I have read, in scholarly books, that whistles were used in American rural folk music in earlier times, but that they died out. It seems like it may have been Grove’s that referred to these as “tootin’ canes.” Perhaps the advent of the harmonica (being an easily obtainable wind instrument) led to their decline–though whistles are making a comeback.
Anyone have any thoughts?
Interesting philosophy.
Grove’s, eh?
Check out Copeland(Aaron-not whistle maker!)'s ballet, “Billy the Kid”.One of the longer interludes has a written tin whistle part that is an important part of the theme. He specifies that the part is not to be played on flute or piccolo.
I mention this, because ole’ Aaron(despite being a city boy) did a lot of research and was very much into American folk music.
He did want the music to reflect authenticity.
On 2002-07-19 20:24, janice wrote:
Grove’s, eh?
Check out Copeland(Aaron-not whistle maker!)'s ballet, “Billy the Kid”.One of the longer interludes has a written tin whistle part that is an important part of the theme. He specifies that the part is not to be played on flute or piccolo.I mention this, because ole’ Aaron(despite being a city boy) did a lot of research and was very much into American folk music.
He did want the music to reflect authenticity.
The late Aaron Copland, my favorite orchestral composer. I wish I hadn’t lent all my classical cassettes out. It was 5 or 6 years ago. I’m afraid I’ll never see them again. “Billy the Kid” was on one of the tapes I’m never going to see again. I guess I’ll have to go buy another copy. The same person I lent it to ruined my Appalachian dulcimer in the washing machine (don’t ask me how the dulcimer wound up in the clothes washer) it ruined the washer too.
Aaron Walden
I was showing off some of my home made whistles to some retired folks in my neighborhood when one of them said people used to make them out of willow all the time, but that willow of the right size and shape can’t be found any more now that they have cleaned out the valleys and farm right down to the edge of the creeks.
[ This Message was edited by: Rod Sprague on 2002-07-19 22:04 ]
Now that you mention it, in my grandparents’ time they used to make whistles out of willow. They used the bark to go over the fipple and make a windway, I think. I’ve heard the old-timers speak of it. In fact, I think my dad even did, though I don’t think he put holes in it, as an instrument.
My dad’s side of the family have been in this county since the Trail of Tears, being part Cherokee.
I played that whistle solo from “Billy The Kid” when I was in University orchestra. On a piccolo. I think it would have been difficult to use a whistle, since there were key changes. But there might have been time to switch whistles in the score-- but the part I had didn’t say anything about whistles. Stupid publisher. Or maybe, apocryphal story. I don’t know.
Our group plays “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” which Copland used in the “Hoedown” movement in the ballet “Rodeo.” It’s also known as the “Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner” reel. We get a kick out of that at shows.
thurlowe wrote:
Our group plays “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” which Copland used in the “Hoedown” movement in the ballet “Rodeo.” It’s also known as the “Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner” reel. We get a kick out of that at shows.
My grandfather (on my mother’s side) used to play “Bonaparte’s Retreat” on the fiddle. I doubt he’d ever heard of Copland, though.
Hey…Walden. You OK?
On 2002-07-20 02:47, Whitmores75087 wrote:
Hey…Walden. You OK?
Why do you ask?
Yeah, must have been a publishing “edit”.They do some stupid things in the cause of playability sometimes.But the part is definetely there-I don’t remember what key-but I do remember that it was doable.
Besides “Bonypartes Reel” in “rodeo”, Copland uses “MacCleod’s” as the principal theme…(side note-I didn’t even realize it was "Maccleod’s-until I had to teach “Rodeo” in a music history course-and there it was-written in the coursebook!!!)
Now about that dulcimer-just how do ya gi about fitting a mountain dulcimer in a washing machine???
On 2002-07-20 08:36, janice wrote:
Now about that dulcimer-just how do ya gi about fitting a mountain dulcimer in a washing machine???
It’s a lot easier than getting a hammered dulcimer in. You really need a special machine for them. Just another advantage of playing whistle. Just chuck 'em in.
