I have noticed in recent discussions that the low whistle and its ever-increasing cohort of devotees have become the focus for widespread denegration. This sort of bad vibes used to be reserved for bodhran players, and, to a lesser extent, guitar players. Is there a secret society out there of men with small hands who have gotten together and are making a covert attack on the low whistle, or is it the case that low whistle players deserve the abuse?
"You really can't hear it in a session" is basically the response I've gotten a from a few people who I've known to play the low whistle. I guess maybe the bodhran has been discovered as too audible for a person just looking to play something in a session. I guess the air guitar will be the next big thing after the low whistle phase runs its course.
The low whistle is a horrible instrument and dare I say it, not so 'traditional' at all. Was it not for Ceilne Dion and that Titanic song, this instrument would not be so common at sessions., because thats the type of music low whistle players really like.... ceilne dion and stuff like that.
AND, on behalf of all the other men out there with small hands like myself, big is not always better! The insecurities of men with small hands are not always rooted further south, so not all of us are intimidated by men with biger instruments.
I have banned them in my band - one of my fiddlers thought that low-whistle was easy to play. After a year he was still only playing slow airs - and not very well.
He now agrees that low-whistles are only good for mending drainpipes or for building scaffolding. On the plus side, he did cause a fair amount of mirth in the band when he found out how to make whale and seagull noises on it.
His latest party trick is to play the theme from Psycho on fiddle with his fingers right up to the bridge.
Just to prove it doesn't just happen in sessions - A local music teacher had been teaching his kids about intervals by encouraging them to play two whistles at once to get various intervals. The kids marched around the village playing diminished fifths (diabolus in musica) untill the farmer stopped them as they were upsetting the animals.
As both low whistle and bodhran player let me protest! If some instrumentalists want to be unfriendly and horrible they will always find a victim as I found out at various sessions. The only answer I could find is to keep playing and annoy them out of their unfrienliness and snobbery so that gradually they grow to actually like your playing. If we ban low whistles from sessions, the next step is to ban flutes as well (as they sound nearly the same) and after that we'll only have fiddle orchestras
In the right hands, however, it can sound brilliant. Like any instrument, it is not the instrument that ruins the sound, its the player.
If the problem is that no one can hear it, why ban it? (After all, if a tree falls in the woods, and no one hears it...........)
One of the difficulties with the low whistle is intonation. You have to give each note exactly the right pressure to play it in tune. And this has the disadvantage of completely nullifying any dynamics. (Not a problem on stage though, if you have good microphone technique)
Paddy Keenan, John McSherry, Fra McIlduff, Mike McGoldrick, Cormac Breathnach, about a hundred noted pipers... obviously these guys haven't a clue.
There's a tune on one of the Bothy Band LPs, probably After Hours, with Paddy Keenan and Matt Molloy playing some slides as a flute/low whistle duet. it's brilliant.
With the right instrument and the right musician it can have a great sound.
I think Merlin and some of the others here are a bit hard on the low whistle players!
My friend Narcu there is quite a good low whistle player, he and another young musician playing pipes and low whistle were a great addition to the session in the springhill last week. Hope to see you back on the north coast soon Narcu, with your low whistle proudly tucked under your arm!
I will not be intimidated and made to back down by those who wish to use the names of great players to back up their flimsy arguments. As I said bigger is not always better.
No, proinsasrua, I don't think I have been hard enough on the low whistle players. You should tell you friend to stick to the pipes. I could tell him where to stick his low whistle....
A friend of mine, Ruari Mc Cann was attacked once by a crazed low whistle player and badly beaten up. They are dangerous people. Poor old Ruari has never been the same on the bodhran since.
Umm, kinda sorta. In person, anyway (and on a decent recording) they are quite distinct.
They are like bodhrans in that they *look* easy to play, and therefore attract the people who want to invest minimal effort into playing. You can't really same the same thing for pipes, flute, or fiddle.
