I was reading some of the older stuff posted on the board (circa 2001). Members make reference there to looking at the “archives” for answers to frequently asked questions. This leads me to believe that the board had an earlier life than indicated by the 2001 original posting dates. My questions are: When did the [original] board begin? and Whatever happened to these archives?
There is some interesting stuff in the posts after 2001, such as: whistle related info (believe it or not), seemingly infamous flame wars, allussions to even more seemingly infamous flame wars that were deleted by Rich, and someone named Bloomfield struggling to reach his 1000th post. It would be fun to look at what, if anything, predates some of these posts – I can’t help it, I’ve always enjoyed history (even ancient history )
Oh yeah, the board’s been going for yonks. I even had two previous incarnations which were (I think) John_Barter and Big_Zambezi. These were because you also had to log on somewhere else or some such (geeky type stuff) and because I’m crap at remembering passwords.
'Course back in the old days most of the talk was about whistles but we still managed the odd punch up along the way.
Coolboard was kind of neat, too. It had this ability via some kind of java plug-in or something to click on a button in a mesasge, and actual record live straight from your sound card…a number of people used it to pass off-the-cuff sound clips, and so as you can imagine, there was a lot more discussion of that nature.
I don’t remember if the board was somewhere else prior to Coolboard…I know I joined around 2000ish, because it was before my son was born (oct 2000).
It would have been so cool to see what some of the more polished folks today were up to back then. I dunno, I just enjoy reading that kind of stuff I guess.
Hope the same fate doesn’t hit this board (post 2001, I mean).
I’m just a lurker, really. But I had some elementary posts, meself. I never, however, had to ask which end of the whistle to blow into…but it didn’t take long to start spinning OT for the Weekender.
If you’re a “newcomer” and you already have 5618 posts you’ll soon have to listen to Murphy lecture you about spending too much time on Internet message boards. You best log off and start practicing your whistle now or you’ll really piss him off.
There was a software upgrade a few years ago, but people’s join dates and post counts remained intact. The colour scheme and general layout changed and naturally brought some griping. The search function was improved.
I believe at that time Rich removed the link to the Archives, which used to be up at the top near the Live Chat link. People would often tell newcomers to “search the archives” in response to standard questions, and the newbies, being newbies, would naturally choose the “search” button rather than the “archives” one.
There was another board iteration before this one, but it closed down a couple months before I joined.
I vaguely recall a really long discussion about using almond oil on wood whistles. Then it was a joke to occasionally mention the topic just to rile people up. There was a lot of discussion about what different whistles sounded like- really no different than today, only more on topic. There were a few trolls who got kicked off and a couple of people who got suspended once or twice. The flame wars were about whistle opinions. I think there were about 3 previous boards to this one?
I should remember since I did it. I know it started on one of the free web-based boards–it was either coolboard or something else that merged with coolboard. Then something happened that made that a problem and then rich stepped up and hosted this board.
There’s a lot of history to C&F that I can’t remember because I’m the kind of guy who can tell you that on American Bandstand, sometime in the late 60s, Dick Clark played a song called “Machines” by Lothar and the Hand People (arguably the first band to use synthesizers) as a rate-a-record segment and the kids who heard it HATED it. But, I can’t tell you much about the history of C&F, even though I was kinda like there for it and everything.
I do remember that the original website was called “The Tinwhistle Table” because it was initially not much more than a page with a table of tinwhistle manufacturers and the whistle keys they made and the prices, etc. I named the NEWSLETTER “Chiff & Fipple” and only later did I go ahead and change the name of the website to Chiff & Fipple. Then, a couple of years ago, I changed the name of the newsletter to “6hole Theory,” a move which has been rightfully ignored by my readers. C&F dates from either 1995 or 1996. I THINK it was 1996.
It’s late at night (1:12 a.m.) with no one else around.
Ahhh . . . a newbie question. As I understand it, it’s not really what is a chiff, but rather what is chiff. It is something that you experience with your ears. A certain sound that a tin whistle produces. Now the fact that I am far more of a newbie than you, JGilder, I shall leave the technical definition to a more learned Chiffster.
BTW, this in no way implies that I think you are a newbie. No sir, not in the least. It’s just that in the past, that was one of those questions folks who were new to the board would typically ask. And, like I said, I’ll leave the answer to someone else who can do it justice.
I saw that post and started thinking, “what year was that?” Although trivia, it could be fun to put on the main site in you spare time >
What I can remember:
I stumbled upon the website in 1996. Actually, it wasn’t a matter of stumbling; it was a focused search for anything whistle related. At that time it was an information source with some “viewer email”. I recall some advice articles that date from 1996-1997 in the “Journal of the Academy of Fipple and Flageolet Surgeons”. I think the newsletter was distributed at that time as well. At least I remember getting it then. At the time, we were living on Orcas Island off the coast of Bellingham, Washington ( 1.5 hr. ferry ride to the mainland) and it was a lifeline to other whistle players.
The first board started in 1998. I can’t remember the hosting service for that one to save my life. It went for almost 2 years at the original location. The hacking and Beavis & Butthead types starting infiltrating, so you changed the location to Coolboard for the added security features. Coolboard lasted for about a year, but we had to move because they were going belly up. Rich stepped in and offered a hosting location in 2001.
I’m trying to remember who was on the original board. Only a handful of names come to mind: Tony Higgins, Bob Pegritz, Loren, Jessie, SteveJ, Tom (Larry?) Madden, dakotaMouse. I don’t think the membership was more than 100 at the time. The very first flame war I can recall was on Coolboard over people unsubscribing because of an NRA comment you made in the newsletter. That was in 2000(?). It consisted of about 5 or 6 posts and then fizzled out. Makes you chuckle now, eh?
Personally, though, I think one of the oddest chapters in C&F history, something which nobody has every been able to explain to me why I did , is the brief corporate take-over of Chiff & Fipple by Martha Stewart’s company.
And, finally, I now proclaim that, arbitrarily, March 25, 2006 will be both my 50th birthday AND the 10th anniversary of Chiff & Fipple. Well, the birthday part is not arbitrary. The anniversary part is. I’m now 99% confident I started C&F sometime in 1996.
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