Oh No! Going to college next year! I can’t sit in my room and play the whistle all day any longer. My roommate won’t like it! The people in my dorm won’t like it! What will I do?
(I’ve been in college for the last 5 years)
Roommate:
a) pay them off
b) make sure you know their schedule, and play in your room when they are in class
Dorm: they’ll be making enough noise, they won’t care. Just make sure to be considerate of people who go to bed early or have to study for something.
If you have any college questions I’d be happy to chat with ya, email me. =)
Cover about half of the whistle’s window with scotch tape - instant whistle mute. If you do this just right you get two full octaves and good playabilty at an incredibly low volume. How well this works depends on the whistle of course. Try taping both horizontally (works best on my Oak C), and vertically (many of my other whistles).
For low whistles: Bum a smoke from someone, break off the filter, jam it into the window, and press it all the way to one side or the other. (Okay, don’t JAM it into the window, you don’t want to damage the blade, so place it in there gently..)
Loren
There should be a lot of people playing
instruments in the dorm–you’ll
find places and people to play with.
I am well am off to the University next year, but I am moving into a house filled with musicians, including two other members of my band, so I’ve got it made. One thing you could do, (if all else fails because this is needlessly complicated) is make friends with a music major. Music majors have access to soundproof practice rooms at almost all hours of the day. If no one else can, they could get you a place to play.
Seth
On a side note, what college are you going to?
Teach them to play whistle!! This would be a terrific way to make friends. You might also put up a notice on bulliten boards seeking players of other instruments, and set up some on campus sessions. You will be really busy with classes, but playing whistle will be a terrific and important way for you to take a break from academics. Trust me on this one.
Hey, me too!
Where are you going? I’ll be at the University of Georgia.
I don’t know about dorms. I’m hoping I can find some nice secluded spot on the edge of the campus or where ever where I can play my whistles and study and whatnot in peace. shrugs
Good luck..
college types…
I am about two weeks from finishing my first year, and I had many of the same worries about whistling…here’s what I have found. First, I play in my room in the dorm, but not too often. I don’t think people like it. Although, I don’t like rap and I have to listen to others people’s rap all the time, so a little Irish music won’t hurt 'em, I figure. I usually play outside. Or I go to the practice rooms in the music building. Although whistles (or anything else for that matter) don’t sound good in those little cubicles. I think the best thing is to find people to play with…and I am still searching. (So if any of y’all are coming to UVA…) But I have to say that until I go home to all my friends who play Irish music, I play mostly by myself, outside…
…marilyn…
College.
I remember that.
When you check in, ask to be put next door to someone with a really big stereo system.
Y’know, when I was in college, the band director used a couple of novelties in marching band - a violin and a piano. Maybe you should try out for the band. I’ll bet they’ve never had a marching pennywhistle before.
As others have intimated, go hunt out the music department and see what they have in the way of practice rooms/modules. Some heavily musical schools even have a module or two in the dorms. The other thing you can do is get a quieter or perhaps lower pitched whistle - feed the whoa.
Paul
edit: dratted spelling conventions
[ This Message was edited by: Paul Patrick on 2002-04-20 16:52 ]
Hey Marilyn,
I just noticed your locale. I’m a grad student here at UVA (dept. of classics, if you’re curious) - go figure, eh? There’s quite a bit of Irish music around Charlottesville. You may already know about it, but I’d be happy to share what info. I’ve discovered. Feel free to email me if you’d like. My email is pm5r with the standard UVA suffix.
best,
Paul
On 2002-04-19 21:58, gemm84 wrote:
Oh No! Going to college next year! I can’t sit in my room and play the whistle all day any longer. My roommate won’t like it! The people in my dorm won’t like it! What will I do?
For me, college was a looong time ago, but I didn’t mind living next door to the fiddler – MUCH better than living in the room below the person who had the loud woofers sitting on the floor…
As for my daughter, who now lives in 1/2 of a 12’ x 12’ dorm room and is learning to play the great Highland bagpipes, her solution is to practice in an open space that the local piping society has caused to be set aside for the purpose. Haven’t seen it, so have no idea if it is a manicured park or a vacant lot – and of course she is in Arizona, so the weather helps out, mostly.
You might seek out a likely park or vacant lot in your area.
Enjoy!
Adrienne
Thanks for the advice everyone! Sorry I didn’t reply sooner, it’s been a busy weekend. I’m going to college in Minnesota. I don’t know if they have practice rooms for rent or no, because some colleges make you pay to use them and all. That’s alright though, I’ll try some of your suggestions. And to the rest of you who are going to college next year good luck!!!
You might want to check with the housing office. About half the rooms in the university dorms where I went were substancially sound proof. Cement floors, cinder block partitions between the rooms, and the accoustic tile on the ceiling suspended from I-beams supporting the cement floor upstairs. These were built to withstand temporary student occupancy for decades. Some students had pianos in their rooms; this is back in the 60’s & 70’s before electronic keyboards became so available.
The music practice rooms were not used because they were sound proof (they weren’t) but because they had piano’s available in them. They were close to class buildings so students coulds get in a practice hour without the 30 minute walk across campus to their dorm. The building also had instrument lockers for the larger, heavier instruments, that students didn’t want to lug across campus from music instruction to dorm.
So check with the university housing office. If you check this early, you may find they can easily move you to a more suitable room if they are available.
Hope this help you in enjoy your college experience and …
It’s simple, really! Borrow a highland bagpipe and spend the first week pretending to learn how to play it. Then switch to whistle. I guarantee he’ll never say a word again!
Otherwise, find a nice stairwell! It’s quiet, secluded, and you get some great vibes!
Hi AdrienneB
I can just hear the announcement over the PA system now: “The weekly bus to the bagpipe practice area will be leaving in ten minutes.”
On a serious note, it’s great that kids in America have the opportunity to try their hand at musical instruments. Here in Oz it’s usually recorder in primary school (unless you’re really hopeless in which case you get handed a tambourine or triangle) and one or two music lessons a week provided your parents were rich enough to pay for the deposit and hire of an instrument. One of my mates in high school really wanted to learn brass and the only way he could get around it was to join the Salvation Army! It turned out they were cool people and very skilled music teachers.
Our college/uni system is somewhat different to the US system, and the only music there is through the various sport and social clubs (unless you happen to be studying music specifically).
Rob (First triangle)
[ This Message was edited by: Mastersound on 2002-04-22 20:53 ]
Hey, now, don’t knock the triangle!!
I was damn good with that thing!!!
Hey Loren:
I tried your tape (whistle and tape both happened to be beside me when I read it) and it really works. I thank you very much.