A Tin Whistle Interest

[jordanjm]

If you are looking for a cheap, easy to learn, very traditional instrument which is not as finicky as a tin whistle, may I recommend a soprano recorder? It has very similar fingering, and it is easier to get down to playing songs, especially on your own. I have a similar musical background to you (Trumpet). You could also get yourself a practice chanter fairly inexpensively. The tin whistle, recorder, or chanter may be a great way to get some music back in your life. I would not get a toy recorder though. School supply stores sell great quality low price recorders.

[OC Richard]

I've done a bit of cheap whistle tweaking and it simply involves loosening the plastic mouthpiece from the metal tube.

What you're describing is simply tuning the whistle: sliding the head out to flatten, pushing it in to sharpen.

"Tweaking" involves much more: filling the cavity to raise the pitch of the 2nd octave (cheapos often have a very flat 2nd octave), altering the "blade", and altering the "windway".

Jerry Freeman does all of these things. On some whistles, where the blade is placed too high in relation to the windway, he glues an extra bit of plastic or metal on the underside of the blade and re-cuts the blade, in effect making the blade lower.

All of these problems with the voicing of cheap whistles comes from the fact that the head is created with a three-part mould, and if the three parts don't align precisely the voicing of the whistle will suffer.

Many Generations and other cheap whistles are made using old moulds which are worn out so misalignment and "flash" results in a poor-sounding whistle. Freeman corrects all of those things.

[OC Richard]

If you are looking for a cheap, easy to learn, very traditional instrument which is not as finicky as a tin whistle, may I recommend a soprano recorder?

A recorder is traditional in Baroque music but not in Irish Traditional Music.

To get the sound of Irish traditional wind-playing you have to use an appropriate instrument, as the style and ornamentation etc go hand in glove with the instrument. Irish music always sounds forced and odd on a Recorder, as it would on a saxophone or any other non-traditional instrument.

And an Irish whistle is far easier to play. There's no thumb hole, no thumb technique to learn to get the 2nd octave, no doubled holes, etc etc.

Anyhow, here's one of Ireland's greatest whistle players, Mary Bergin, playing a cheap Generation whistle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4hos...eature=related

[Jimmy Carbomb]

You need to go and get yourself a couple "Susato" whistles. They're incredibly easy to play when you're starting-out and the cost won't require a second mortgage. You can treat them a little rough and they won't break.

Grab a "d" so that you can play with a slug of Irish "trads"... and find a "b-flat" so that you can play along with piping tunes.

You'll catch-on REAL fast once you get the breathing down for the different octaves.

[turpin]

I just bought a Freeman-tweaked Clark Sweet-tone. Waiting for it to arrive.

[OC Richard]

You need to go and get yourself a couple "Susato" whistles. They're incredibly easy to play when you're starting-out and the cost won't require a second mortgage.

In the Irish trad whistle community, quite a few people don't like Susatos because 1) they're loud 2) their tone is different from the traditional whistle tone and 3) the higher notes in the 2nd octave require good breath control and strong blowing and are very loud.

That being said, quite a few extremely good whistleplayers in Ireland favour the Susato because... they're loud! In a session with a bunch of accordions and tenor banjos and screaming uilleann pipes most whistles can't be heard, but a Susato can.

In my opinion the Susatos get better as they get lower. Susato Low D's play very nicely, and my Susato Low C (old model that has no keys fitted) is possibley the most expressive whistle I've played. I have Susatos for several low keys, going up C, D, Eb, E, F, F#, and Ab. I use Burkes for low G and A.

I have a Susato High D that I only use when I need blasting volume. I don't care for either its tone or its "action", the high notes being a bear to control.

There's an "O-ring tweak" you can do on Susatos which helps soften the high notes: you get an O-ring the size which fits snug around the top of the head, and slide it down until it's slightly overhanging the windway opening.

To get the "old school" sound, the 1950's through 1970's sound as heard on old Mary Bergin, Chieftans, etc albums you need to get a good-playing Generation High D (it was the only D whistle available back then).

[Bing]

Or you can shell out the money for a high-end whistle like a Burke. Michael Burke makes wonderful whistles but they cost over ten times what a cheapo whistle will.

I have a Burke D brass session whistle and it is unbelievable. I have a friend who makes wooden flutes and when he shows up he takes my Burke for a tune or 2.