Hee hee.DaleWisely wrote:Jessie is the greatest whistle collector of all time. It's true.
<img src=http://home.hvc.rr.com/kislindriscoll/bark-window.JPG>
<img src=http://home.hvc.rr.com/kislindriscoll/bark-holes.JPG>
More about this lovely instrument later
Hee hee!amar wrote:boy, was that made out of poor treebeard's you-know-what?
Anyway, it smells great and has a lovely strong and pure tone...would make a perfect session whistle...if someone were good enough to pull it off and not just get laughed at. To me, the whistle feels magical. I love it. I, too, got it from Colin and Brigitte. I will let Colin spill the beans about it.
~JessieD
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glauber
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Well, if it's from Brigitte, i'd love to have one, just because she's so cool.
On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog!
--Wellsprings--
--Wellsprings--
"It might be a bit better to tune to one of my fiddle's open strings, like A, rather than asking me for an F#." - Martin Milner-
John S
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Who is Colin?
One of the great things about Elder is that the stuff you need to make Whistles the plant generates in great quantities when it is viciously pruned, in my case courtesy of the local Council.
This stuff is sometimes usable at 1 year old and excellent at 2 or 3 in the right conditions.
Now a piece of a tropical hardwood is going to be at least several hundred years old and maybe even a thousand.
The sustainability aspect is very important to me and the fact that it's local and native to ware I live.
I'm shore that elder could be coppiced to produce ideal wood as it is a very tough tree.
A three-piece simple flute should be possible to and also GHB Drones.
John S
One of the great things about Elder is that the stuff you need to make Whistles the plant generates in great quantities when it is viciously pruned, in my case courtesy of the local Council.
This stuff is sometimes usable at 1 year old and excellent at 2 or 3 in the right conditions.
Now a piece of a tropical hardwood is going to be at least several hundred years old and maybe even a thousand.
The sustainability aspect is very important to me and the fact that it's local and native to ware I live.
I'm shore that elder could be coppiced to produce ideal wood as it is a very tough tree.
A three-piece simple flute should be possible to and also GHB Drones.
John S
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amar
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Colin is Colin Goldie, he makes Overton whistles in Germany, so when you see someone referring to Goldie Overton whistels, it's Colin that is meant who made the whistle.John S wrote:Who is Colin?
One of the great things about Elder is that the stuff you need to make Whistles the plant generates in great quantities when it is viciously pruned, in my case courtesy of the local Council.
This stuff is sometimes usable at 1 year old and excellent at 2 or 3 in the right conditions.
Now a piece of a tropical hardwood is going to be at least several hundred years old and maybe even a thousand.
The sustainability aspect is very important to me and the fact that it's local and native to ware I live.
I'm shore that elder could be coppiced to produce ideal wood as it is a very tough tree.
A three-piece simple flute should be possible to and also GHB Drones.
John S
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Goldie
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I came across these whistles and sent one to Jessie and Dale as I thought they NEED these in their collections. I made a page (o.k. I had help here.... ehm a lot of help...) and added some photos and will leave it online for the time being and may add to it later with further updates.
Here you can find a link which has photos and the text http://overton.de/texte/holunderwhistles.html
Here is the text, in case you are not interested in the photos I took today.
Elderflower Whistles made by Vitek Kasparik, Czech. Republik
O.K. here is the plot. I was given some whistles last year by a whistler who visited me from the Czech. Republic. These whistles normally are made in the traditional way which means no beak and the vent is on the bottom facing towards the chin. Logically this makes sense, shepherds used to play them and being outside a lot and having the wind in their face. The friend who visited me had asked Vitek to make an F and a high D with a beak and vent on the top which Vitek did. The F is also the first Low F he made. Usually he makes the smaller keys like the D or the A. The story as I first understood it was that Vitek was a shepherd who made whistles in his part time while waiting on the sheep to do whatever they need to do and that he lived in a house on a hill with no electricity or electrical tools. What an image that conjures! What I have since found out is that he makes all kinds of musical instruments and I believe now full time but that he still has no electrical tools and I am not sure if he has electricity in his house or not. The confusion was due to communication/translation problems. From what I heard he has no intention of using any modern tools and the whistles are reamed and made completely with a knife in the traditional way using the feet or knees as a vice for holding the wood while working on it. He does not speak any English so I am in contact via my friend who happily helps out with this. So far I have had some high Ds, a couple of As and a few Low Fs.
As you can see from the pictures he makes two styles, one with the bark on and the other one naked without bark. The ones with the bark on have scalloped finger holes which feels really nice when playing. The other type is the natural shape of the wood, sometimes with the knots left on and sometimes not. They are both nice for their different reasons. The smell on both is really nice too as they are oiled. I do not know how or if the bark is treated but it looks natural and perfect to me. I would imagine you may have to be more careful with the barked ones just in case it comes away although there is absolutely no sign of this happening on the ones that I have seen. I am probably thinking in terms of dropping it or knocking it. I know when he makes them, if the bark gets in any way damaged, he takes it off completely.
The high Ds are great little whistles. Surprisingly loud with a crisp and pure but not too pure voice. Playing wise I find them being a little bit similar to an O'Riordan that visited my house yesterday. The cross fingering is excellent, Cnat is OXX OOO. Bb is XOX XXO, G# XXO XXX. Tuning in General is great, no complaints. My friend said Vitek is one of the few makers in that region who really makes good, well tuned instruments, I can second that. The ones that I have come across are very well in tune.
The As are very similar in the fact that they are easy to blow throughout the whole range. They are also quite loud but you cannot push the bottom notes that hard. They are mellow in sound and cross fingering Cnat on OXX OOO is also really good. Tuning as said above also on these is good.
The Fs. The first one that I got is slightly stronger than the following three which arrived later. These are not normally made by him but I managed to get three. These are quieter playing whistles although the second octave can be still loud. The first octave is on the quiet side. I forgot to take some photos of the three skinless Fs. For playing solo these would be fine but I think playing in a session they would be too quiet as the bottom end is not strong.
When I first came across these I fell in love with the look and that has not changed. The high Ds are a cracker of a whistle and I think they are way cool. The traditional whistle look I suppose and very similar in sound to some modern handmade ones. I had heard from some old people that they had made whistles when they were younger from "elder flower" or here in Germany "Holunder" but I always had the idea that they were weak, feeble instruments but certainly the High Ds can hold their own. At a renaissance festival or medieval fair you cannot beat their originality. I think every person I have shown them to, have been blown away by them, musician or not. They are fascinating to look at especially knowing that the maker has not used drills and things. Coming from making whistles it is really impressive how he does it.
After seeing what he does I hope this helps bring his work to a wider audience. It is hard as he does not speak English and my Czech is non existent so we have to find a way how people can get hold of his whistles. I will be buying some to sell on but have no idea on the price yet. I know they will be not that expensive, we have to see.
Ja, that is it.
If you got this far you should go for the pictures
Colin
Here you can find a link which has photos and the text http://overton.de/texte/holunderwhistles.html
Here is the text, in case you are not interested in the photos I took today.
Elderflower Whistles made by Vitek Kasparik, Czech. Republik
O.K. here is the plot. I was given some whistles last year by a whistler who visited me from the Czech. Republic. These whistles normally are made in the traditional way which means no beak and the vent is on the bottom facing towards the chin. Logically this makes sense, shepherds used to play them and being outside a lot and having the wind in their face. The friend who visited me had asked Vitek to make an F and a high D with a beak and vent on the top which Vitek did. The F is also the first Low F he made. Usually he makes the smaller keys like the D or the A. The story as I first understood it was that Vitek was a shepherd who made whistles in his part time while waiting on the sheep to do whatever they need to do and that he lived in a house on a hill with no electricity or electrical tools. What an image that conjures! What I have since found out is that he makes all kinds of musical instruments and I believe now full time but that he still has no electrical tools and I am not sure if he has electricity in his house or not. The confusion was due to communication/translation problems. From what I heard he has no intention of using any modern tools and the whistles are reamed and made completely with a knife in the traditional way using the feet or knees as a vice for holding the wood while working on it. He does not speak any English so I am in contact via my friend who happily helps out with this. So far I have had some high Ds, a couple of As and a few Low Fs.
As you can see from the pictures he makes two styles, one with the bark on and the other one naked without bark. The ones with the bark on have scalloped finger holes which feels really nice when playing. The other type is the natural shape of the wood, sometimes with the knots left on and sometimes not. They are both nice for their different reasons. The smell on both is really nice too as they are oiled. I do not know how or if the bark is treated but it looks natural and perfect to me. I would imagine you may have to be more careful with the barked ones just in case it comes away although there is absolutely no sign of this happening on the ones that I have seen. I am probably thinking in terms of dropping it or knocking it. I know when he makes them, if the bark gets in any way damaged, he takes it off completely.
The high Ds are great little whistles. Surprisingly loud with a crisp and pure but not too pure voice. Playing wise I find them being a little bit similar to an O'Riordan that visited my house yesterday. The cross fingering is excellent, Cnat is OXX OOO. Bb is XOX XXO, G# XXO XXX. Tuning in General is great, no complaints. My friend said Vitek is one of the few makers in that region who really makes good, well tuned instruments, I can second that. The ones that I have come across are very well in tune.
The As are very similar in the fact that they are easy to blow throughout the whole range. They are also quite loud but you cannot push the bottom notes that hard. They are mellow in sound and cross fingering Cnat on OXX OOO is also really good. Tuning as said above also on these is good.
The Fs. The first one that I got is slightly stronger than the following three which arrived later. These are not normally made by him but I managed to get three. These are quieter playing whistles although the second octave can be still loud. The first octave is on the quiet side. I forgot to take some photos of the three skinless Fs. For playing solo these would be fine but I think playing in a session they would be too quiet as the bottom end is not strong.
When I first came across these I fell in love with the look and that has not changed. The high Ds are a cracker of a whistle and I think they are way cool. The traditional whistle look I suppose and very similar in sound to some modern handmade ones. I had heard from some old people that they had made whistles when they were younger from "elder flower" or here in Germany "Holunder" but I always had the idea that they were weak, feeble instruments but certainly the High Ds can hold their own. At a renaissance festival or medieval fair you cannot beat their originality. I think every person I have shown them to, have been blown away by them, musician or not. They are fascinating to look at especially knowing that the maker has not used drills and things. Coming from making whistles it is really impressive how he does it.
After seeing what he does I hope this helps bring his work to a wider audience. It is hard as he does not speak English and my Czech is non existent so we have to find a way how people can get hold of his whistles. I will be buying some to sell on but have no idea on the price yet. I know they will be not that expensive, we have to see.
Ja, that is it.
If you got this far you should go for the pictures
Colin
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Loren
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And get yourself free - Location: Loren has left the building.
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JohnPalmer
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JohnPalmer
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...does look appealing, though.
JP
Wait a minute. When did this board start showing edits?
JP
Wait a minute. When did this board start showing edits?
Last edited by JohnPalmer on Tue Jun 15, 2004 11:55 pm, edited 3 times in total.