The main problem with the low whistle is that the holes are huge and far apart. In the hands of anyone but a master with hands big enough to grasp Giant Haystacks round the thigh, this leads to an inagility that limits most practitioners to stick to slow airs and other slow tunes. They also get tempted into Seltic music because the new-age floatiness gives them time to cover the holes, and that makes their solo spots popular with people who want REALK Irish music, not that diddley stuff.
That said, I think the Beazley low D is a corker. Small holes, similar spacing to a flute, quiet but with a buzz on the low notes that puts it in a wonderful class of its own.
Well as someone who loves my low whistle and wishes I could play it better I was finding myself disagreeing with this whole thread as a disgraceful attack on a beautiful instrument.
As I said I was disagreeing...... but then Shushpan brought her fabulous insight into the debate and I found myself suddenly agreeing with Narcu and co as horrible memories started flooding back. I think I need therapy.
Alistair, you are just one more person on a long list requiring therepy as a result of the low whistle bunch. Poor Ruari!
It anoys me haw many pipers carry low whistles and how often they choose to play the low whistle over the pipes. The pipes are the greatest of all the ITM instruments, they let them selves down when they take out the big whistle.
As a percussionist, that would be like me a dholak instead of instead of the bongai to a sessun! Could you imagine it!!!
Of course the pipes of the Irish tradition are humble in comparison to the majesty of those in the Scottish tradition where pipes are shown to have real power and where there is a true realisation that having a second octave is entirely unnecessary.
You cant hear a mandolin or a mandola playing tunes at a session yet they seem to be idolised more than banjo players for it, the low whistle pushes out the same frequencies as a six hole flute so you are treading on dangerous territory to say the flute is crap. low whistle or tin whistle ? both good sounding instruments if they are well played.
Plus the low whistle requires more skill than a goat 's ass skin and produces sweet music. I dont play either but I would rather 3 low whistles per bodhran at any session.
"It anoys me haw many pipers carry low whistles and how often they choose to play the low whistle over the pipes. The pipes are the greatest of all the ITM instruments, they let them selves down when they take out the big whistle."
The reason many pipers do this is that pipes are a fixed pitch instrument. For all intents and purposes, they have one volume (yeah, you can argue about open and closed and such things, but as compared to everything else, they have one volume). I've sat next to a many a fiddle player at a session, who upon hearing a tune he thinks he knows, faffs about for a bar or two quietly until he figures out how much or how little of the tune he actually knows. If he half knows it, he continues playing softly and if he really knows it, he picks up the volume. On pipes you can't do this gracefully. You have to be 100% committed to the tune because everyone's going to hear your noodling about as you attempt to figure out whether you know it or not. But if you hear something you think you play but you're not 110% sure of it, you can fuss about on the low whistle inobtrusively in a way you can't on the pipes.
You should be estatic when a piper whips out his or her low whistle, because if they're playing the whistle, you probably don't want to hear what that tune sounds like on the pipes. It's really better for everyone.
My god dudes.... he's f***ing with you man! Is irony just something you or your better half does to your shirts when they come out of the dryer?
Of course the low whistle, like the high whistle can be a great instrument in the right hands, Rory Campbell (the guy with Old Blind Dogs) is a prime example. Marc Duff (former Capercaillie and my whistle tutor is another). In fact the list is endless. Of course there are people who gravitate to the low whistle because they want to play the Lonesome Boatman whilst looking positively pained or see it as the next step on from their shaky egg. It is not. It is a perfectly valid traditional instrument and is every bit as difficult to master as many other instruments. Too many people see the whistle (especially the high whistle) as a first step before taking up a "proper" instrument like the flute or pipes. This is c*ap. It is not something to be picked up by a 5 year old because he is too young to learn anything else. In the right hands it knocks most other melody instruments out of the park.
Anyway.... rant over!
