Reacting to a comment in the previous changing instruments thread, I was wondering how many is too many whistles?
I usually have the following with me at a session:
Keyless flute in D - Main instrument.
Keyed flute in D - usually stays in it's case. (I would use it for slow pieces with F-nat or G-sharp, since my cross fingering isn't really good enough when I have to play the note for any length of time. It is however quieter than the keyless which is why I usually play the keyless.)
Whistle in D - usually never comes out.
Whistle in C for Julia Delaney and all her evil little sisters...
Lowish whistles in G and A - not always with me, but they sometimes come out when someone wants to sing in these keys.
I have an Eflat whistle but don't usually bring it and I am looking into an E-flat flute body to go with my keyless flute - not really very important to me at the moment, but if I had the flute body, then I could imagine myself bringing it along too.
Staying at home are the following:
low flute in A, at least ten other whistles in a variety of keys and qualities, Flute in F, Another keyless in D (my "camping" flute) and a nice Silver Boehm Flute. Plus a few pipes...
Does this qualify me for Eejithood? Does the rationale for the different instruments make sense? (I admire anyone who can play chromatically in all keys on one instrument at speed and by ear, transposing on the fly as necessary. I really do! I can't unless I take the Boehm flute and even then it is hard - but it is not the instrument that limits me there, rather my own transposing ability.)
It is very nice on flute & whistle to be able to get that bell tone.
I have a Low C. On tunes which go down to (middle) C it adds the deep low note which is not on the D.
On a keyless D everyone learns in beginning pennywhistle to finger the C natural (key of G). Ergo ~ the A is excellent for many tunes in D. It works well on some standard tunes where you will be fingering the G natural.
As far as too many whistles ~ not at all. Just get a feel for which one works best for you.
I regularly play with a guy who created a stand for his large collection of whistles - it looks like a giant Irish/Jewish Hanukah Menorah candle stick holder. He has a whistle for each key, day of the week, flavor of the month and soup dejour.
I can't complain - it takes up no more space than my collection of empty pint glasses in front of me...urp...
That other one was a stoopid thread anyway, Chris.
Bring as many as you need and forget about the small minds.
BTW, I recently bought a leather chisel roll for a fiver which holds everything from D upwards (musically speaking - ie D and any smaller ones.) Affords excellent protection for them. Available from any half-decent DIY shop. Good buy I thought.
You can carry a serious shedload of flutes and whistles before you even approach the size of - for example - a banjo case.
I do indeed have a chisel roll, but it is currently full of chisels... Probably it would not be too appreciated if I brought that along to the session? And do I really need a 3/4 inch gouge as well as the 5/8 inch?
On a related note, I once had two flutes sitting on the table in front of me, another player had a set of small swedish bagpipes and several whistles on the same table. This guy comes in and sits down, then plonks his large folder of song lyrics and chords ON TOP OF our instruments! Is this grounds for lynching or what? I personally wished I had brought the chisels on this occasion!..
Chris.
(And the user name is a play on my surname which someone thought out at school abot thirty years ago...)
For a session I have:
Low D (for almost everyting)
low E (for Foxhunter's and other A fiddle stuff)
lowish G (for The Dawn, Tam Linn)
lowish A (for The Bear Reel and some others I don't remember now)
C (for Julia Delaney and some others)
high D (for a few Micho Russel tunes that just don't sound right on the low D)
For studio gigs I bring every key, including C sharp, A flat, B natural, etc. The only key I'm missing is G flat.
Wot! Too many whistles?
Wot! Too many whistles?
Reacting to a comment in the previous changing instruments thread, I was wondering how many is too many whistles?
I usually have the following with me at a session:
Keyless flute in D - Main instrument.
Keyed flute in D - usually stays in it's case. (I would use it for slow pieces with F-nat or G-sharp, since my cross fingering isn't really good enough when I have to play the note for any length of time. It is however quieter than the keyless which is why I usually play the keyless.)
Whistle in D - usually never comes out.
Whistle in C for Julia Delaney and all her evil little sisters...
Lowish whistles in G and A - not always with me, but they sometimes come out when someone wants to sing in these keys.
I have an Eflat whistle but don't usually bring it and I am looking into an E-flat flute body to go with my keyless flute - not really very important to me at the moment, but if I had the flute body, then I could imagine myself bringing it along too.
