I’ve decided to work on having the courage to play my whistle more in the session. I feel afraid to play it in the session because I tend to get nervous and make a lot of mistakes, and it seems that the whistle is a very loud instrument. I usually play flute instead because it is quieter.
I could use some advice or encouragement or something.
The Dixon Trad isn’t very loud and isn’t that expensive. They also make a Dixon SV (Soft Voice) which is quieter and may be what you’re looking for.
I usually play my Dixon Trad at the local sessions. I can hardly hear it in the bottom register but there can be up to 20 musicians so it’s quite a loud session. They’re a good bunch, very encouraging and forgiving of mistakes. I get nervous every time I start a tune. I usually settle down a bit when I’m in to my 2nd pint. 
I find people are very tolerant if you are enthusiastic, are making progress and use some common sense about what and when you play.
It depends on your session but I’d say go for it. You don’t learn if you don’t push yourself now and again. 
it seems that the whistle is a very loud instrument. I usually play flute instead because it is quieter.
That would seem a very strange sort of perception. Usually whistle players take up the flute to be heard in a multiple player situation.
More often than not at a session there are a set or two, sometimes more, that are regularly played. Why not choose a set or two that the strong players often play and work away at home on them for a bit? That way when they play these tunes you can play along with the reassurance that if you make a mistake it’ll go mainly unnoticed, giving yourself a bit of time to get more used to playing the whistle in front of folk..
…also, I’d agree with the guys above. Unless you have a Susato or maybe a chieftain then most whistles are quieter that a flute. The only issue is the higher notes, if you’re a bit frightened of them there can be tuning and squealing issues. Get a quite whistle like recommended above that you can play out on.
Maybe it’s not as loud as it seems to me? Is that what you are saying? That is good news.
I get so nervous I mess up easy tunes like Out on the Ocean.
There’s an interesting contradiction, isn’t there. Because audibility is not just decibels. I think a high whistle can feel conspicuous because of the pitch, even it it’s not terribly loud. OTOH, whistlers sometimes underestimate the audibility of their instrument and think they need a much louder session whistle when a more modest Gen or such will do.
My solution when I want to stay under the session radar (or for quiet practice) is to octave-fold everything into the 1st octave D to d. This keeps the whistle in flute range, and it’s a good skill to have anyway.
Everyone makes mistakes, the secret is to not give a damn, cover them up and keep going (this becomes a skill by itself!). The music still goes on with or without you even if you drop out for a couple of bars. Assuming of course you’re not the only melody instrument, otherwise there’s always that extra pressure on you
I suppose it depends if it’s an open session or a performance, here in Ireland at least open sessions are very loose as you have different musicians coming and going and everyone has a different way of playing tunes and singing songs, even in different keys. So everyone is constantly having to adapt and change how they play on the fly. That’s when you hear lots of mistakes, but listeners with an untrained ear wouldn’t even notice. A lot of people like this though as it keeps the session from becoming stale and boring as apposed to hearing things played exactly the same week after week.
I hope this gives you some encouragement.
At a party the other evening, a bluegrass musician friend was explaining ‘get out of jail’ techniques - phrases of music he knows really well that he can fall back on when he stuffs up/forgets the tune/can’t keep up. He always manages to sound on top of whatever he’s playing.
After a session where I was complimented on my progress (I’m a late starter but surrounded by very encouraging friends, most of whom play) I confessed that I’d fudged a lot (yes, even on Out on the Ocean!). The more experienced musos laughed and said “we all do it” and started to chat about the techniques they use to recover from mistakes and how to fill in when they fall off the tune. It was interesting to hear.
Do you play in public besides at sessions? If you do, do you get nervous there too?
Ha ha, I said Do Do.
Flute quieter than a whistle?? 
You have never sat next to Kieran O’Hare. I think his flute packs more volume than his pipes sounding all 7 reeds.
It sounds as if you need to check out Parks Whistle’s Every Whistle. It has a volume control that allows you to go from a whisper to a volume similar to the Susato or Burke.
I usually choose it for a session as I can quieten it down to a volume less than the sound of me gulping the air I need for the next lungfull. If I know the tune well, I go from 2/3 to full volume depencing on the size of the session.
When playing with the Naomi’s Fancy or The Drones, it depends upon the sound man. I usually pick up my Clarke Original, but if the monitor mix is sub-par, out comes the Every whistle and I adjust the volume so the other band members hear me OK. I tend to turn the monitor so that the band members hear me alright and I am not bothered by the monitor. I am usually stage right and next to the audience speaker, so I can hear myself OK. I usually take a wide brimmed hat as I can hear the whistles better when wearing a hat.
Have you tried playing your whistle as if it were a flute and the fipple hole was the blow hole. That makes very quiet whistle.
A volume control? Like a knob? I’m waiting for the capo to come out.
My flute is pretty quiet. It’s a boxwood flute. It’s extra quiet when it’s cold.
I don’t play in public anywhere else unless it counts that I sometimes play my whistle on Sierra Club hikes.
I’m going to try to force myself to play my whistle more often. I really like the whistle.
Play in public more often. Become that town eccentric you know you can be.
It is sort of like a knob. It has a ring which adjusts the size of the windway and can be adjusted from zero to full volume. Look carefully at the fipple heads and you should see the “volume control”.