Meanwhile well done Merlin Cocaio - you are due to your clever use of wit exposing lots of deep-seated prejudices like (and I am paraphrasing here):
- I don't like "goat's ass skin"
- Many whistles are fun novelty items.
- Low whistle players all play "Seltic" music and New age stuff. (I presume by Seltic you meant Celtic FC music and presumably you are tying Irish rebel music into that as well (a huge assumption in itself) - can't really see the new-age appeal in that.)
- Pipers opt for the whistle because it is quieter than the pipes so therefore if they can play a tune well they opt for the pipes (assumption - superior instrument) and if they don't know it then they choose the whistle. This is of course the only reason they would choose the whistle. Notions of the particular tune not fitting into the range of the pipes does not figure in my thoughts at all. Neither does the idea that for some tunes the whistle might produce a more suitable sound. I am only thinking about that grading of traditional instruments that was fashioned on here a while ago - with pipes and fiddles at the top.
So well done merlin - and don't worry I have not spoilt the joke. The argument will now follow - as I found out myself a few months ago - "no he is not joking", "yes he is", "he is HALF-joking, but really he is serious", "whistles are great", "whistles are cr*p" and so on and so on and so on.
"Pipers opt for the whistle because it is quieter than the pipes so therefore if they can play a tune well they opt for the pipes (assumption - superior instrument) and if they don't know it then they choose the whistle. "
That is one good reason to have one on hand. Certainly not the only one. But it's a bit silly of you to conjecture that I therefore think the whistle is inferior to the pipes because of my previous post. A does not equal B. I was specifically aiming my response at Merlin's post asking why pipers bother with low whistles, not stating how I generally feel about pipes and whistles.
Paddy Keenan said he used to make low whistles out of downed tv antennas and sell them to tourists. Not in concert pitch or any pitch for that matter but they made a sound.
The jazz drummer next door tells me I can't do anything on a bodhran that he can't do on a drumkit. I disagree. A flute (esp. concert) will do everything a low whistle will do and sounds more manageable to me ??????
I find that a tin whistle sounds screechy and annoying, especially when one is beginning. Low whistles have a much mellower sound, and I'm still learning it (while I've tried and failed to learn tin whistle twice). I think that the low whistle has an entirely different sound from any other instrument, and I, for one, like it. As for the new-age floatiness aspect, well, tough. Eight million pretentious singer-songwriters play guitar; does that mean you guys are going to go out and hate on guitar players? Well, yes, it does. But that's not the point.
And if you can't hear it at a session, well, what in God's name are you whining about it for?
The low whistle is a magnificent instrument and I am a stout defender of its capabilities. Those that complain about it are most likely not worthy of its charms. Besides, what better instrument to have in your hands should the punters have one or two too many?
The problem with the low whistle and sessions is that it doesn't really belong. It's more of a soloist's thing. But, like the bodhran, people see it as an easy way to participate in a session. Low whistles have annoyed me at sessions, not because I don't think they can sound great, but rather because incessant off-pitch noodlers usually are the ones playing them.
What a shame you don't get to hear good whistle players. In Belfast there's a great young piper called Patrick O Hare who plays now and again with Fra McIlduff, another top class piper. You should hear those two let rip on the low whistles - hard to beat.
Merlin Cocaio I need help. I play low whistle in sessions.
Please help me to stop playing this horrible (and dare you say it not so traditional) instrument. Please help me to stop learning tunes, working on ornamentation and generally having a huge amount of fun not playing that Titanic song.
As I have big hands I am extremely insecure.
Please tell me where to stick my low whistle.
Please can I have some therapy as a result of the low whistle bunch? (Are the low whistle bunch anything like The Hair Bear Bunch?)
If you could teach me how to play tunes on any of the following instruments I would be extremely grateful:
Irish Bodran, Bongai (plural of Bongo), Dholak, Swiss Cow Bells, Thunder Machine and the 'Bones'.
I don't want this discussion to become personal Alistair, but I find it a bit hard to understand you sometimes. If you love your instrument, you should not agree with those who attack it and if you wish you could play it better, you should keep playing. That's just logic!
But having woodwind players, percussionists, and bowed instrumentalists (who doubles on brass) in the same household, I'd have to say that I'm forced to be an equal-opportunity instrument supporter.
I like the low whistle...have one, can't play it well, but that hasn't stopped me from trying. I just try to make sure I don't muck up a session in the process.
Now, if only I could figure out how to properly use that tipper thingy...
Yes, have to agree with the majority here low whistles and players are a loathsome breed. Now there are some good players I will admit but they appear mainly on CDs. The people who try to play this "instrument" in sessions invariably have no clue about how to blow it properly or get clean notes and it ends as a whispery, out of tune type of sound. Yes I would say, pipers, stick to the pipes and stop messing with wind instruments. Have you noticed the number of pipers too who seem to think they can automatically play the flute without any apprenticeship - they seem to think "shure its easy" and we're brilliant pipers so now we are automatically brilliant pipers too. Rant over!!!
yeah what ever..........
This thread confirms that a large number of wannabe ITMers are whack and need a life. They should spend their time learning music (and listening closely to it too.) Appreciation goes farther than posing. Get your act together don't try to discredit others.
Or log off and have a frickin drink!!!!!!!!!!!
Another asshole heard from:
"The low whistle is a horrible instrument and dare I say it, not so 'traditional' at all. Was it not for Ceilne Dion and that Titanic song, this instrument would not be so common at sessions., because thats the type of music low whistle players really like.... ceilne dion and stuff like that."
So, what do you play, maestro? And, the Celine Dion thing is an insult. Grow the feck up. Any day, I am a better musician than you. Do you er, listen to music at all?
Penis envy? All that stuff about big hands certainly suggests it.
They also get tempted into Seltic music because the new-age floatiness gives them time to cover the holes, and that makes their solo spots popular with people who want REALK Irish music, not that diddley stuff.
err, no. I can fit more than enough ornaments in, though perhaps not as many as a top class banjo player! lol.
I love it when someone searches the archives.
Some good discussions have been submitted previously. That is tradition right ~ timeless connections past, present, & future?
Check this out way, way, back when what was the 1st discussion to mention Celine Dion & 'Titanic' ? I know,silly trivia, but it includes some of the early members.
I guess my only comment is my love of Irish flute. Some of my favourite players are on this instrument. A few, usually younger, are capable of piping out some lovely tunes on a whistle of any size. I cannot fault anyone merely on the basis of their choice of instrument. I do like to keep a sense of humor though.
Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
I have noticed in recent discussions that the low whistle and its ever-increasing cohort of devotees have become the focus for widespread denegration. This sort of bad vibes used to be reserved for bodhran players, and, to a lesser extent, guitar players. Is there a secret society out there of men with small hands who have gotten together and are making a covert attack on the low whistle, or is it the case that low whistle players deserve the abuse?
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by An Deargán
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
"You really can't hear it in a session" is basically the response I've gotten a from a few people who I've known to play the low whistle. I guess maybe the bodhran has been discovered as too audible for a person just looking to play something in a session. I guess the air guitar will be the next big thing after the low whistle phase runs its course.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by Jason G
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Indeed and about time too.
The low whistle is a horrible instrument and dare I say it, not so 'traditional' at all. Was it not for Ceilne Dion and that Titanic song, this instrument would not be so common at sessions., because thats the type of music low whistle players really like.... ceilne dion and stuff like that.
AND, on behalf of all the other men out there with small hands like myself, big is not always better! The insecurities of men with small hands are not always rooted further south, so not all of us are intimidated by men with biger instruments.
Give me a badly played bodhran any day.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by merlin cocaio
Re: Low whistle - it is the new bodhran?
I have banned them in my band - one of my fiddlers thought that low-whistle was easy to play. After a year he was still only playing slow airs - and not very well.