Staying at home are the following:
low flute in A, at least ten other whistles in a variety of keys and qualities, Flute in F, Another keyless in D (my "camping" flute) and a nice Silver Boehm Flute. Plus a few pipes...
Does this qualify me for Eejithood? Does the rationale for the different instruments make sense? (I admire anyone who can play chromatically in all keys on one instrument at speed and by ear, transposing on the fly as necessary. I really do! I can't unless I take the Boehm flute and even then it is hard - but it is not the instrument that limits me there, rather my own transposing ability.)
Chris.
# Posted on October 8th 2007 by Crackpot
Re: Wot! Too many whistles?
One flute in D. And a whistle in D. (You should be able to play Julia Delaney on a D instrument
# Posted on October 8th 2007 by ...
Re: Wot! Too many whistles?
I can - I prefer not to. It is obviously meant to be played on a C instrument - Lowest note is C, with F-Natural and C-Natural...
Chris
# Posted on October 8th 2007 by Crackpot
Re: Wot! Too many whistles?
As long as you can play them all and you don't use my chair to hold them, I'm cool with it.
# Posted on October 8th 2007 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Wot! Too many whistles?
It is very nice on flute & whistle to be able to get that bell tone.
I have a Low C. On tunes which go down to (middle) C it adds the deep low note which is not on the D.
On a keyless D everyone learns in beginning pennywhistle to finger the C natural (key of G). Ergo ~ the A is excellent for many tunes in D. It works well on some standard tunes where you will be fingering the G natural.
As far as too many whistles ~ not at all. Just get a feel for which one works best for you.
# Posted on October 8th 2007 by Ben Steen
Re: Wot! Too many whistles?
I regularly play with a guy who created a stand for his large collection of whistles - it looks like a giant Irish/Jewish Hanukah Menorah candle stick holder. He has a whistle for each key, day of the week, flavor of the month and soup dejour.
I can't complain - it takes up no more space than my collection of empty pint glasses in front of me...urp...
# Posted on October 8th 2007 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Wot! Too many whistles?
That other one was a stoopid thread anyway, Chris.
Bring as many as you need and forget about the small minds.
BTW, I recently bought a leather chisel roll for a fiver which holds everything from D upwards (musically speaking - ie D and any smaller ones.) Affords excellent protection for them. Available from any half-decent DIY shop. Good buy I thought.
# Posted on October 8th 2007 by Rudall the time
Re: Wot! Too many whistles?
haha- i think that bringing enough instruments to a session is great, but it is also ironic that your user name is Crackpot.
# Posted on October 8th 2007 by rob_handel
Re: Wot! Too many whistles?
Too many is when you can't carry them all in one bag.
# Posted on October 8th 2007 by sbhikes
Re: Wot! Too many whistles?
You can carry a serious shedload of flutes and whistles before you even approach the size of - for example - a banjo case.
I do indeed have a chisel roll, but it is currently full of chisels... Probably it would not be too appreciated if I brought that along to the session? And do I really need a 3/4 inch gouge as well as the 5/8 inch?
On a related note, I once had two flutes sitting on the table in front of me, another player had a set of small swedish bagpipes and several whistles on the same table. This guy comes in and sits down, then plonks his large folder of song lyrics and chords ON TOP OF our instruments! Is this grounds for lynching or what? I personally wished I had brought the chisels on this occasion!..
Chris.
(And the user name is a play on my surname which someone thought out at school abot thirty years ago...)
# Posted on October 9th 2007 by Crackpot
Re: Wot! Too many whistles?
For a session I have:
Low D (for almost everyting)
low E (for Foxhunter's and other A fiddle stuff)
lowish G (for The Dawn, Tam Linn)
lowish A (for The Bear Reel and some others I don't remember now)
C (for Julia Delaney and some others)
high D (for a few Micho Russel tunes that just don't sound right on the low D)
For studio gigs I bring every key, including C sharp, A flat, B natural, etc. The only key I'm missing is G flat.
# Posted on October 10th 2007 by Richard D Cook
Re: Wot! Too many whistles?
D - whistle Susato and Clarke Sweetone
E minor from Generation
B minor form Generation
soon F from generation
# Posted on October 10th 2007 by finofilka