My son and I play the fife and also portray privates in the 88th NY Irish Brigade in Am Civil War reenacting. Recently dear son picked up an old tin whistle out of the toy box, all beat up and chewed up, I think he teethed on 16 years ago! Well darn if he can’t still get decent music out of the bloody thing!
So I would like to pick up one or two whistles to learn to play. (They also do not shatter the ear drums of mere mortals when played inside like our fifes!). Ideally something that would be a reasonable replica for the 1860s would be ideal, but with decent tonal quality.
Can anyone share some suggestions? We currently play fifes in Bb and are pretty decent fifers, but I would not say we are ‘muscians’ yet - still have a long way to go, but enjoying it tremendously so far and think the whistle might be a really nice next addition.
Clarkes were the first mass-produced whistles,
starting in the mid 1800s. So I’d say anything
in style of the original Clarkes (rolled metal with
a wooden fipple block, unpainted) would be
considered period.
I’m thinking your only option is really the Clarke. Anything with a plastic fipple would not have existed (I’m pretty sure). Maybe you can get Jerry to “tweak” one of the rolled-metal ones for you.
I’ll pile on with the suggestion for the Clarke original painted or plain. Beyond that any wooden whistle with or without metal trim should be acceptable as well - Sweetheart, Busman, etc. Actually, in these parts anyway, most any whistle seems acceptable provided it’s not all plastic including Gens, Feadogs and Oaks.
Have you considered getting a cheater for the fife? Not a bad next step.
Folks,
Thanks for all the great and quick suggestions!!! We will look at the Clarkes and go from there. I also like the idea of getting more than one to play and practice on at home so may look at some of the other suggestions as well. I am excited about getting startyed with this.
For Feadoggie, I am happy to say we don’t need the cheaters for the fifes. In fact, while we are still reletive beginners, I think we may be able to perform a decent repertoire in the Charlotte St Patricks Day parade withould panic attacts!
I grew up in Charlotte, and I had no idea there
was a St. Patrick’s day parade. Though, I did
march in parades celebrating MLK, the winter
holidays, and NASCAR whilst playing clarinet.
Yes and it is huge! although I an not sure what the dog parade, dance company or Star Wars storm troopers have to do with St Patricks Day! Thanks again!
Shaw/Clarke style whistles, rolled from sheet tin with a wooden block, appear in the 19th century Sears Catalog.
I myself would use a Shaw, being plain (unpainted) tin. Or, if I used a Clarke, I would take off the paint.
As an aside, I used to own a nice Irish flute made in 1860 which I loaned out for a time to a person who played flute in a Civil War reenactment band. Very cool to be able to use an actual period instrument rather than a copy.
o Yes, Clarke is historically authentic and Shaw is period authentic in design.
o Another authentic option would be a reed/bamboo whistle. But finding a good one is hard. There are no mainstream makers, and the cheap imported ones are unreliable.
o I think Cooperman still sells a Clarke clone whistle to the historical museum souvenir market - Old Sturbridge Village, etc. By all accounts these Chinese made clones are very poor players, and may contain unacceptable quantities of lead. So beware.
o For learning to play, I wouldn’t worry about historical authenticity. Get a Clarke, but also a good playing Freeman or Dixon Trad or any standard Generation-style whistle and have at it. The fingering’s all the same, and you can break out the Clarke Original for reenactments.
desultory: 1: marked by lack of definite plan, regularity, or purpose 2: not connected with the main subject 3: disappointing in progress, performance, or quality
You do yourself a disservice, sir. That wasn’t
disappointing in progress, performance, OR quality.
Thanks, for starters I’ll probaby get 2 Clarke originals, one tweeked and one not. I just saw a fingering chart that shows essentially the same fingering for both octaves, which are the same as for the fife’s lower octave. Everything above high D is different fingering on the fife. Funny, but we have been playing all fife fingering on this little old whistle at home and it was not too far off. So I am looking forward to figureing all this out!
Yes, but a period authentic wooden Boehm flute would be a pretty pricey choice!
Thanks … I haven’t finished my morning coffee, so for all I know I’m babbling incoherently. Or abbling incoberently.
Yep. Actually, what you’re calling the fife’s lower octave corresponds the the whistle’s second octave, since the fife’s actual lowest register is not usually played for military fifing. And the high fingerings above d on the fife correspond somewhat to the whistle’s 3rd octave - which on whistle is very seldom played.
But yes, your fifing experience will give you a real jump start on the whistle.
