Thanks. Seeing as the Internet is my sole source of information about all things whistles I am always looking for direct comparisons between various whistles that don’t have any sound F/X added to them.
Could you post a bit of infomation on the way you recorded these clips - to my ears they are very clean and free of background noise.
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Could you post a bit of infomation on the way you recorded these clips - to my ears they are very clean and free of background noise.
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Sure can.
These are recorded using a Pentium III computer system and an Audigy sound card. I have a cheapo Creative mike but it actually works well as long as you don’t point it straight at the flute / whistle.
These are recorded in my computer room at home. I live in older apartments, the walls are cinderblock and the floors contrete, so the room with the door closed has a little bit of an echo.
The WAV file I produce isn’t quite as clean and free of noise, but the process of converting it to an MP3 seems to clean it up nicely. I use Musicmatch Jukebox to do the conversion and set the bitrate usually around 54, my goal there is to always keep these samples as small as possible while keeping enough resolution to be useful.
Also the time of day I record (and what mood my neighbors are in) have a lot to do with how much background noise there is.
These samples are recorded in a single take; that is, I won’t take part of one wave file and paste it into another. I don’t add any effects, though I may adjust the volume of the whole clip.
I think the combination of the Audigy sound card and the acoustically live room works well for getting good samples with basically cheapo equipment.
Hi Peplj,
I found sheet music for Broken Pledge (in key of D). Towards the end of the piece there’s a spot where you do a sort of trill or “skirl” on a lower note. I think it’s a G in the second to last bar…thereabouts anyway. How do you do that? It sounds like you are doing a sort of finger vibrato.
Tom
(PS: in Ireland the “Pledge” is a vow of abstinance from alcohol. FYI)
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I found sheet music for Broken Pledge (in key of D). Towards the end of the piece there’s a spot where you do a sort of trill or “skirl” on a lower note. I think it’s a G in the second to last bar…thereabouts anyway. How do you do that? It sounds like you are doing a sort of finger vibrato.
Tom
(PS: in Ireland the “Pledge” is a vow of abstinance from alcohol. FYI)
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That is fingered vibrato. I am fingering G and striking rapidly with the third finger right hand. I usually don’t use fingered vibrato (flattment is the right name for it, I believe) on reels but it gives a sort of feeling of antiquity to a reel when used sparingly as an ornament.
Tom and Walden, I didn’t know that about the title; thank you!
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Your comparison was an eye-opener for me. Good playing can get good music out of just about any whistle, it seems.
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Thank you!
Maybe I’m weird (ok, ok, there’s really no maybe to it!), but I like Clarke whistles quite a bit.
Their main drawback is they don’t have much projection or carrying power.
The Feadog I still have a love/hate relationship with, but out of the whistles I bought last, the Generations and the Meg were very good and get frequent play, and the Oak has turned out to be one really fantastic whistle–if you have the patience to warm it up for ten minutes before you expect it to sound good, that is.
