My whistle playing is being hindered by the little people in the house needing to revise in silence. I have therefore taken the decision to purchase a Warbl 2 after seeing several good reviews of this device and how it could be a useful practice instrument.
I know it is a midi controller and I will need to acquire applications to make some sound.
I am interested in any recommendations of apps to consider. Initially my main interest is as a tin whistle I can play in silence. I know it will not a be a like for like experience but it will be better than nothing and as a beginner still, I need as much practice as I can get. I may have to offload some of my collection of whistles to fund it but whistles are replaceable.
I have an iPhone 12 pro so it is a lightning connector. I am assuming the device will dictate what apps I can use and how I can connect headphones etc.
Iāve no experience of using MIDI, but as well as asking here it might be worth framing your question the other way round and looking on Reddit etc. A search on āMIDI apps for iPhone 12ā might reveal some useful info?
Thank you, that is a great suggestion. I do know there is a member of this forum who has been involved with the development of the Warbl in some degree or other so hoping that person would have some great advice for me
Iām a former brass musician with significant hearing issues including hyperacusis, tinnitus and discomfort (pain) via bone conduction, even when playing a muted instrument. The only practical solution left is avoidance, so Iāve found new homes for my instruments and recently acquired a WARBL2 as a means to play music without having the sound source near my head. Itās perfect for that!
I have an iPhone 13 (also with lightning) and connect the WARBL2 using BLE MIDI without any cables. It also works nicely on my Mac with a few extra steps for MIDI setup. I canāt yet get it to connect to my iPad mini 6 and have a tried all of the usual āfixesā without success. Iām not sure why.
As far as listening, I place the iPhone about 4 feet from my head and adjust the volume so I can barely hear it in my practice (i.e., bed) room and close the door. My wife doesnāt hear anything. There are inexpensive lightning to 3.5mm digital to analog converters (DACs), though the Apple version is out of production, to allow listening through headphones. Bluetooth head/earphones do not work well with this setup due to latency, which doesnāt impact (at least noticeably) the WARBL2 connection/feedback to the device itself. I havenāt tried it with headphones as I donāt have a DAC and donāt want the sound in close proximity to my head in any event.
Whether or not the WARBL2 is a good approximation of an actual whistle, I donāt know. Iāve never played a whistle as it will be far too loud given my hearing issues. Iām most certainly a beginning āwhistleā player, working my way through some method books. I use the recommended Celtic Sounds iOS app and quite like the āwhistleā sound.
The WARBL forum ( WARBL Forum - Index page ) is a helpful resources with lots of information about modifications, etc. The maker is also very helpful and answered all of my questions prior to purchase.
Thank you for your reply. I am pleased you have found a solution to allow you to still play āwhistleā. I have seen the Celtic Sounds app mentioned in various places so that will be top of my list to purchase when the Warbl 2 arrives. I will check out the forum too. I certainly donāt plan to make any modifications and hoping with the right app it will offer me the ability to continue my practice in a more silent form when the kids need to do school work. I can highly recommend the Mary Bergin books and also I really like āThe Essential Guide to Irish Flute and TIn Whisleā book by Grey Larsen. Happy Whistling!
Besides the dedicated paid iOS app version of āCeltic Soundsā, I also have a free web-based version of āCeltic Soundsā that works nicely in Chrome on desktop (canāt be used with Safari on iOS or Mac since it doesnāt support WebMIDI).
It also supports custom instruments created with my custom instrument builder, the same one used for creating custom instruments for the ABC Transcription Tools:
And āBagpipes Custom Instrument Factoryā:
I also have āWARBL Sound Labā which is a more exploratory synth environment for use with WARBL:
There is also the WARBL forum on the WARBL website:
Youāll find a bunch of demo videos of the web-based āCeltic Soundsā and the other related tools on YouTube.
Thanks! Iāve been trying to sort the sound near my head issue for years and knew I found the solution with 5 minutes of connecting the WARBL2. I now need to work on some discomfort associated with ulnar neuropathy, perhaps adding a length of tubing so that I can play with the WARBL2 closer to my lap and not bend my troubled elbow as much.
Iām working through the Bills Ochs book and the big Larson book happens to be arriving today. Iāl splurge on Mary Berginās book set at some point.
Also, Apple still produces EarPods with a lightning connector ($19 in the U.S.), FWIW.
Thank you Michael. I was very much hoping you would reply as I had seen you mention the Warbl in this forum in the past. Those are really useful resources. I ordered it this morning and it has already been dispatched so hopefully I will have it in my hands soon and no doubt may have more specific questions.
The WARBL is a highly configurable device. The out-of-the box settings are generally quite usable for whistle emulation, but itās easy to go down the rabbit hole of customization using the WARBL configuration tool.
Yes, you absolutely have to use a wired speaker or headphones with a live MIDI controller and any iOS music app.
Bluetooth audio (not BLE MIDI, which is what is used on the WARBL 2 to send the control data and is essentially instantaneous) has as much as 200 ms latency and is unusable for live music applications.
After closing, the Celtic Sounds app runs in the background, which results in rapid battery drain on my iPhone 13. I canāt speculate about whether this is due to the app, BLE MIDI or the phone/battery, but I thought my phone was failing unexpectedly until learning how to force quit. All is well since then. FYI, since the OPs phone is also older.
I managed to connect the WARBL2 to the iPad Mini 6 after Reset All Settings (Keep Your Data).
Thanks for the heads up on this. Every little helps with the battery life on an old phone
For anyone from the UK thinking of ordering a Warbl2, I ordered mine on Tuesday 8th September and it is arriving Monday 14th September. Pretty quick!!! I had to pay import fees of Ā£57.92
Yes, that is a limitation of Celtic Sounds on iOS. It needs to be able to run in the background to work with other tools, and there is no way to disable it from running it in the background. So, when using it, when youāre done, youāll want to force-quit the app.
It certainly is configurable! Perhaps even to a fault as things can get quite complicated, but taking your time and reading the comprehensive manual will serve you well.
Andrew is amazingly dilligent and very patient, and super quick with responses on the dedicated Warbl forum.
I use Windows and Android and found setting it up to generally be a proper 'mare. I was recommended a separate piece of Bluetooth hardware (CME WIDI Bud Pro) which accepts Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals with ultra-low latency - it works, but existing Bluetooth connection on my mini PC (and my other peripherals) must first be disabled before a connection to the Warbl 2 can be made.
I bought an iPhone 12 mini (runs iOS 26.6.1), partly to accompany the Warbl, and neither Firefox nor Chrome support WebMIDI. However there is a Warbl Configuration app - which has perfectly serviceable whistle emulation sounds for silent practice, and the BLE connection worked straight with no extra peripherals.
Happy Warbling!
P.S. Iām in Barcelona and had to pay about 74ā¬ in import tax.
You are not wrong! I have received my Warbl2 and downloaded the Warbl configuration app on my phone and there looks to a load of settings. I am sure I will never go near many of these, especially as even with my glasses on I cannot read the text on screen. That could be the fault of my glasses though I may suggest to the creator to have a simpler opening screen that offers the ability to get into the finer details. I believe the Warbl is set up out of the box for tin whistle so I should not have to go near these settings when I first have a play of the Warbl. I may change my mind once I have taken the thing out of the box but it does seem a lot of settings on a single screen to be viewed on a phone.
For any kind of serious configuration work, youāre far better off working with the WARBL configuration tool in Chrome on a desktop or laptop computer than on a small phone screen.