He now agrees that low-whistles are only good for mending drainpipes or for building scaffolding. On the plus side, he did cause a fair amount of mirth in the band when he found out how to make whale and seagull noises on it.
His latest party trick is to play the theme from Psycho on fiddle with his fingers right up to the bridge.
Just to prove it doesn't just happen in sessions - A local music teacher had been teaching his kids about intervals by encouraging them to play two whistles at once to get various intervals. The kids marched around the village playing diminished fifths (diabolus in musica) untill the farmer stopped them as they were upsetting the animals.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by geoffwright
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
The low whistle is a loathsome instrument. Don't know where it surfaced but I have a feeling a Dublin piper was responsible.
Horrible!
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by cluaintarbh
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
As both low whistle and bodhran player let me protest! If some instrumentalists want to be unfriendly and horrible they will always find a victim as I found out at various sessions. The only answer I could find is to keep playing and annoy them out of their unfrienliness and snobbery so that gradually they grow to actually like your playing. If we ban low whistles from sessions, the next step is to ban flutes as well (as they sound nearly the same) and after that we'll only have fiddle orchestras
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by shushpan
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
In the right hands, however, it can sound brilliant. Like any instrument, it is not the instrument that ruins the sound, its the player.
If the problem is that no one can hear it, why ban it? (After all, if a tree falls in the woods, and no one hears it...........)
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by AlBrown
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
One of the difficulties with the low whistle is intonation. You have to give each note exactly the right pressure to play it in tune. And this has the disadvantage of completely nullifying any dynamics. (Not a problem on stage though, if you have good microphone technique)
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by llig leahcim
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Paddy Keenan, John McSherry, Fra McIlduff, Mike McGoldrick, Cormac Breathnach, about a hundred noted pipers... obviously these guys haven't a clue.
There's a tune on one of the Bothy Band LPs, probably After Hours, with Paddy Keenan and Matt Molloy playing some slides as a flute/low whistle duet. it's brilliant.
With the right instrument and the right musician it can have a great sound.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
I think Merlin and some of the others here are a bit hard on the low whistle players!
My friend Narcu there is quite a good low whistle player, he and another young musician playing pipes and low whistle were a great addition to the session in the springhill last week. Hope to see you back on the north coast soon Narcu, with your low whistle proudly tucked under your arm!
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by proinsiasrua
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
I will not be intimidated and made to back down by those who wish to use the names of great players to back up their flimsy arguments. As I said bigger is not always better.
No, proinsasrua, I don't think I have been hard enough on the low whistle players. You should tell you friend to stick to the pipes. I could tell him where to stick his low whistle....
A friend of mine, Ruari Mc Cann was attacked once by a crazed low whistle player and badly beaten up. They are dangerous people. Poor old Ruari has never been the same on the bodhran since.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by merlin cocaio
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
A low whistle sounds like a flute??
Umm, kinda sorta. In person, anyway (and on a decent recording) they are quite distinct.
They are like bodhrans in that they *look* easy to play, and therefore attract the people who want to invest minimal effort into playing. You can't really same the same thing for pipes, flute, or fiddle.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by wormdiet
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
The main problem with the low whistle is that the holes are huge and far apart. In the hands of anyone but a master with hands big enough to grasp Giant Haystacks round the thigh, this leads to an inagility that limits most practitioners to stick to slow airs and other slow tunes. They also get tempted into Seltic music because the new-age floatiness gives them time to cover the holes, and that makes their solo spots popular with people who want REALK Irish music, not that diddley stuff.
That said, I think the Beazley low D is a corker. Small holes, similar spacing to a flute, quiet but with a buzz on the low notes that puts it in a wonderful class of its own.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by LastToFinish
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
I have however enjoyed Eoin Duignan's recordings on which he plays the low whistle, but then again I'm missing the point.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by Kheelch
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Flimsy arguments????
Splutter!
