It’s getting pathetic, every spare moment I have I want to pick up my whistle and toodle, and I can’t wait to sit down for an hour or longer every night to get in some real practice. Mind you, it’s great for the soul and for finger agility, but what about my poor family? Are they going to kick me out into the street? Is there a name for this disorder? And a way of tempering it???
Robin
The answer to your thread question is because you probably have a need to express yourself that is unmet in your other life activities.
Whistle is the most direct musical expression i have ever found and I have played around with lots of instruments.
Don’t suffer needless angst about it. Its relatively cheap, its good to make yourself BREATHE, and you have the potential to enjoy a wonderful body of music that suits it.
Even if its compulsive on your part, think of all the other compulsive habits people have. The worst result I can think of off-hand are sore lips, compared to drug addiction, tv reality abstraction syndrome (yeah, I made up that one), 1800 porn/gambling whatever bills, etc etc.
i have stayed up to the wee hours whistling and whistling and never felt BAD for having done so, but rather proud of smooth rolls that were briefly attained!
You are DOING something, not WATCHING somebody else do something…I just can’t see the bad here…
Perfesser vonWeeken
Do you have a whistle in your car yet? There are some 2 jig lights in my town…
I drive my family nuts, too. Be kind to them, buy a low D (whistle or flute - your choice), because it’s so much easier on their ears!
I don’t have a whistle in my car yet, BUT one of my soon to be future posts was going to be what whistles can withstand the rigors of car life (extremes of heat and cold)! I have a Sweetone D, think it would hold up? Maybe I could even get in a couple of licks between work and daycare…
Robin
We are all here for you. I have only been tooting for just shy of 2 months now and I too play every moment I can. I have a Little Black D in the car that whip out while waiting in the Burger King drive-thru, bank drive-thru, red lights, etc. I go to the furthest corner of my home and play till 2 am while my family sleeps unknowingly. In between turns of monopoly with my kids and wife just now, I got a quick tune in.
It feels so good to be so addicted to the fipple!!!
bob
So how tough is the flute? I have a standard flute from my high school days, and I admit that I will NEVER master that instrument, though reed instruments are fine, as is whistle. So, is it possible to play more than 1.5 octaves on an Irish flute? Do I have to have the embouchere of an Amazon?
One of the things I am just loving about the whistle is that I can just pick up the thing and play it–no assembly required, and it sounds great after just a couple of passes. The drool is taking some adjusting to, but I’m used to being drooled on!
Robin
There’s no resisting it. Even 12-step programs don’t work, because anytime you get two or more whistlers in a room together, it turns into a session!
Ah well…I suppose there are worse things to be addicted to. 
Redwolf
I thought I was the only one. I have an office in the back of the house. I have to sit back here with two doors closed between me and the family room. I’m afraid to play for my wife-early on when I was first learning, she had some harsh critisism. I told her that was good-I’m so ornry, knowing she didn’t think I played well has pushed me to stick with it. When I try to play for other people and she sees they are impressed a little, I think I see some pride there(though she tries to hide it.)
I used to keep a black sweetone D in my truck but it looks like a toy. I would put one of my brass ones in there but it’s 20 degrees out and I don’t want to get my lips stuck to it.
Spittin - Getting a sound out of the Irish/simple flute is, in my opinion, no more difficult than a Boehm, and you can get about 2.5 octaves with cross fingerings. However, I also suggested the low D whistle which gives you the benefit of the fipple/no assembly thing while having the less strident lower sound of the lower pitched whistle. No need to switch to flute if you’re loving the whistle, but lower whistles are easier on loved ones’ ears.
On 2003-01-13 20:07, spittin_in_the_wind wrote:
I don’t have a whistle in my car yet, BUT one of my soon to be future posts was going to be what whistles can withstand the rigors of car life (extremes of heat and cold)! I have a Sweetone D, think it would hold up? Maybe I could even get in a couple of licks between work and daycare…>Robin
Dixons melt in a hot car.
I leave my crappy brass Feadog, which I hate, in the car. It stands up to heat (no cold weather here though) and rough treatment. I accidentally closed the car door on the mouthpc. It cracked, finally making the whistle tunable. Amazingly, it has also improved the tone of the whistle. It’s less scratchy now.
So all those Gen/Feadog type whistles should be ok for car duty.
Hey Spittin!
Count yourself lucky that your obsession is to PLAY the whistle every chance you can. There are people on this board who’s obsession is to BUY another whistle every chance they can!!!
On 2003-01-14 00:24, skywatcher wrote:
Hey Spittin!
Count yourself lucky that your obsession is to PLAY the whistle every chance you can. There are people on this board who’s obsession is to BUY another whistle every chance they can!!!
Oh well…give him time! That’s a later manifestation of the disease. It comes after you realize that it’s so much fun to play different whistles, and they’re so affordable, you can have a whole bunch to play.
Speaking of obsessions…I wasn’t going to play today because my tendonitis has been so bad (when it flares up, not only my hands, but my arms up to the elbow, get swollen and sore). Then I made the mistake of picking up a whistle “just to try something out.” An hour and a half later my husband asks me “haven’t you been practicing a long time? I thought your hands hurt!” I’m afraid they REALLY hurt now, but I didn’t even notice when I was playing. Time to break out the extra-strength Ibuprofen!
I think these pretty things need Surgeon General warnings!
Redwolf
I see some symptoms already… the tell-tale curiosity as to which whistles are good to keep in a car… soon the chiff question will arise, then wondering if anyone knows any local stores that sell whistles, then finding the internet shops, and then it becomes terminal. If only we could isolate that vaccine!
I have to second The Weekender’s point about whistling and music being an essentially healthy pursuit, even if it is an obsession. We’re all so used to mediated reality–movies, TV, radio, the American cult and culture of fame–that we forget that our lives are supposed to be spent living, actively, not watching someone ELSE live!
Another great thing about music is that it’s cleaner and more enviromentally friendly that some other artistic pursuits. There’s all sorts of arts and crafts that one can do that requires constant supplies and then when you’re done, you have a THING. You’ve got to make space in this crowded world (or your crowded home) for another posession.
But music (and dance too) is great because you create something both beautiful and transitory. When you’re all done, you created no waste! I suppose one could argue whistling could be considered noise pollution, but I doubt any of us really play THAT badly…
I go to sleep thinking about flutes and whistles, dream about flutes and whistles, wake up thinking about flutes and whistles, and spend my days looking at them, touching them, and playing them on and off. Pathetic!!!
On 2003-01-14 15:44, JessieK wrote:
I go to sleep thinking about flutes and whistles, dream about flutes and whistles, wake up thinking about flutes and whistles, and spend my days looking at them, touching them, and playing them on and off. Pathetic!!!
Pathetic or not, it’s very familiar.
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
On 2003-01-14 15:44, JessieK wrote:
I go to sleep thinking about flutes and whistles, dream about flutes and whistles, wake up thinking about flutes and whistles, and spend my days looking at them, touching them, and playing them on and off. Pathetic!!!
Freud would have had a field day!
Just kidding - still on my first cup of coffee!
Jens
Glad to hear its not just me!
At first my family cringed when I got out my Feadog whistle. Then when I got my Susato D, they complained that it was too loud. Now with my Susato VSB in D(thanks Santa!), I can hear them all humming along with the tunes as I play.
Sometimes my wife continues to hum some of the tunes for an hour after I’m done practicing. I think they must be getting used to it (perhaps I’m getting better?)
I’ve gotten some strange looks when I’m sitting in Atlanta traffic playing a whistle (only when stopped!..never while driving).
Cheers