After reading this board over the last five months, I thank all of you for the information that helped me start on the tin whistle. I’m an old ‘60s folk player and have put in over 40 years on the acoustic guitar and 20 on the electric bass. Agent Orange complications forced me to give up actively playing my guitar and bass, so, in order to keep some flexibility in my fingers, I turned to the tin whistle. It’s addictive and I really enjoy it. I started with a Clare two-piece high D and quickly added a Susato high D, C, and Bb. The real awakening came when I received my Burke Brass high D. What a beauty and it plays like the reviews. Can’t really do it justice, but it gives me a much clearer sound than the Susato’s. It’s a magnificent whistle! My last purchase was a Dixon low D. It is an enjoyable whistle to play and has the much deeper sound that, as a former bass player, I can appreciate fully. The songs that I play are far from Celtic traditional music. I resurrected a lot of Clancy Brothers and Dubliners songs and odds and ends that my folk group used to play. Hopefully, with a lot more effort and practice, I can chip away at the more traditional music. Next up is a Burke high Bb and, maybe a Dixon flute or Burke high C. I also have a Bodhran, but if you heard me play it you’ll have tears in your eyes. So thanks again for your help and advice.
Hi tjs and welcome to the coolest board in the universe and the nicest people you will ever meet anywhere!
Happy to hear that you get so much pleasure out of the tinwhistle but coming on to this board it can (read will) become a passion and an obession, just a warning.
Good on ye tjs.
'Twas the Dubliners that got me into playing Whistle about thirty two years ago and I have blown many a Dubliners song in the intervening years alongside many jigs,reels, hornpipes and polkas and never have I regretted one moment of it (apart from that night in Castlebar in the County of Mayo when I took a shine to this German girl in the pub where the session was but sure after a few weeks of eating through a straw you feel like you’ve been doing it all your life).
So you keep on playing them whistles and the crack will never end.
Nice to see another old folky around. I, fortunately, can still play guitar, but the voice has gone for the most part so I’m replacing it with whistle and flute. I live half way between Baltimore and Annapolis and work in DC. Drop me an e-mail some time. Perhapswe can get together and tell each other tall tales of folk and days gone by.
Hi tjs – Sorry to hear you had to give up your guitars, but whistles are much easier to pack around. And it sounds like you already have a major case of WhOA. You’re going to fit in well around here.
No brawling with a Dixon, please – it couldn’t take more than a bash or two. Now the Silkstone Low D could serve as a WMD … as could many other metal ones, I’m sure.
