As a result of a foolish statement, to whit, that a low whistle is only for those too lazy to learn the flute, and having said that a competent player can make the flute sound like a low whistle if he or she wants to, but it doesn’t work in the other direction, I find myself in the position of trying to record a clip of myself sounding like a low whistle…
The best I seem to be able to do is to block as much as I can of the open space inside my mouth by raising the tongue and then blowing too much air through a slightly too large embouchure. Thus trying to cut out the higher harmonics and create the slightly breathy sound of a low whistle. I also have to try and play with no dynamics at all. It is very hard work, especially at the top end of the second octave. I also need to try to make the octave jumps without any embouchure adjustment, just relying on air pressure and speed..
I find it difficult to consciously drop the hard lower end of the scale and the play the upper end - for my ears - too loudly. Ohh - and obviously any recording of this has to have oodles of reverb
And on top of all that, I still wish to produce a competent rendition of a tune.
Can anyone think of anything else I should be trying?
The clip will be posted for laughs sometime in the next few days, when I’m a bit happier with it.
What kind of low whistle were you trying to sound like? Copeland or Dixon? Cylindrical or conical? Brass or silver? You need to have a specific whistle in mind. (Just kidding)
Any way Michael Eskin has a nice comparison of several different instruments playing the same tune. Listen to the differences between his flute playing and his Low D. My ear is not all that well trained, but I would be hard pressed to tell if his whistle was a whistle or a flute.
…and what kind of whistle player you’re hoping to sound like? I guess the difference would be more apparent in a more tonguing style? However, I do think you can tell the difference and if you couldn’t then why would the likes of Mike McGoldrick (et al.) contemplate using both on a recording session? I ahve several patches to make my electric guitar sound like an acoustic…but it doesn’t, so I have both. And it’s a lower insurance risk to fight your way out of a pub with a large whistle than a wooden flute
I think the main issue is that while I suppose you could mimic the tone and some of the features of a low whistle on the flute, you can’t quite replicate the sound because the tonehole sizes and bore characteristics are different. I actually think a bamboo or other cylindrical flute might come closest in sound to a low whistle, and in fact on some of the early Flook recordings when Mike McGoldrick was playing with them I assumed they were playing low F or G whistles when in fact they were playing bamboo flutes on some of those tracks. Chris Dawson (Rhiannon flutes) sent me some recordings of McGoldrick playing his bamboo flutes, and it made me realize that some of what I assumed was low whistle was actually flute.
Flute newbies with bad embouchures often sound like low whistles. I did and I’ve heard many others that does to. Now adays I don’t know if I could sound like a low whistle if I wanted to, I’ll give it a shot sometime.
I reckon the best way is to screw up your embouchure, and a safe way to do that is to consume large amounts of cheap
whisky
fortunately, I don’t own any cheap whisky
I don’t own any cheap whisky - do you think Talisker would do?
I’m not trying to mimic any particular low whistle - I cannot even get my flutes to sound like each other. I guess an exact comparision would require a combination instrument, e.g. the sweetheart flute and low whistle combination.
I think I’m probably close enough so I’ll try and get a clean recording in the next day or two and then hopefully have it side by side with the same piece played as I would normally play it on the same flute.
For the smart A***ses out there - I am only doing this as the result of being called on to prove a foolish bit of boasting. If I want to sound like a low whistle, then I would play one. I however only own whistles down to low A and G and anything for the low D whistle I would play on my flute and I would use every advantage that my flute has to get it to sound how I want it…
What Henke said. Try rolling the flute in almost to the breaking point while you’re at it (but be sure to leave enough embouchure opening for a straw full of whisky).
This is a really amusing thread. I’d say just suck it up man. Why waste the effort? What’s at stake? They are two different instruments, two different sound making mechanisms (albeit related).
