Hello all! Glad to find a forum such as this. The posts are informative and very helpful to newbies, which I happen to be. I have three questions I was hoping could be answered.
do you know of a website that lists tin whistle teachers? i live in milwaukee,wisconsin and i am looking for teachers in my area.
i am looking for the quietest whistle that i can find. i live in an apartment building and i don’t want to bother the neighbors. any ideas? i have an Oak classic D whistle and a Feadog original D whistle. is the Mack Hoover whitecap the way to go?
are there ways to mute a whistle and still practice effectively?
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thank you for your time.
cranberry - thank you for responding. would that be a good whistle for me to learn on since i am just starting to learn? will it be harder to learn breath control on that model?
The Hoover narrow bore does take a little more breath control, and it clogs easily. I think it could be frustrating for a beginner.
A Sweetone is a better beginner wistle, and isn’t super loud.
I have whitecaps on a Gen tube and an Oak tube and it’s a little quieter on the Gen tube.
Also, if you use the search function and search for the word ‘mute,’ you may find a thread where someone told how to mute a whistle to make it significantly quieter.
I sent you a PM with the email addys of the three whistle teachers I know in Milwaukee. For anyone else who may be interested, they are Asher Gray, Brett Lipshutz, and Sue Van Dyke. I can provide contact details through a PM or email–don’t want them to get spammed!
Hi muldoon—I’m new to playing the whistle too. That’s why I can’t answer any of your questions. If you don’t have a lot of CD’s, this is a good place to listen to some of the great whistle players:
muldoon, when I started I also looked for a quiet whistle, because there was just a thin wall between me and my neighbors. I think the best quiet whistle you’ll find that plays and sounds like a traditional whistle is the O’Briain Improved Feadog, available from Whistle and Drum. It’s especially good in the second octave, where most whistles get real loud. I still play this whistle a lot, even after getting some more expensive whistles. It’s quieter than my Oak and regular Feadog.
I don’t think you’ll find any quieter, though, than the quietest version of a Hoover Whitecap (made on request by Mack Hoover). It doesn’t really play like a regular whistle, though, it’s so quiet and takes so little breath, but I started out on this and enjoyed it.
Maybe I’m mistaken, but any really quiet whistle is going to take some serious breath control to hit the lowest notes without overblowing them, and to learn how to go between octaves cleanly. But I think you have to learn this in any case.
The O’Briain improved feadog is a wonderful whistle overall, and it is quiter than most yet loud enough for a small session (3 fiddles and 2 flutes and the O’Briain did fine).
Does anyone know if there are whistle teachers in Norther New York? The closest big towns to me are Potsdam, NY and Cornwall, Canada.
I have 4 whistles now, but my favorite is my Mack Hoover narrow bore D. Its pretty and I like the sound. Its quiet which is essential, because I’m sharing a residence with my sister, and the upper register isnt that much louder than the lower one. I don’t find breath control to be a problem, and I’ve been dipping it in dish soap water to reduce the clogging. It works.
Hmmm… No one has told of Jonnie Madden’s technique(?!)
Place the whistle in a vertical position with the bottom of the fipple/voicing against the chin. Blow gently across the top of the windway (at the tip) like you are playing a flute. You can adjust the volume with breath pressure.
Another “mute” method… Insert a small block of Balsa wood (cut to size) into the labium ramp area. Try to make a snug fit or use a small rubber band to hold it in place. As you slide it closer and closer to the open window, the whistle volume will get softer until it becomes an airey whisper. I like this method best, because it allows me the option of variable loudness and “whisper mode” over the first 2 registers.
Hope this helps
Thomas Hastay
P.S. Any whistle maker worth his/her salt can make an “air whistle” voicing without a labium ramp. A little rounding on the bottom of the square window is the only trick to it.
I like the trick where you just rest the fipple on the bottom of the lip and blow into the windway to make an airy sound. You can disguingish notes just fine, and it’s very quiet.
I sometimes use a piece of tape as a mute. The tape goes from the top of the head, down into the window and ends inside the tube, as you can see here. I like electrical tape, especially with a black fipple, it’s almost invisible, and can be reused. You can use different widths, I can cover a little more than half the fipple before the sound cuts out completely. On some whistles I have a few strips of electrical tape stuck to the back of the whistle or head ready for use. Very discreet on black whistles or heads. The amount of breath used is pretty much the same as an unmuted whistle.
If you don’t have a lot of CD’s, this is a good place to listen to some of the great whistle players: