"I don't play them. I just make them"

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 5:52 am

amar wrote:coincedence, i myself am working on a geriatric ward myself, lots of alzheimer patients here as well, obviously..

welcome to the club. (meaning the whistle-club. )

Mmmmm..
That would explain a lot.

Slan,
D.

amar · Post by **amar** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 6:03 am

wazzzzzzzzzuppp?

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 6:12 am

Keep taking the medication and you'll be alright....eventually.

BTW, great fun on the "spot the difference" link. basmati.

Slan,
D.

amar · Post by **amar** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 7:05 am

who you cawln basmati, who's ya daddy, say what?

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 7:10 am

toughknot wrote:<snip>using up the remaining population of electrons (which is I believe endangered)<snip>

I return each one I use to the electric company.

I never have figured out why I have to pay for them when I return them.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 1:04 pm

Well my wife says I make the best Liver and onions she's ever had and the only way I'd ever eat it is if I were starving... and then I'd prefer tree bark. Is this a reasonable parallel?

NicoMoreno · Post by **NicoMoreno** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 4:25 pm

talasiga wrote:My comments are premised on
the whistle maker him/herself not being deaf.

You do not need to be an expert player
to appreciate fine music.
(Otherwise everybody would need to submit
their audio clip before they could buy tickets to a concert
)

How shall the maker hear how his work sounds if he himself cannot make it sound that way?

PhilO · Post by **PhilO** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 4:29 pm

You mean you've been getting into concerts without submitting a clip? Whom do you know, praytell?

Philo

amar · Post by **amar** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 4:40 pm

PhilO, is that new that your pipe puffs.....? I hadn't seen that before...

Cyfiawnder · Post by **Cyfiawnder** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 5:39 am

I've stayed silent on this thread up until now, since I believe I fit into the "I don't play them I just make them" category. Well I do play them, but my making is much better than my playing. I do not believe that is necessary to be the ultimate Whistle player in order to create a fine instrument. I've known plenty of people that work at the Martin guitar factory, but most of them can't Struggle through the first bar of stairway to heaven. Does that mean Martin guitars are less valuable because the makers don't play them very good? I say hell F*censored*en no! It doesn't have a damn thing to do with it. An appreciation for music and good crafting skills, along with a steady hand, free time, and lots of patience is what it takes to make a whistle. You have to know your way around a saw and files, and a drill press and dozens of other things to make a whistle. Anyone can stuff a half assed carved piece of maple dowel into the end of a copper tube cut a few holes in it, and call it a whistle. The quality isn't in the materials it’s in the Builder. The builder that takes the time to create a work of art in every single whistle he/she creates. You have to be mechanically inclined as well as having good logical thought processes... and a High IQ doesn't hurt either oh say around 137 or so... I just picked that number out of the air I swear it.... or maybe I heard it somewhere before. If you can’t sit and look at something for hours on end and "figure" out what the problem is, you are better off being a lawyer... or maybe a Televangelist...

Rocket Scientist Don't fly rockets
Military Jet Builders Don't fly the jets the build
Vegetarian cooks don't eat the Meatatarian

meals they make from time to time
Does that mean the Rockets won't fly as good?
The Jets not perform as they should?
Or the Filet Mignon tastes not as succulent?

Do I even need to answer those questions? With a logical thought process, a monkey could deduce that it is not necessary to be an expert at using something to make that something. You just need to have a working knowledge of its mechanics:
Whistle:
Air Blows over fipple, through wind way gets split by the blade. The whistle goes TOOOOOOTTTT! Finger holes decrees and increase the volume of air inside of the bore to increase and decrease the tone of the sound. Like adding to or removing the liquid in a Bottle in order for the pitch to change. Mechanically speaking the Tin Whistle is a relatively easy instrument to understand... It's called a simple flute for a reason here people!
Slan
Justin

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 5:52 am

My mom could fry fish the best of anyone I have ever known, but didn't eat them for some strange reason, the only fault I could ever find with her (except that she wouldn't let me get away with any mischief).

However, most instrument makers I have met build instruments so they can have a "good one" for themselves first, then find out that others will buy them too.

All uilleann pipe makers I have met are outstanding players, but very few have recordings out, so aren't well known for their playing except for people who have heard them in person.

dwinterfield · Post by **dwinterfield** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 6:29 am

Staying with this theme, Cyfiawnder makes a lot of sense. I don;t know any whistle makers, but I do know something about skills and talent. I work in a large organization with lots of highly skilled engineers and lawyers. Frequently when a front line supervisory position opens up, the person selected and the boss is the most talented and knowledgeable expert in the group. And they turn out to be a disaster - great technical skills, terrible people skills. I suspect many of you have encountered this.

Back to whistles. A great player/performer, a great teacher and a great maker all likely have very different skills and personalities. I'm sure there's someone out there who is equally great at everything, or may be not. My guess is that most folks on this board bring interest, desire and enthusiasm about all aspects of the whistle. And at least some playing skill. I'd guess good teaching skills and manufacturing talent are rarer. The idea that a great maker must be a great player or that a great player can be a great teacher are silly. It might happen but it would be silly to expect it.

I find this thread interesting, because I'm a new player. I appreciate that someone took the time to put a few clips on for learners. Having read the critques and listened to the clips, I think some of the criticism is justified. Still as the intended audience of the clips I appreciate the effort.

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 6:35 am

Well, as a variation on a theme...I don't make them, I only play them.

OutOfBreath · Post by **OutOfBreath** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 7:39 am

dwinterfield wrote:I work in a large organization with lots of highly skilled engineers and lawyers.

I think I speak for engineers everywhere when I say I resent your mentioning my profession in the same sentence with "lawyers."

moxy · Post by **moxy** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 8:29 am

Here here... although I'm not a practicing engineer, but I still support the fact that we are nowhere near as devious as lawyers...

Chiff and Fipple Forums

"I don't play them. I just make them"

Re: Listening.