I nearly choked on my babycham.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Well as someone who loves my low whistle and wishes I could play it better I was finding myself disagreeing with this whole thread as a disgraceful attack on a beautiful instrument.
As I said I was disagreeing...... but then Shushpan brought her fabulous insight into the debate and I found myself suddenly agreeing with Narcu and co as horrible memories started flooding back. I think I need therapy.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Alistair, you are just one more person on a long list requiring therepy as a result of the low whistle bunch. Poor Ruari!
It anoys me haw many pipers carry low whistles and how often they choose to play the low whistle over the pipes. The pipes are the greatest of all the ITM instruments, they let them selves down when they take out the big whistle.
As a percussionist, that would be like me a dholak instead of instead of the bongai to a sessun! Could you imagine it!!!
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by merlin cocaio
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Of course the pipes of the Irish tradition are humble in comparison to the majesty of those in the Scottish tradition where pipes are shown to have real power and where there is a true realisation that having a second octave is entirely unnecessary.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
For something a bit of a novelty I can see getting a "mid-low" whistle like an F or a G. But those are kinda pointless for a session.
I do like the playing of the guy with Old Blind Dogs.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by wormdiet
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
You cant hear a mandolin or a mandola playing tunes at a session yet they seem to be idolised more than banjo players for it, the low whistle pushes out the same frequencies as a six hole flute so you are treading on dangerous territory to say the flute is crap. low whistle or tin whistle ? both good sounding instruments if they are well played.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by Ripthecalico
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Plus the low whistle requires more skill than a goat 's ass skin and produces sweet music. I dont play either but I would rather 3 low whistles per bodhran at any session.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by Ripthecalico
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
"It anoys me haw many pipers carry low whistles and how often they choose to play the low whistle over the pipes. The pipes are the greatest of all the ITM instruments, they let them selves down when they take out the big whistle."
The reason many pipers do this is that pipes are a fixed pitch instrument. For all intents and purposes, they have one volume (yeah, you can argue about open and closed and such things, but as compared to everything else, they have one volume). I've sat next to a many a fiddle player at a session, who upon hearing a tune he thinks he knows, faffs about for a bar or two quietly until he figures out how much or how little of the tune he actually knows. If he half knows it, he continues playing softly and if he really knows it, he picks up the volume. On pipes you can't do this gracefully. You have to be 100% committed to the tune because everyone's going to hear your noodling about as you attempt to figure out whether you know it or not. But if you hear something you think you play but you're not 110% sure of it, you can fuss about on the low whistle inobtrusively in a way you can't on the pipes.
You should be estatic when a piper whips out his or her low whistle, because if they're playing the whistle, you probably don't want to hear what that tune sounds like on the pipes. It's really better for everyone.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
My god dudes.... he's f***ing with you man! Is irony just something you or your better half does to your shirts when they come out of the dryer?
Of course the low whistle, like the high whistle can be a great instrument in the right hands, Rory Campbell (the guy with Old Blind Dogs) is a prime example. Marc Duff (former Capercaillie and my whistle tutor is another). In fact the list is endless. Of course there are people who gravitate to the low whistle because they want to play the Lonesome Boatman whilst looking positively pained or see it as the next step on from their shaky egg. It is not. It is a perfectly valid traditional instrument and is every bit as difficult to master as many other instruments. Too many people see the whistle (especially the high whistle) as a first step before taking up a "proper" instrument like the flute or pipes. This is c*ap. It is not something to be picked up by a 5 year old because he is too young to learn anything else. In the right hands it knocks most other melody instruments out of the park.
Anyway.... rant over!
Meanwhile well done Merlin Cocaio - you are due to your clever use of wit exposing lots of deep-seated prejudices like (and I am paraphrasing here):
- I don't like "goat's ass skin"
- Many whistles are fun novelty items.
- Low whistle players all play "Seltic" music and New age stuff. (I presume by Seltic you meant Celtic FC music and presumably you are tying Irish rebel music into that as well (a huge assumption in itself) - can't really see the new-age appeal in that.)
