Recorder versus whistle

cj · Post by cj » Fri Sep 05, 2003 7:43 am

Let me guess, the HHHRRRRNNGG sound?

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 9:58 am

peeplj wrote:There is a real difference in tone between recorder and whistles.

The very qualities which recorder players love and seek in their instruments, namely a louder, projective tone with a bit of an edge, and a tight voicing with lots of resistance, are often things which some whistle players seek to actively avoid in their instruments.

There is a place for both.

--James

Now, we did not mess with re***ders long before becoming whistle addicts. One of the reasons we did decide on whistles is that they were quite a bit louder and projected sound much more than their re***der counterparts. As far as resistance goes, the Overton whistles we borrowed recently had a bunch more resistance than the re***ders we returned.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 10:14 am

Quote @ Boo

Has anyone played one of these Overton 10-holes? I count 9 holes in the front and two on the back. How the heck do you cover all of those suckers?

I have played a similar 10 hole low whistle (it's a proto-type, nothing like the newer keyed versions) made by Daniel Bingamon of Jubilee, and it's a beast. LOL. A finger on each hole.

Boo · Post by **Boo** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 10:30 am

Cranberry wrote:Quote @ Boo
Has anyone played one of these Overton 10-holes? I count 9 holes in the front and two on the back. How the heck do you cover all of those suckers?
I have played a similar 10 hole low whistle (it's a proto-type, nothing like the newer keyed versions) made by Daniel Bingamon of Jubilee, and it's a beast. LOL. A finger on each hole.

A 10-hole low whistle? Musta had you aching after one tune. So, I'll just need to grow another phalange to play the Overton, eh?

brad maloney · Post by **brad maloney** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 10:51 am

Hrrrrnggg!

Seriously though I made a ten hole body for a whistle out of boredom once. Worked fine, took some getting used to though. Had no effect on the tone, but was a bit of a bear.

It eventually went to that couch crack in whistle heaven, i don't know where the hell that thing ended up. Oh well all for the best

brad maloney · Post by **brad maloney** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 10:52 am

holy poo! At least five posts since I started my message

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 11:29 am

brad maloney wrote:...I made a ten hole body for a whistle out of boredom once...

Is that a type of wood or metal?

Susan

brad maloney · Post by **brad maloney** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 11:50 am

tee hee,
No really - it was stainless tubing.

callybeg · Post by **callybeg** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:26 pm

As someone pointed out, they teach recorder in the UK, and whistle in the Irish schools.

Of all the people in the UK I know who were taught recorder at primary school (and that seems to be about a third of the population, at least in my age bracket) I am one of only two people I know who plays the thing well. That is actually because whenever I went back to Ireland in the summer holidays etc, my whole bleeding family were whistling, fiddling and singing, and I wanted to join in. Of my thirty odd cousins on my mums side who were taught the whistle at least ten still play for enjoyement, and most of them play very well indeed.

The reason I am learning whistle now is that I recognise the subtelty that the more sophisticated breath control gives the instrument. Recorder sounds very pretty - lovely in fact when well played. The whistle sounds as expressive as a human voice when played by a master. It will be a while before I am that good, if ever, but already I can do things on the whistle that I couldn't do on the recorder. The recorder offers more sophisticated melodies perhaps - but the whistle sounds like no other instrument I know. It is like the difference between classical guitar, and Irish folk fiddle. Two entirely and hopelessly different things. Why not enjoy both?

Callybeg

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 1:02 pm

Boo wrote:Has anyone played one of these Overton 10-holes? I count 9 holes in the front and two on the back. How the heck do you cover all of those suckers?

Unless you're counting wrong, that's 11 holes.

If it's only 10 holes and no keys (could be a trick question?), then you can cover each hole with one of your standard fingers. If you're that guy who has 6 fingers in his right hand, then you can play the 11-holed whistle. You'd have to have your swords custom-made, though, because the extra finger throws off the balance.

Assuming you use the cross-fingered C-nat, with 10 holes you can make a fully chromatic instrument. Skip Healy makes flutes like that. I haven't seen or played one, though. Peter Spring used to make 8-holed bamboo flutes (thumb hole for the c-nat, and extra finger in the right hand for the f-nat). It took a while getting used to, but it was convenient.

g

hellbound skunk · Post by **hellbound skunk** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 4:14 pm

Bloomfield wrote:The problem with recorders is that they sound like Susato whistles.

Bloomfield, you rock!

jim_mc · Post by **jim_mc** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 7:23 pm

I have an 11 hole McDonagh fife. There are two holes to cover with RH2. This enables you to play F natural without half-holing. Every other finger, and each thumb, covers one hole. It's not that hard to get used to, but I find that very few of the tunes I play really call for it, and play a 6 hole most of the time. It has a great cross fingered c natural (oxoxxx) and a decent cross fingered g sharp (xxoxxo).

A 10-hole whistle smaller than B flat would be hard for me to play, though, because of the chunky sausage-like shape of my fingers.

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 9:09 pm

To me, the "chromatic" nature of a recorder is not much of an issue, since the easy keys on a recorder are also the easy keys on a D or C whistle. If I need to play in Ab, I will put away the recorder and grab an Eb whistle. It's just that some tunes call for that recorder sound.

corinthia · Post by **corinthia** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 7:05 am

The thing about recorders is, they can sound quite nice... But they just don't have that QUALITY that whistles have, that... lovely mournful sound when playing slow airs.

I think the question that was posed here is the kind of question you'd expect to hear from someone who's more familiar with the mechanics of playing recorder and is having to adjust for the whistle. I am the other way around; if I tried to learn recorder; I'd ask why the holes are smaller, there's too many of them, why do I need my thumb to jump octaves, etc.?

The thing about the whistle is, (in my opinion), it's WORTH learning and adjusting, so you can play the whistle. It's not a complicated instrument - Most beginners can learn all of the tricks that the whistle has to offer within a year or two. And it's got that... lovely Irish-y sound... That sound I fell in love with.

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 8:14 am

corinthia wrote:The thing about the whistle is, (in my opinion), it's WORTH learning and adjusting, so you can play the whistle. It's not a complicated instrument - Most beginners can learn all of the tricks that the whistle has to offer within a year or two.

Boy, am I a slow learner!

I estimate 7 years to learn most of what a whistle has to offer.

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Recorder versus whistle

Recorder vs. whistle

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