How does one end a phrase with the haunting “hooo” sound that kind of drops off into nothing? Is it just a recording- echo trick, or is it a skill for the average whistler? I’ve tried exhaling slowly at the end of the phrase, but it just sounds pitiful.
Some whistles do this better than others.
In addition to letting your breath trail off, you can also slowly cover the next lower tone hole (assuming you’re not ending on D).
–James
And for the record, isn’t this particular effect known as “retardo?”
Umm… I don’t think so.
Ritard / Ritardando = slowing down (as in tempo), if that’s what you were going for.
I’ve always referred to it as a “fall-off” (!), and everyone knows what I mean.
Peeplj is absolutely spot on. That’s how you do it.
If I remember my schooling, diminuendo (dim.) is the term for a decrease in volume. If you want it quickly, subito diminuendo. Often on sheet music, dim. is indicated by a stretched greater-than symbol underneath the staff.
Listen to Joanie Madden. She does it beautifully.
I agree with the previous post that some whistles are better than others. I can do dim. with my Dixons, particulary the low D, but I can’t do pretty good it with my Waltons. However, I have to say that I have gotten better with dim. the more I have learned to control the column of air going through the whistle.
The other way you can get it is to run quickly past the listener, thus using the Doppler Effect to allow both pitch and volume to diminish from the listener’s perspective.
Hard to do without using too much vibrato though. Maybe a skateboard…
Jennie
I think I like the Doppler idea! 
But “The Orange Blossom Special” in not Irish Trad!
You could always try putting your finger down your throat… produces much the same effect for me! 
You guys are gross! 
Diminuendo al Niente? Jazzers sometimes call it a short fall.
Maybe it’s just me, but my larger-bore whistles do this far better than my pea-shooters. It sure doesn’t sound like Joannie Madden on Ned of the Hill, though.
That’s what I call it.
To sound like Joannie Madden, I think you need Joannie Madden’s million dollar whistle. I would rather stick to imitating Mary Bergin.
I didn’t understand about Joannie Madden until I saw her play live.
Now I’m convinced she could play better on a perforated soda straw than I ever will be able to on my $140 Burke.
Joannie is a force of nature, and her playing seems to transcend into realms mere mortals can’t reach.
You can buy a whistle like Joannie’s, but it’s not the whistle that makes her playing sound that way.
–James
Two days ago I heard, on the radio, Itzhak Perlman play “Gone with the Wind” with the Boston Pops Orchestra. Same thing. Force of nature.
It’s a wonderful thing. Made me cry.
Too true! I HAVE a whistle like Joannie’s, and I’m sure I’ll never play that well in a million years! (fun to keep trying, though!).
Redwolf
decrease in volume = diminuendo or decrescendo
sliding between notes = glissando
I don’t think that is completely true. Joannie is certainly a talented player. Mary Bergen and Cathal McConnell, I think, are just as talented, but they sure don’t have the same haunting sound. Pure Drop Generation/Clarke sound will never sound like an O’Riordan no matter how talented the player. I’m not arguing that one sound is better than the other (personally I prefer a more trad sound), I’m just making the point that the sounds are different , and to have the Joannie Madden sound, you need a Joannie Madden whistle.
I am probably confused here, but I imitate Joanie Madden’s falling-off sound by letting my breath fall off and UNCOVERING the next lowest tone hole. Am I doing the same thing you’re talking about?