- Pipers opt for the whistle because it is quieter than the pipes so therefore if they can play a tune well they opt for the pipes (assumption - superior instrument) and if they don't know it then they choose the whistle. This is of course the only reason they would choose the whistle. Notions of the particular tune not fitting into the range of the pipes does not figure in my thoughts at all. Neither does the idea that for some tunes the whistle might produce a more suitable sound. I am only thinking about that grading of traditional instruments that was fashioned on here a while ago - with pipes and fiddles at the top.
So well done merlin - and don't worry I have not spoilt the joke. The argument will now follow - as I found out myself a few months ago - "no he is not joking", "yes he is", "he is HALF-joking, but really he is serious", "whistles are great", "whistles are cr*p" and so on and so on and so on.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
"Pipers opt for the whistle because it is quieter than the pipes so therefore if they can play a tune well they opt for the pipes (assumption - superior instrument) and if they don't know it then they choose the whistle. "
That is one good reason to have one on hand. Certainly not the only one. But it's a bit silly of you to conjecture that I therefore think the whistle is inferior to the pipes because of my previous post. A does not equal B. I was specifically aiming my response at Merlin's post asking why pipers bother with low whistles, not stating how I generally feel about pipes and whistles.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Paddy Keenan said he used to make low whistles out of downed tv antennas and sell them to tourists. Not in concert pitch or any pitch for that matter but they made a sound.
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by Splendid Isolation
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
The jazz drummer next door tells me I can't do anything on a bodhran that he can't do on a drumkit. I disagree. A flute (esp. concert) will do everything a low whistle will do and sounds more manageable to me ??????
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by mcknowall
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
I find that a tin whistle sounds screechy and annoying, especially when one is beginning. Low whistles have a much mellower sound, and I'm still learning it (while I've tried and failed to learn tin whistle twice). I think that the low whistle has an entirely different sound from any other instrument, and I, for one, like it. As for the new-age floatiness aspect, well, tough. Eight million pretentious singer-songwriters play guitar; does that mean you guys are going to go out and hate on guitar players? Well, yes, it does. But that's not the point.
And if you can't hear it at a session, well, what in God's name are you whining about it for?
And hell yes, Wormdiet, Rory Campbell is a beast.
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by Zazzaliss
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
The low whistle is a magnificent instrument and I am a stout defender of its capabilities. Those that complain about it are most likely not worthy of its charms. Besides, what better instrument to have in your hands should the punters have one or two too many?
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
The problem with the low whistle and sessions is that it doesn't really belong. It's more of a soloist's thing. But, like the bodhran, people see it as an easy way to participate in a session. Low whistles have annoyed me at sessions, not because I don't think they can sound great, but rather because incessant off-pitch noodlers usually are the ones playing them.
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by Phantom Button
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
What a shame you don't get to hear good whistle players. In Belfast there's a great young piper called Patrick O Hare who plays now and again with Fra McIlduff, another top class piper. You should hear those two let rip on the low whistles - hard to beat.
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
True, true Conán! Both Paddy O Hare and Fra McIlduff are a joy to listen to on the low whistles.
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by proinsiasrua
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
This is a great thread.
Merlin Cocaio I need help. I play low whistle in sessions.
Please help me to stop playing this horrible (and dare you say it not so traditional) instrument. Please help me to stop learning tunes, working on ornamentation and generally having a huge amount of fun not playing that Titanic song.
As I have big hands I am extremely insecure.
Please tell me where to stick my low whistle.
Please can I have some therapy as a result of the low whistle bunch? (Are the low whistle bunch anything like The Hair Bear Bunch?)
If you could teach me how to play tunes on any of the following instruments I would be extremely grateful:
Irish Bodran, Bongai (plural of Bongo), Dholak, Swiss Cow Bells, Thunder Machine and the 'Bones'.