Steve
Hi Walden. Maybe it was because I posted that “you ok?” remark late at night when I was tired, but your comment seemed odd in a sort of Monty Python-esque way:
“My grandfather (on my mother’s side) used to play “Bonaparte’s Retreat” on the fiddle. I doubt he’d ever heard of Copland, though.”
On 2002-07-20 08:36, janice wrote:
Now about that dulcimer-just how do ya gi about fitting a mountain dulcimer in a washing machine???
I don’t know. I left it at their house, and that’s the story they gave me. If it were anybody else I probably wouldn’t have believed it, but it was just crazy enough to have happened to them. Their washing machine had lost the lid on top, and my understanding is that someone had used the dulcimer to prop open something above the washer, and when the unbalanced machine started rattling the house, the dulcimer fell in vertically. Last I heard, they had the Mormon bishop over (they aren’t Mormons), because they thought if they acted interested in Mormonism the LDS Church might let them have funds to buy a new washer. He didn’t.
“old men”???
“my dad made one”???
How the heck young ARE you children, anyway?
I made several willow whistles as a kid - not all of them out of willow. Willow’s just easier because the bark slides off easier. They weren’t instruments, though - just single-note whistles.
On 2002-07-20 16:39, Chuck_Clark wrote:
“old men”???
“my dad made one”???How the heck young ARE you children, anyway?
I made several willow whistles as a kid - not all of them out of willow. Willow’s just easier because the bark slides off easier. They weren’t instruments, though - just single-note whistles.
In my case, I moved out west (well, near Ft. Sill, Oklahoma) from the time I was 5 till I was 10, then spent the better part of the time in the Philippines till I graduated high school.
The people that told me about whistles made from willow did indicate that whistles were made with the finger holes.
I found a book at the U of I library on making home made folk instruments that had originally been published in Dutch, so it had a different point of view from the other instrument making books I’ve read. One instrument that has me intrigued is a fiddle made from a wooden shoe that was common in Flanders. I have a wooden shoe around the house somewhere. . . They recommended making six finger hole whistles from elderberry, because it has soft pith that is easy to remove. They also said that a person that plays such an instrument is viewed as a ner-do-well, as they are more interested in playing a cheap easy to get or make instrument than doing any real work. We don’t know anyone like that, do we? There are elderberries around here, so I hope to try my hand at making some one of these days. The materials would be easy to get, the instrument would be easy to make and cost less than a Meg. The book also had plans for making six finger hole whistles from bones and cow horns. The horn instrument was simply called a horn whistle, but the design was clearly a pibcorn, so the translator may not have been aware of that name for the instrument.
[ This Message was edited by: Rod Sprague on 2002-07-20 23:18 ]
That’s what I was getting at. Grandpa had told me they put holes for notes in theirs, whereas, I don’t think my Dad’s generation did.
Rod Sprague wrote,
One instrument that has me intrigued is a fiddle made from a wooden shoe that was common in Flanders. I have a wooden shoe around the house somewhere. . .
Speaking of homemade folk fiddles, the Apache fiddle is interesting. I just ran a search for it on Yahoo and found the following site:
http://www.library.arizona.edu/musicofthesw/apache/chesley/welcome.html
I have heard of the Apache fiddle. It has one big tuning peg and one string. As it is being played, the pitch is controlled with the tuning peg, so it slides from one note to the next. My family lived in Tucson when my dad was going to school in preparation for his PhD in anthropology, and my mom was getting a Masters in voice at the music school and was an amateur musicologist. She had a record of Apache fiddle that she couldn’t stand to listen to for very long. I was intrigued by the idea of such an instrument, but couldn’t get her to leave the record playing long enough to leave a lasting impression of what it sounded like.
Actually, the idea of an inexpensive wind instrument made for “regular” people is very old. Examples have been found in Egyptian pyramids! They were called ( drumroll)“Tootin’ Common” (rimshot)
Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.