am a beginner myself welcome encouragement in general. But what is actually being encouraged? Good stylistic playing or soul-bearing? I am probably not qualified to speak on the subject but I do recall several discussions in which those who are much further ahead than I am said that beginners should listen to good players, not other beginners. And this was an objection raised against Clips & Snips in general as a learning tool. Maybe it’s mistaken modesty or something, but I wouldn’t want to post my rendition (read: butchery) of a tune, only to have someone learn to play it the way I played it. It’s not like there is a shortage of good, accessible Irish music recordings out there. Just because we can record and publish everyone’s playing might not be good enough reason to do it.
Hope I haven’t stepped on anyone’s toes; just my small change, as they say.
I think that people will be able to figure out not to learn tunes from versions posted in the beginners section… though they may not have known not to learn tunes by beginners posted to the main sections.
Anyway, I don’t think it will destroy anybody’s ability to play irish music to listen to a few tracks performed by beginners, and it certainly opens up more room for concrete discussions if there are beginner’s tracks, and of course, if the poster is willing to listen to constructive criticism. The board should, I hope, be willing to refrain from the other kind of criticism.
It’ll also let beginners listen to each other and hear each others progress, which may or may not be encouraging… certainly there are beginners in my area who outstrip my learning rate, even as I outstrip others. Listening to beginners who have half your own experience and play twice as well can be a bit discouraging, I have to admit! But I shall not relent! They’ll get my whistle when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers… err, no, wait, I didn’t mean that literally, put down the gun, put down the…!!!
Sorry, tangenting there. Err. Have a nice day and happy whistling. 
–Chris
Bloomfield makes good points. Ultimately, my objective in managing the site is to provide a place for people to share what they are doing. The board is the talk part related to playing the whistle. So let’s hear the darned whistle! Whatever peoples’ motivation for posting tunes, it gives us the opportunity to share a bit of ourselves with each other. If we were artists, we’d have a gallery page, don’t you think?
We haven’t really exploited the opportunities for teaching with this tool. When I read posts describing crans with xxxooo and all, and melody parts with lines of abc’s, I get dizzy and gloss over it. If it were linked to a demonstration, that would be helpful. I imagine some people will work it out from print. I’d prefer to hear it. Either way, it’s work, I admit.
Tony
On 2002-06-04 21:06, TonyHiggins wrote:
When I read posts describing crans with xxxooo and all, and melody parts with lines of abc’s, I get dizzy and gloss over it. If it were linked to a demonstration, that would be helpful.
Well, I’m glad I’m not the only one getting dizzy and skipping those technically detailed posts! (And feeling very musically inferior…) Demonstrations would be helpful to me, too.
Cees
I’m glad you mentioned Clips & Snips again. I finally had time to wander over there. I love being able to hear what people are talking about, and to hear the playing of the people whose words I read. I also found myself hearing things I liked and realizing I would be able to ask the whistler how he or she got that effect. The fancy stuff has to wait until I get better, though. I’m mostly working on things like pitch and clarity.
I guess I really don’t want to hear only professional quality recordings as part of participating here. I love the sound of live music made by real people, not just by the few super-musicians we usually get to hear on CD.
I’ll have to work on the Londerry Air so I can post that. Even that high B is so clean on the Hoover. The more I play that whistle, the more I like it!
TK
On 2002-06-05 02:36, tkelly wrote:
I’m glad you mentioned Clips & Snips again. I finally had time to wander over there. I also found myself hearing things I liked and realizing I would be able to ask the whistler how he or she got that effect.
I went to “Dr. Richard’s” page a couple of months ago where he had put up excellent clips of the same tune, different whistles, so people could hear the difference between the whistles. I did that very thing you mentioned, TK–emailed him asking how he had achieved a certain effect.
Well, not only did he send me several emails back trying to help me, but he also made me a sound clip of the effect I was asking about, played slowly several times and then faster! It was immensely helpful and I was so amazed that a total stranger would take all that time and effort to help another stranger. People on this board are great!
Edited to add link: the above-mentioned link to Dr. Richard’s page is here:
http://www.malware.org/whistles.htm
MCM Transatlantic Whistle Detective Agency - no case too small.
Branches in London and Salt Lake City
[ This Message was edited by: Cees on 2002-06-05 11:00 ]
Just a quick note to say that I have polished the tune up a bit and re-uploaded it.
A friend of mine taught me how to properly impliment a noise reduction filter, so the annoying little hiss is gone now.