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by Yohan
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
I don't want this discussion to become personal Alistair, but I find it a bit hard to understand you sometimes. If you love your instrument, you should not agree with those who attack it and if you wish you could play it better, you should keep playing. That's just logic!
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by shushpan
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Low whistles don't kill sessions, noodlers kill sessions......
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by AlBrown
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Told you!
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Woodwinds rock!
But having woodwind players, percussionists, and bowed instrumentalists (who doubles on brass) in the same household, I'd have to say that I'm forced to be an equal-opportunity instrument supporter.
I like the low whistle...have one, can't play it well, but that hasn't stopped me from trying. I just try to make sure I don't muck up a session in the process.
Now, if only I could figure out how to properly use that tipper thingy...
Paul
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by pn5jn
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Low whistle? Denegration? Hah!
I play one along with the regular pennywhistle and flute, and have never been given a snide look.
However, when I haul out the piano accordion, now there is something akin to the bodhran... ;)
# Posted on October 23rd 2006 by N9YTY
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Yes, have to agree with the majority here low whistles and players are a loathsome breed. Now there are some good players I will admit but they appear mainly on CDs. The people who try to play this "instrument" in sessions invariably have no clue about how to blow it properly or get clean notes and it ends as a whispery, out of tune type of sound. Yes I would say, pipers, stick to the pipes and stop messing with wind instruments. Have you noticed the number of pipers too who seem to think they can automatically play the flute without any apprenticeship - they seem to think "shure its easy" and we're brilliant pipers so now we are automatically brilliant pipers too. Rant over!!!
# Posted on October 23rd 2006 by MollyB
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Merlin sits back and laughs!
Thanks for the laugh guys, this has got to be the best thread is months.
Must note at this point just how easy it was to touch the raw nerves!
# Posted on October 24th 2006 by merlin cocaio
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
yeah what ever..........
This thread confirms that a large number of wannabe ITMers are whack and need a life. They should spend their time learning music (and listening closely to it too.) Appreciation goes farther than posing. Get your act together don't try to discredit others.
Or log off and have a frickin drink!!!!!!!!!!!
# Posted on October 25th 2006 by red_tiger
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
Another asshole heard from:
"The low whistle is a horrible instrument and dare I say it, not so 'traditional' at all. Was it not for Ceilne Dion and that Titanic song, this instrument would not be so common at sessions., because thats the type of music low whistle players really like.... ceilne dion and stuff like that."
So, what do you play, maestro? And, the Celine Dion thing is an insult. Grow the feck up. Any day, I am a better musician than you. Do you er, listen to music at all?
Penis envy? All that stuff about big hands certainly suggests it.
# Posted on August 3rd 2008 by TheHappyCamper
Re: Low whistle - is it the new bodhran?
They also get tempted into Seltic music because the new-age floatiness gives them time to cover the holes, and that makes their solo spots popular with people who want REALK Irish music, not that diddley stuff.
err, no. I can fit more than enough ornaments in, though perhaps not as many as a top class banjo player! lol.
# Posted on August 3rd 2008 by TheHappyCamper
# Posted on October 19th 2006 by An Dearg�n
I love it when someone searches the archives.
Some good discussions have been submitted previously. That is tradition right ~ timeless connections past, present, & future?
Check this out way, way, back when what was the 1st discussion to mention Celine Dion & 'Titanic' ? I know,silly trivia, but it includes some of the early members.
I guess my only comment is my love of Irish flute. Some of my favourite players are on this instrument. A few, usually younger, are capable of piping out some lovely tunes on a whistle of any size. I cannot fault anyone merely on the basis of their choice of instrument. I do like to keep a sense of humor though.
# Posted on August 3rd 2008 by Random_notes
New bodhran?
things were a bit volatile but 7 years ago it seems you knew exactly how each member felt.
my heart will go on
Posted on July 29th 2001
# Posted on August 3rd 2008 by Random_notes